Unexpected Destinies Chapter 89
Title: Unexpected Destinies
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash, mild torture
Word Count: 3,099
Summary: Castiel deals with some matters in Heaven and learns some disturbing news.
PAST
Castiel looked down at the sword in his hands, grief and awe warring for dominance inside of him. Yes, he'd seen archangel blades before, but he'd never truly had the opportunity to simply examine them. It was amazing, awesome in its sheer power and yet subtle somehow as he didn't think that the other angels could see it as he now could. He would have to ask Michael or Raphael about it as archangel blades were not something that they'd covered in his lessons, probably because there had been no spare ones for him to use.
The abrupt reminder brought the reality of where this particular sword had come from crashing back and Castiel swallowed past the grief to look at the angels beside him.
"Did you have any trouble getting it?" Castiel inquired.
"No," Xarael replied. "It was exactly where your mate said it would be."
"I'm amazed that Lucifer just left it there. I would have expected him to take it with him."
"Lucifer was always very particular of his blade," Virgil said. "It wasn't often that he would allow me to touch it and even then it was only when absolutely necessary as he preferred to do all of the basic cleans and maintenance himself."
"So prideful," Castiel murmured testing the feel of the sword.
If there was one thing that could sum up the cause of his brother's downfall, that one sin was it. No matter how much Castiel thought on it, he could not understand what had made Lucifer do what his brother had done. Even with his own rebellion and near Fall, he could not even imagine disobeying his Father. All that he'd done he sincerely believed was not only the right thing to do, but that which he believed his Father would have wanted him to do. Above and beyond that, he just couldn't understand Lucifer's hate for and disgust of humanity. He would be the first to admit that there were those among them who were not worthy of praise or awe- those two who had killed his mate instantly came to mind- but the rest were even if he'd never met another soul that came even close to that of his mate. He'd traveled the world enough to have seen some amazing acts of bravery, kindness and selflessness. As for the flaws, yes sure they were plentiful, but humanity thrived in spite of them and many, like Dean, were all the more amazing because of them. Besides, they were only as flawed as Father had wanted them to be.
In the end, Castiel thought it was a good thing that he couldn't understand his brother's motivation or reasoning, but it still bothered him sometimes. Then there was the fact that being able to understand Lucifer better could give them an advantage in the upcoming war, but alas, it was not to be.
With that thought, Castiel carefully turned the sword so that the blade was facing away from Virgil before holding it out to Heaven's armory master. He had no sooner registered the surprise on Virgil's face when Xarael's hand closed over his wrist.
"I think you should keep it," Xarael said.
"It is not mine," Castiel replied.
"I believe that Gabriel would want you to have it."
Of this Castiel was not so sure. While he still mourned the death of a brother, and most especially one who had stood in defense of his mate, he could not help but recall the abuse he'd received at the renegade archangel's hands during their first and only encounter. After that he was not so sure that Gabriel would wish him to be the one to wield his blade.
"He gave his life to try and stop Lucifer from destroying humanity," Virgil added. "He would wish to see us succeed in this mission and to utilize the best weapons available to do so. This is the best sword for you, Castiel, every archangel needs an archangel's blade."
That was reasoning that Castiel could better agree with but still he hesitated. Like so often before, he wished for his Father's presence so that he could ask for guidance and advice. It felt weird and wrong to take up Gabriel's weapon as his own as he felt neither worthy of it nor confident in his ability to wield it properly. On the other hand he knew it was both a good tactical move and something that Dean would want him to do as it would provide him with better protection. If his mate could continue to use the knife he and Sam had gotten from the demon Ruby despite the fact that it was a reminder of her and both of Sam's greatest betrayals, then he supposed that he could do this. As for his lack of knowledge and skill when it came to wielding it, well he was sure that Michael and Raphael would be willing to show him.
"Very well," Castiel finally stated, secreting it away.
"If you have some time, I have completed the inventory for the armory that you requested," Virgil said.
"And?"
"As expected we possess no other archangel blades."
"So Raziel left armed when he vanished."
"Yes, it would appear so. We have about the right number of regular angel swords that we should have given the number that we lost during the rebellion, but I have requested that everyone in possession of one contacts me so that we have an accurate count."
"Yes, I heard that," Castiel replied. "So we don't seem to have lost weapons like we did tomes?"
"No, I said that we seemed to have all of the regular angel blades that we should have," Virgil responded.
"So we are missing something?" Xarael asked.
"There seem to be a few empty spaces where before we had weapons."
Castiel started to close his eyes and then caught the gesture with a faint hint of fondness and amusement. He was picking up his mate's habits. "What have we lost?"
"I do not know what all of the items were or contained, but from those that I do, one was a poison that renders a vessel useless for the intended angel."
"What?" Castiel questioned when the angel hesitated.
Virgil seemed to think for a moment as to the best way to word what he needed to say before responding. "This poison not only renders the vessel unsuitable for the angel, but it also serves to destroy the vessel's mind and soul."
"How?"
"I do not know the precise mechanism of its actions, merely that Lucifer had utilized it once and was quite pleased with the results."
"And this abomination is gone now?"
"Yes."
A thrill of horror shot through Castiel's Grace at the thought of that poison out there. At the thought that it could be used on Dean. He did not know what he would do if he ever lost his mate, but he knew it wouldn't be pleasant. He knew that he couldn't continue without his human and to know that Dean's very soul was lost was the worst thing that he could possibly imagine. Even the mere thought of it was enough to have terror grip hold of his very Grace and he had to fight off the irrational impulse to fly to his mate's side at once and check that Dean was alright.
"What else?" Xarael asked.
"About half of the Holy oil we used to possess."
"That would account for why I was able to find some on Earth," Castiel mused. "Though it sounds like there is a lot of it unaccounted for, some of which at least Lucifer has. We shall have to be careful."
"Then there were a number of potions and poisons that will only work on demons," Virgil continued. "And some which act against humans that aren't actively vessels though they should be useless against us."
Castiel felt the irrational urge to whisk his mate away to a secure location where none of those weapons could be used against him though he knew Dean wouldn't have it. Not only would his mate never forgive him for it, but his hunter would do everything in his power to escape as soon as possible. No, it was much better as it was with Dean allowing him to drop in on him all of the time.
"Finally we also seem to have lost some of the demon weapons we'd acquired through battle, not all of which we knew how to use," Virgil finished.
"And you have no idea what the other weapons might have been?" Xarael questioned.
"No, I was either never informed of their purpose or they were from the section that I had been told did not concern me."
"Is there any way that you might be able to find out?" Castiel asked. "From old inventories or a reference in the library perhaps?"
"I shall see what I can find, but I am not optimistic, Brother."
"Do your best and let me know what the final sword count is. Oh, and please remember that Dean possesses one."
"Very well," Virgil confirmed, giving a half bow before flying off.
"We have lost far more weapons than I had thought," Xarael stated, displeased.
"I concur," Castiel replied. "I believe our greatest concern is those weapons we know nothing about."
"Beyond what you asked of Virgil, I do not believe that there is much that we can do."
Castiel's wings fluttered in frustration. "No, there is not. See if you can't have the Healers looking into what can be done for those on whom the missing poisons are used so that we know what to do should they surface."
"I was already planning to. You are worried for Dean Winchester."
"Now that Lucifer has been returned to his cage once due to Dean's involvement and the fact that Dean helped perform the Rite of Contressa, I have no doubt that he will be a far bigger target this time. I do not believe our brother will be happy to merely toy with him anymore."
"I agree and shall make sure the Healers realize that the poisons may be used on the Righteous Man if they are in Lucifer's possession."
"Thank you, Sister. Is there anything else?"
"Just one thing. As requested, we have been keeping an eye out for anything unusual and detected a rather large usage of Dark magic, well by human standards. As there was nothing else of interest at the moment, it was looked into further and signs of demonic activity were found."
"Is it a gathering?"
"No, all of it has been rather small and I would not have mentioned it but for the original location of the magic and the demonic movement since."
With those words, Xarael handed over a piece of parchment. Castiel felt fear take hold of his Grace once more as he recognized each and every one of the towns listed. They were all places that Dean had been to recently and while that was alarming enough as he knew that his mate would not have left a town if Dean had known that there were demons there, the order of the towns worried him even more.
His mate was being hunted.
The fact that the towns were listed in the exact order that Dean had visited them in couldn't be a coincidence and the only reason that Castiel didn't immediately rush to his mate's side was the fact that they were several towns and half a country behind. That was something that Xarael was also well aware of or he was sure that she'd have mentioned it earlier. Instead he forced himself to focus and think about this rationally.
"This is a complete list?" Castiel demanded.
"Yes and based on their current rate of movement, it should take them a while to catch up with your mate, otherwise I would have told you sooner."
"You saw the pattern, others would not have. Thank you for informing me of this, I shall look into it at once."
"Be careful, Brother."
/
The moment that Castiel arrived in the last town on the list, he could already tell that whatever demons had been here were already gone. He refused to let that panic him as he knew that he wouldn't be able to help his mate or prevent whatever was going on here if he wasn't thinking rationally. Instead he flew to the room that Dean had used and found two dead bodies along with the stench of demons and sulfur. Out of nowhere he was briefly thankful that Dean had still been using a fake credit card when using this room as he knew that the police might otherwise start taking an interest in the fact that his mate had stayed in all of the rooms where things like this had happened afterwards.
The desire to minimize the potential for any such connection to be made had Castiel cleaning the room with a thought before he transported the bodies outside to make it look like they had been attacked and killed in a nearby dark alley. Dean had said that a lot of bad stuff happened in those types of places. He said a quick prayer for the innocent souls that had been so carelessly murdered before he hurried to the next town that Dean had visited. His growing urgency calmed as he easily detected the demonic presence here, though he noted that they had not yet managed to narrow down their search to where his mate had stayed while in this town.
Not wanting to give them any chance to escape least they continue to hunt Dean, Castiel flew right towards them and swiftly dispatched two of them back to Perdition before they even realized that he was there. He captured the other two before they could escape and slammed them against the wall, easily holding them there.
"Who sent you?" Castiel demanded. "Why are you hunting Dean Winchester?"
"Angel!" one of them spat defiantly, struggling to break free.
A quick assessment told Castiel that the demon who had spoken was unlikely to be cooperative while the other seemed more desperate than anything else. He exorcised the first with a thought and focused his attention on the second.
"Please don't send me back!" the creature wailed.
Castiel wondered how quickly this one had broken if he caved so easily. "Answer my question."
"I don't know his name, I swear! All I know is that he wants the human, said he'd reward us for bringing him in."
"Did he say anything else?"
"Just that he wants the human alive. We could play with him all we wanted, but he had to be alive and conscious."
The rage that overtook Castiel was worse than any he'd experienced before and it was all that he could do not to burn out the demon then and there. "Where? Where were you told to bring him?"
"Texas, seven miles north of Houston to an old abandoned warehouse."
Without a seconds hesitation, Castiel exorcised the demon. The only reason that he didn't outright kill it with one of his blades was because he could sense that the host was still alive and he'd gained far too precious and all encompassing an awareness of the fact that those who were possessed or gave themselves over were still in there to ignore that fact even now. Despite that awareness, he still couldn't bring himself to stay there and wait for the hosts to awaken and instead he flew off immediately to Houston.
With the directions, the demonic presence was not hard to find and Castiel couldn't help but smile as he landed outside of a warehouse only to find it covered in what he was sure the occupants considered complete angel proofing. It was right that they should fear him and his brothers and sisters, especially if they chose to go after Dean. It would be their biggest mistake, the botched job with the sigils being a close second.
Castiel found a lone demon on the third floor of the warehouse and flew into the room with it, grabbing it before it could either flee or cry out for help.
"Where is the one who ordered the capture of Dean Winchester?" Castiel demanded.
The demon glared at him defiantly and Castiel reached out with his Grace to touch its essence. Doing so without the immediate intention of exorcising it made him feel dirty, almost tainted, but he paid it no heed. He was willing to take a little discomfort to ensure his mate's safety. The demon screamed, the sound muffled by his hand, and then sagged into his grip when he drew his Grace back.
"Well?"
It took a bit longer, but the demon still glared at him so Castiel repeated his earlier treatment. He was more than willing to do it a few times, but if the demon proved too resistant then he'd simply kill it and move on. Unlike the last demon, this one's host was already dead and would thus taste the power of Gabriel's blade. It took two more goes, but then the demon no longer glared at him and so he removed his hand from its mouth.
"Downstairs, first floor. He's taken over the old main loading zone as his audience chamber, now let me go."
"Let you go?"
"Yes, I told you what you wanted to know."
"Indeed, which means your worth to me is gone."
Castiel covered the demon's mouth and drove the blade into its neck, watching in satisfaction as the demonic essence was purified and destroyed by the Light and Power of his Grace channeled through the archangel blade. He then discarded the body and flew for the biggest room in the old warehouse, intending to find out exactly who was targeting Dean and why. Unlike with the others, he might also be tempted to take his time with this one. No one hunted or harmed his mate without suffering the consequences and he intended to make that very clear.
This demon would regret the day it had ever decided to go after Dean Winchester.
Seconds after Castiel appeared in the center of the room, halfway between the two demonic presences, there was a metallic click followed by the whooshing rush of air as flames sprang to life and he was encircled, trapped within a burning ring of Holy oil.
"Hello, Clarence, so nice of you to drop by. I was hoping you'd take the bait and pay us a visit."
A.N.: And we're back to the angst! You had to know it was coming :)
Chapter 90
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash, mild torture
Word Count: 3,099
Summary: Castiel deals with some matters in Heaven and learns some disturbing news.
PAST
Castiel looked down at the sword in his hands, grief and awe warring for dominance inside of him. Yes, he'd seen archangel blades before, but he'd never truly had the opportunity to simply examine them. It was amazing, awesome in its sheer power and yet subtle somehow as he didn't think that the other angels could see it as he now could. He would have to ask Michael or Raphael about it as archangel blades were not something that they'd covered in his lessons, probably because there had been no spare ones for him to use.
The abrupt reminder brought the reality of where this particular sword had come from crashing back and Castiel swallowed past the grief to look at the angels beside him.
"Did you have any trouble getting it?" Castiel inquired.
"No," Xarael replied. "It was exactly where your mate said it would be."
"I'm amazed that Lucifer just left it there. I would have expected him to take it with him."
"Lucifer was always very particular of his blade," Virgil said. "It wasn't often that he would allow me to touch it and even then it was only when absolutely necessary as he preferred to do all of the basic cleans and maintenance himself."
"So prideful," Castiel murmured testing the feel of the sword.
If there was one thing that could sum up the cause of his brother's downfall, that one sin was it. No matter how much Castiel thought on it, he could not understand what had made Lucifer do what his brother had done. Even with his own rebellion and near Fall, he could not even imagine disobeying his Father. All that he'd done he sincerely believed was not only the right thing to do, but that which he believed his Father would have wanted him to do. Above and beyond that, he just couldn't understand Lucifer's hate for and disgust of humanity. He would be the first to admit that there were those among them who were not worthy of praise or awe- those two who had killed his mate instantly came to mind- but the rest were even if he'd never met another soul that came even close to that of his mate. He'd traveled the world enough to have seen some amazing acts of bravery, kindness and selflessness. As for the flaws, yes sure they were plentiful, but humanity thrived in spite of them and many, like Dean, were all the more amazing because of them. Besides, they were only as flawed as Father had wanted them to be.
In the end, Castiel thought it was a good thing that he couldn't understand his brother's motivation or reasoning, but it still bothered him sometimes. Then there was the fact that being able to understand Lucifer better could give them an advantage in the upcoming war, but alas, it was not to be.
With that thought, Castiel carefully turned the sword so that the blade was facing away from Virgil before holding it out to Heaven's armory master. He had no sooner registered the surprise on Virgil's face when Xarael's hand closed over his wrist.
"I think you should keep it," Xarael said.
"It is not mine," Castiel replied.
"I believe that Gabriel would want you to have it."
Of this Castiel was not so sure. While he still mourned the death of a brother, and most especially one who had stood in defense of his mate, he could not help but recall the abuse he'd received at the renegade archangel's hands during their first and only encounter. After that he was not so sure that Gabriel would wish him to be the one to wield his blade.
"He gave his life to try and stop Lucifer from destroying humanity," Virgil added. "He would wish to see us succeed in this mission and to utilize the best weapons available to do so. This is the best sword for you, Castiel, every archangel needs an archangel's blade."
That was reasoning that Castiel could better agree with but still he hesitated. Like so often before, he wished for his Father's presence so that he could ask for guidance and advice. It felt weird and wrong to take up Gabriel's weapon as his own as he felt neither worthy of it nor confident in his ability to wield it properly. On the other hand he knew it was both a good tactical move and something that Dean would want him to do as it would provide him with better protection. If his mate could continue to use the knife he and Sam had gotten from the demon Ruby despite the fact that it was a reminder of her and both of Sam's greatest betrayals, then he supposed that he could do this. As for his lack of knowledge and skill when it came to wielding it, well he was sure that Michael and Raphael would be willing to show him.
"Very well," Castiel finally stated, secreting it away.
"If you have some time, I have completed the inventory for the armory that you requested," Virgil said.
"And?"
"As expected we possess no other archangel blades."
"So Raziel left armed when he vanished."
"Yes, it would appear so. We have about the right number of regular angel swords that we should have given the number that we lost during the rebellion, but I have requested that everyone in possession of one contacts me so that we have an accurate count."
"Yes, I heard that," Castiel replied. "So we don't seem to have lost weapons like we did tomes?"
"No, I said that we seemed to have all of the regular angel blades that we should have," Virgil responded.
"So we are missing something?" Xarael asked.
"There seem to be a few empty spaces where before we had weapons."
Castiel started to close his eyes and then caught the gesture with a faint hint of fondness and amusement. He was picking up his mate's habits. "What have we lost?"
"I do not know what all of the items were or contained, but from those that I do, one was a poison that renders a vessel useless for the intended angel."
"What?" Castiel questioned when the angel hesitated.
Virgil seemed to think for a moment as to the best way to word what he needed to say before responding. "This poison not only renders the vessel unsuitable for the angel, but it also serves to destroy the vessel's mind and soul."
"How?"
"I do not know the precise mechanism of its actions, merely that Lucifer had utilized it once and was quite pleased with the results."
"And this abomination is gone now?"
"Yes."
A thrill of horror shot through Castiel's Grace at the thought of that poison out there. At the thought that it could be used on Dean. He did not know what he would do if he ever lost his mate, but he knew it wouldn't be pleasant. He knew that he couldn't continue without his human and to know that Dean's very soul was lost was the worst thing that he could possibly imagine. Even the mere thought of it was enough to have terror grip hold of his very Grace and he had to fight off the irrational impulse to fly to his mate's side at once and check that Dean was alright.
"What else?" Xarael asked.
"About half of the Holy oil we used to possess."
"That would account for why I was able to find some on Earth," Castiel mused. "Though it sounds like there is a lot of it unaccounted for, some of which at least Lucifer has. We shall have to be careful."
"Then there were a number of potions and poisons that will only work on demons," Virgil continued. "And some which act against humans that aren't actively vessels though they should be useless against us."
Castiel felt the irrational urge to whisk his mate away to a secure location where none of those weapons could be used against him though he knew Dean wouldn't have it. Not only would his mate never forgive him for it, but his hunter would do everything in his power to escape as soon as possible. No, it was much better as it was with Dean allowing him to drop in on him all of the time.
"Finally we also seem to have lost some of the demon weapons we'd acquired through battle, not all of which we knew how to use," Virgil finished.
"And you have no idea what the other weapons might have been?" Xarael questioned.
"No, I was either never informed of their purpose or they were from the section that I had been told did not concern me."
"Is there any way that you might be able to find out?" Castiel asked. "From old inventories or a reference in the library perhaps?"
"I shall see what I can find, but I am not optimistic, Brother."
"Do your best and let me know what the final sword count is. Oh, and please remember that Dean possesses one."
"Very well," Virgil confirmed, giving a half bow before flying off.
"We have lost far more weapons than I had thought," Xarael stated, displeased.
"I concur," Castiel replied. "I believe our greatest concern is those weapons we know nothing about."
"Beyond what you asked of Virgil, I do not believe that there is much that we can do."
Castiel's wings fluttered in frustration. "No, there is not. See if you can't have the Healers looking into what can be done for those on whom the missing poisons are used so that we know what to do should they surface."
"I was already planning to. You are worried for Dean Winchester."
"Now that Lucifer has been returned to his cage once due to Dean's involvement and the fact that Dean helped perform the Rite of Contressa, I have no doubt that he will be a far bigger target this time. I do not believe our brother will be happy to merely toy with him anymore."
"I agree and shall make sure the Healers realize that the poisons may be used on the Righteous Man if they are in Lucifer's possession."
"Thank you, Sister. Is there anything else?"
"Just one thing. As requested, we have been keeping an eye out for anything unusual and detected a rather large usage of Dark magic, well by human standards. As there was nothing else of interest at the moment, it was looked into further and signs of demonic activity were found."
"Is it a gathering?"
"No, all of it has been rather small and I would not have mentioned it but for the original location of the magic and the demonic movement since."
With those words, Xarael handed over a piece of parchment. Castiel felt fear take hold of his Grace once more as he recognized each and every one of the towns listed. They were all places that Dean had been to recently and while that was alarming enough as he knew that his mate would not have left a town if Dean had known that there were demons there, the order of the towns worried him even more.
His mate was being hunted.
The fact that the towns were listed in the exact order that Dean had visited them in couldn't be a coincidence and the only reason that Castiel didn't immediately rush to his mate's side was the fact that they were several towns and half a country behind. That was something that Xarael was also well aware of or he was sure that she'd have mentioned it earlier. Instead he forced himself to focus and think about this rationally.
"This is a complete list?" Castiel demanded.
"Yes and based on their current rate of movement, it should take them a while to catch up with your mate, otherwise I would have told you sooner."
"You saw the pattern, others would not have. Thank you for informing me of this, I shall look into it at once."
"Be careful, Brother."
/
The moment that Castiel arrived in the last town on the list, he could already tell that whatever demons had been here were already gone. He refused to let that panic him as he knew that he wouldn't be able to help his mate or prevent whatever was going on here if he wasn't thinking rationally. Instead he flew to the room that Dean had used and found two dead bodies along with the stench of demons and sulfur. Out of nowhere he was briefly thankful that Dean had still been using a fake credit card when using this room as he knew that the police might otherwise start taking an interest in the fact that his mate had stayed in all of the rooms where things like this had happened afterwards.
The desire to minimize the potential for any such connection to be made had Castiel cleaning the room with a thought before he transported the bodies outside to make it look like they had been attacked and killed in a nearby dark alley. Dean had said that a lot of bad stuff happened in those types of places. He said a quick prayer for the innocent souls that had been so carelessly murdered before he hurried to the next town that Dean had visited. His growing urgency calmed as he easily detected the demonic presence here, though he noted that they had not yet managed to narrow down their search to where his mate had stayed while in this town.
Not wanting to give them any chance to escape least they continue to hunt Dean, Castiel flew right towards them and swiftly dispatched two of them back to Perdition before they even realized that he was there. He captured the other two before they could escape and slammed them against the wall, easily holding them there.
"Who sent you?" Castiel demanded. "Why are you hunting Dean Winchester?"
"Angel!" one of them spat defiantly, struggling to break free.
A quick assessment told Castiel that the demon who had spoken was unlikely to be cooperative while the other seemed more desperate than anything else. He exorcised the first with a thought and focused his attention on the second.
"Please don't send me back!" the creature wailed.
Castiel wondered how quickly this one had broken if he caved so easily. "Answer my question."
"I don't know his name, I swear! All I know is that he wants the human, said he'd reward us for bringing him in."
"Did he say anything else?"
"Just that he wants the human alive. We could play with him all we wanted, but he had to be alive and conscious."
The rage that overtook Castiel was worse than any he'd experienced before and it was all that he could do not to burn out the demon then and there. "Where? Where were you told to bring him?"
"Texas, seven miles north of Houston to an old abandoned warehouse."
Without a seconds hesitation, Castiel exorcised the demon. The only reason that he didn't outright kill it with one of his blades was because he could sense that the host was still alive and he'd gained far too precious and all encompassing an awareness of the fact that those who were possessed or gave themselves over were still in there to ignore that fact even now. Despite that awareness, he still couldn't bring himself to stay there and wait for the hosts to awaken and instead he flew off immediately to Houston.
With the directions, the demonic presence was not hard to find and Castiel couldn't help but smile as he landed outside of a warehouse only to find it covered in what he was sure the occupants considered complete angel proofing. It was right that they should fear him and his brothers and sisters, especially if they chose to go after Dean. It would be their biggest mistake, the botched job with the sigils being a close second.
Castiel found a lone demon on the third floor of the warehouse and flew into the room with it, grabbing it before it could either flee or cry out for help.
"Where is the one who ordered the capture of Dean Winchester?" Castiel demanded.
The demon glared at him defiantly and Castiel reached out with his Grace to touch its essence. Doing so without the immediate intention of exorcising it made him feel dirty, almost tainted, but he paid it no heed. He was willing to take a little discomfort to ensure his mate's safety. The demon screamed, the sound muffled by his hand, and then sagged into his grip when he drew his Grace back.
"Well?"
It took a bit longer, but the demon still glared at him so Castiel repeated his earlier treatment. He was more than willing to do it a few times, but if the demon proved too resistant then he'd simply kill it and move on. Unlike the last demon, this one's host was already dead and would thus taste the power of Gabriel's blade. It took two more goes, but then the demon no longer glared at him and so he removed his hand from its mouth.
"Downstairs, first floor. He's taken over the old main loading zone as his audience chamber, now let me go."
"Let you go?"
"Yes, I told you what you wanted to know."
"Indeed, which means your worth to me is gone."
Castiel covered the demon's mouth and drove the blade into its neck, watching in satisfaction as the demonic essence was purified and destroyed by the Light and Power of his Grace channeled through the archangel blade. He then discarded the body and flew for the biggest room in the old warehouse, intending to find out exactly who was targeting Dean and why. Unlike with the others, he might also be tempted to take his time with this one. No one hunted or harmed his mate without suffering the consequences and he intended to make that very clear.
This demon would regret the day it had ever decided to go after Dean Winchester.
Seconds after Castiel appeared in the center of the room, halfway between the two demonic presences, there was a metallic click followed by the whooshing rush of air as flames sprang to life and he was encircled, trapped within a burning ring of Holy oil.
"Hello, Clarence, so nice of you to drop by. I was hoping you'd take the bait and pay us a visit."
A.N.: And we're back to the angst! You had to know it was coming :)
Chapter 90