And The Heavens Split in Two (4/?)
"Hello, Dean."
The hunter smiled, stepping up to the angel that he hadn't seen in at least a year. "Hey, Cas." He had missed him, even if he'd never admit it out loud. Castiel had become a constant in his life in the battle against the Apocalypse, Lucifer and the other dick angels. They hadn't parted on the best of terms, true; but that didn't mean that Dean didn't appreciate all that Cas had done for him, or that he didn't see him as his nerdy angel friend anymore. He barely noticed Miel and Bobby stepping away from the room to give them space. He coughed, "So, I hear from your sister that you've got quite the mess going on up there, sheriff."
Castiel almost smiled at that, and Dean felt once again the relief of still seeing the humanity that had grown in the angel during his time on Earth. "Yes, you could put it that way." He sighed, "Raphael still doesn't quite like me, I'm afraid."
Dean chuckled and stuffed is hands in his jacket pockets, "Well, if our last encounter is anything to go by, I don't think he'll like me much either."
"He doesn't." The hunter actually laughed at that, finally reaching over and putting a hand on the angel's shoulder.
He smiled, "It's good to see you, Cas." The angel tilted his head, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked into what Dean knew to be his soul. Taking a deep breath, he waited. Castiel's blue eyes saddened slightly at what he saw, and Dean could pretty much guess what that had been. Well, that saves me an awkward conversation…
"You talked to your brother." Dean looked down, even if he knew that he would receive nothing but sympathy from Castiel.
Clearing his throat, he asked one of the questions that had been rounding his head since he'd heard Sam's voice on the phone.
"Did you bring him back?" He finally brought himself to look up into deep blue eyes, and was surprised to find them full of guilt. He frowned.
"I'm sorry, Dean," he started, looking down and away from the hunter's piercing green eyes, "I meant to tell you, but Sam made me promise I wouldn't…" he looked at him briefly before looking away again, unable to meet his eyes, "Then I was unable to leave Heaven for a long time and-" the angel's words were interrupted as he was pulled into a tight hug. Blue eyes widened as Castiel looked at the side of Dean's head, his arms hanging uselessly at his sides as he tried to understand what was happening. "De-"
"Thank you." The hunter's voice shuddered slightly, and he clenched his eyes closed before opening them again. Cas had saved Sam. He had saved his little brother even when all the hunter had done was berate him for deciding to go back home again. It was at that moment that Dean realized he had never really thanked Cas for everything he'd done for him and Sam, nor apologized for everything he'd lost because of them. Miel was right. He'd taken him for granted. Castiel had every right to abandon him and his family to their destinies, and Dean wouldn't have had the right to resent him for anything. And yet he had.
Awkward arms came around and finally held on to the hunter's back, and Dean felt he might cry or punch the angel for being so freaking forgiving. He settled for hugging him tighter instead. "I'm sorry, Cas." He breathed, "I'm so sorry." Castiel didn't say anything, but he felt the angel's hold tighten slightly in a silent sign of forgiveness, and Dean felt a huge load lift from his heart. Finally realizing that he'd probably scared the angel with this sudden and utter breaking of his number one rule when it came to personal space, Dean stepped away from him, giving him a shaky smile before resetting the space between them.
Castiel tilted his head slightly, as though unaware that this was supposed to be embarrassing for him at all. But then he smiled without really smiling, and Dean felt like everything was really alright. He cleared his throat, feeling lighter now that he'd made things alright between him and his friend. "So, did you want to meet us here for any reason in particular, or was it just to keep us all in one place?"
"A little bit of both, actually." A familiar mocking voice startled him from behind, and Dean snapped around in alarm. "Sorry to interrupt, but I was getting jealous of all the attention my little brother was getting. I'd like a hug too, you know." His eyes were greeted with a smirk that he had last seen in the screen of Sam's computer, and hazel golden eyes that shined with amusement and supernatural power. "Hello, Deano."
"G-Gabe?" Dean gaped at the figure of whom he'd once known as the Trickster, who was calmly chewing on a candy bar, "You're alive?" He looked questioningly at Castiel before turning disbelieving eyes at the archangel. "How? Since when?"
"Well!" he started, obviously glad that he'd asked, "Apparently, banking on you guys was the right thing to do." Dean would be damned if he ever admitted that he was actually happy to see Gabriel, "As soon as Lucifer was back in the box, Daddy decided that Cassie-cat might need some help bringing the family together, so…" he pointed at himself, "Here I am."
The hunter let the words sink in, a subconscious fear tugging at his stomach as he thought of another dead angel that had become annoyingly familiar in their struggle against Lucifer, "Does that mean that Zachariah-"
"What?" the archangel furrowed his brows before chortling as he understood what he meant, "Didn't you hear what I just said?" he waited for a second before rolling his eyes, "My Father brought me back because I helped you, hotshot. Zach did nothing other than trying to stop you." He raised an eyebrow, "See a difference there?"
"Alright, smartass, I get it," Dean growled, now remembering why Gabriel had gotten on his nerves so much in the past, "But what's that have to do with me? Or Sam for that matter?"
"You need to help us find God." Miel's voice came from the door, and all turned to see her leaning on the frame with a smile, "And we'll also need your help battling against Raphael's side. OUr numbers are very limited...and his angels are walking the Earth freely, taking out their anger on innocent humans, and looking for you and your family for revenge."
"Hi, Melly!" Gabriel beamed, "How was your first trip around these animals? Fun, aren't they?"
Miel smiled at her older brother, walking into the room and coming to stand next to Cas, who looked at her with a small smile. "They're basically like you described them, Gabriel." She grinned, "Although I think Castiel's version of them is a tad more accurate." She glanced expectantly at Cas, suddenly looking like a little girl awaiting approval for a job well done, "So?" she asked, "How'd I do? Not bad for the first time, right?"
Castiel smiled, "You did great, Miel."
Gabriel scoffed, "Better than Cas, at least. Man, talk about socially awkward." Dean grinned, remembering how frustrated he had been when having to explain to the angel the most basic social rules.
Castiel glared at Gabriel half-heartedly, and Miel laughed. Dean was surprised to see how much they actually looked like a family. This made him think of Sam, and he felt his momentary happiness being tarnished a bit.
He still had to face Sam. He sighed, dragging a hand through his short hair, he certainly didn't look forward to it; which was ironic, because he'd been missing his brother like crazy for a year, and had been struggling not to go sell his soul more than a thousand times. And now that he was alive…what? Well, for starters, Sam had kept him in the dark about it. Second, he'd made Cas (and probably Bobby) promise not to tell him, and made them feel guilty about it in the process. And hey, had he mentioned that he hadn't been told of his brother's return to the world of the living?
He groaned inwardly. He was going to get angry at Sam. He knew it. He didn't want to. But he would. Because he had every right to be. And because he felt betrayed by his brother. I mean, what the hell? If Sam walked in with an excuse like I wanted you to have a normal life, he would shoot him in the face. Because that's just crap.
"Dean?" Dean snapped out of his trance to see three angels glancing at him questioningly, two with concern in their eyes and one with the ever-living amusement shining in them.
"Sorry." He cleared his throat, shaking his head slightly, "What were you saying?"
Castiel seemed to understand what he was thinking, and left the issue alone - thing that Dean was immensely grateful for - but Mel still hadn't been around the walking enigma that was Dean Winchester long enough to understand that he just wanted to be left alone in the matter.
"We were saying that we'll have to ward this house against any angel of any class other than us three, for the sake of your family's safety. And because they'll have to stay here when you and…" Cas' voice faltered slightly before mentioning his brother, but Dean ignored it, "Sam…have to accompany us in our search for God and all the angels gone rogue."
"Of course." He nodded, thankful that they were keeping his family in mind, although he was pretty sure that Lisa was not going to like this one bit.
"So you're sayin' these boys are gonna go off and fight angels with you three?" Dean almost jumped out of his skin at Bobby's grumbling voice at the door, and again he wondered how long he had really been spacing out. "I know they're practically suicidal," Dean glared at the old hunter, "But that don't mean you can just take'em to face more than one of your kind. They're still human." Bobby had a point there.
"That's true. I don't think your angel swords will be enough if we do get to the point where we have to fight. That's crazy, even for us, Cas."
The angel nodded understandingly, but before he could reassure them, Gabriel beat him to the punch.
"Well, no need to fear, ladies, Melly came up with a brilliant idea to give you some advantage." He winked at the lesser angel, who glared at him in annoyance…something that lead Dean to think that it had actually been Gabriel's idea.
"Uh huh." He deadpanned, eyeing the archangel carefully, "And what's that?"
"Oh, not much. You'll just have to drink a few sips of angel cocktail every day." He grinned, "The results are guaranteed and immediately visible, if you're still not satisfied, we…will keep your money. Sorry."
Dean had an idea of what the angel was saying, but he only hoped it was the wrong one. He looked at Cas, and by the look in his blue eyes, he'd guessed it just right. "Please, tell me it's not what I think it is…"
Cas sighed, seemingly just as happy as Dean about this development.
"You'll have to drink angel blood."