Unexpected Destinies Chapter 111
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
Word Count: 2,734
Summary: Michael finds Dean's reaction to the bright seal entertaining.
PAST
Michael tried to keep his amusement to himself but found that it was surprisingly difficult to do. He'd gotten so used to sharing his emotions with his vessel that keeping things from Dean now took more effort than sharing them did. Besides, his friend definitely wasn't helping matters with Dean's precious annoyance and constant dark mutters of how he hadn't prettied up the seal.
"I didn't!" Dean insisted as his vessel caught wind of where his thoughts had gone.
"No, of course not," Michael soothed placatingly.
He was unable to make himself sound as calm or genuine as he'd intended though and felt the irritation and glare sparking off of Dean's soul. This is turn made it even harder for Michael to keep his mirth hidden and a smile escaped his control.
"What is so amusing, Brother?" Castiel asked with a frown, pausing in his task of hiding the bright seal from view.
"Your precious mate," Michael replied and Dean literally growled within him at that adjective and Michael's smile only grew. "He seems to find offense in the fact that I said he is responsible for making the seal so bright."
"But he is," Castiel frowned.
"I may have used the word pretty."
"Ah, I see."
"'m not pretty!" Dean protested loudly with a little prod to his Grace that his vessel probably thought was a good jab. "I don't prettify things!"
"Prettify, Little One?"
"Dude, shut up."
This time Michael couldn't help it, he laughed aloud, drawing a look of mild reproof from his brother that he knew was staged for his vessel's benefit.
From the way Dean's soul roiled within him full of indignation and mild outrage, Michael knew that his friend saw right through Castiel's act as well. The muttering that started up again let him know that Dean wasn't truly angry with them but was rather dealing with some sense of wounded human pride or this sense of emasculation Castiel had once told him human males could feel in certain situations. Even though he didn't fully understand this emasculation, he'd gotten enough of it to know that if Dean were an angel all of his feathers would be ruffled and puffed up at the moment and that image sent another wave of amusement through him that he tried to suppress. Instead he returned his attention to the task at hand, helping out where he could to ameliorate the damage Lucifer had caused all the while bathing the soul nestled within him with affection.
/
It wasn't fair, Dean nearly muttered aloud. Michael wasn't playing fair, pretending to give him some space while simultaneously giving him that. The emotion swirled around him, warm and bright and everything he just wanted to surrender himself to and revel in.
Manipulative bastard.
"Dude!" Dean finally protested, when he felt his indignation starting to fade away.
"Yes, Little One?" Michael replied innocently.
Dean scowled. "You're not gonna stop calling me that, are you?"
"No, I like it."
"Of course you do."
"What did you want, Dean?"
And now the archangel called him by his name. Dean was certain that Michael was doing it to get to him, he'd done this type of shit often enough to Sam to be able to recognize it for what it was. The only question was whether or not his friend realized what he was doing. Tempting as it was to assume that Michael was and retaliate accordingly, he actually didn't think that his friend did realize it and he was a bit afraid that if he reacted too much to it that the archangel might stop it altogether. Although a part of wanted just that at the moment, the rest of him was far too touched by it. He knew from experience the affection that went into that sort of thing and it told him that what he felt now from Michael was very real.
That was what brought Dean up short and made him squirm in a way that usually preceded a quick, strategic exit on his part, only that just wasn't possible this time. Instead he tried to bury those thoughts and focus back on what was going on around him. It was amazingly easy to get lost in his thoughts and lose track of time while with Michael and he wondered if that had to do with the fact that he was currently a soul. His archangels had told him that being a soul meant that he couldn't hide things from himself or deny them. It was why he knew that Michael and Castiel were right about the seal thing no matter how much he wanted them to be wrong. He'd felt the way he- his soul that was- had reacted and interacted with Michael's power on a truly visceral level and it kinda terrified him.
Dean shifted uncomfortably even now, just thinking about it. The connection he had with Michael had flared open wider than ever before during the creation of the seal and he'd quite literally felt the archangel's power flowing through him almost as if it were his own. It made him dizzy to just think about being able to command that amount of power and while they had been creating the seal that had been almost what it felt like which really freaked him out for some reason. Beyond that, however, there was also the fact that he'd been able to see that the power had been different, brighter, when it had left him than when it had entered his soul. Still, he didn't think that it would be enough to make the seal that much brighter.
It wasn't his fault, damnit!
"Of course not."
"Bite me," Dean muttered.
The seal wasn't nearly so bright now, Dean saw. Castiel had done a brilliant job of it, managing to disguise it so that it now looked more like some random supernatural artifact than a seal. It was a good thing too as he was sure that rescue crews were bound to start arriving soon and they'd have to be done and gone before that happened or they'd have some tough questions to answer.
"How are you feeling, Michael?" Castiel asked, stepping close to them.
"Better, I should be able to fly back now," Michael replied.
"Are you okay to fly to Heaven instead?" Dean inquired hesitantly.
"Yes, I would be able to do that and my recovery would be faster there. Why?"
"I can be in Heaven for a while, right? There won't be any adverse effects so long as I'm with you like this?"
"You wish to go to Heaven, Little One?"
The surprise in his archangel's voice made Dean wince a little as he knew exactly what Michael was thinking of. He had made his dislike of Heaven quite clear, but this time it couldn't be avoided and he had no intention of trying to find a substitute for what he needed. The book on angelic bonding had been quite clear on what the first step towards initiating an official bonding ceremony needed to be and he was determined to this right for Castiel. His lover deserved that much, besides, he knew that he'd be perfectly safe with Michael so there would really be no excuse not to do this right.
"I want to find a kalsika," Dean admitted a little hesitantly, not used to sharing these types of emotions with anyone other than his lover.
The way that Michael froze made Dean a little worried that he'd done something wrong. He'd tried to do everything that the book had said so he didn't think he'd missed anything but it was always possible that there were things that hadn't been covered in the book that angels just took for granted as common knowledge. The next moment all doubts fled as Michael's Grace constricted around him in what he assumed was an entire soul hug, or at least that was the closest equivalent that he could think of.
"Dude!" Dean complained, squirming once more. "Personal space, Mike."
"Doing this will obliterate that concept entirely."
"With Cas," Dean pointed out, trying to wiggle out of the hug. "Dude, seriously!"
"I am not going to vanish on you, Dean, I will not leave you so you do not need to try and maintain a superficial distance between us."
The words stilled Dean instantly and if he'd been in control of his meatsuit then he was sure that he'd have a lump in his throat. He hadn't thought that Michael would, at least not consciously anyway, but those words definitely struck a cord and he suddenly felt incredibly vulnerable as if his archangel had stripped him bare of any and all defenses that he had. It made sense that on a subconscious level he'd been afraid of exactly that scenario after what had happened with Sam, but he wasn't ready to confront the fact that a part of him was afraid that his new friend would abandon and betray him like his brother had.
It was simply far too agonizing a possibility to think about and made Dean wonder how he'd even been able to allow himself to trust Michael this much in the first place.
"Shall we go?" Castiel asked, a frown on his face and Dean realized that they must have spaced out on his lover.
Of course Castiel had played a large role in that, Dean suddenly understood. His lover's trust that Michael was truly on their side had preceded his own trust and he was now incredibly grateful for that even if the sudden revelation still left him feeling shaky at best.
"You go ahead, I need to make a stop somewhere else first," Michael stated.
"Do you need help?"
"No, Dean would like to stop by Heaven," Michael began and Dean winced, not having wanted to tell his lover about that.
It was meant to be a surprise and one he sprung at the right time.
"Heaven?"
"Yes, he wishes to visit Raphael," Michael lied for him.
Oh, that was actually a pretty good explanation and definitely one that Castiel wouldn't question. Not that he was going to tell Michael that, the archangel's ego was already far too large as far as Dean was concerned. The fact that he didn't get a friendly jab in return was a clear indication that his friend could tell how shaky he still felt. Michael's Grace curled around him instead and he allowed the comfort it offered to soak into him. Damn his brother for making him feel like this in the first place!
"Okay," Castiel said. "I shall ensure that Dean has something to eat when you return."
With that his lover spread his magnificent ebony wings and took off. Obligingly, Michael watched Castiel go so Dean got an excellent view of his lover in flight before Michael spread his own wings and they took off as well. Now that he wasn't seriously distracted by the horrible condition that Castiel had been in the last time they'd flown to Heaven, he was able to pay attention to his surroundings and it was weird. At first it seemed like they were simply flying upwards, straight into the sky, but instead of feeling the air get thinner around them and hitting the stratosphere, there was almost a ripple in the air around them and things started to change. Perhaps he'd missed something, some critical threshold or so, as he still wasn't able to process everything that he was seeing, but it seemed like they were suddenly somewhere else.
Logically Dean knew that they were in Heaven now, but it looked unlike anything that he'd ever seen there before. Not that it was particularly surprising given that he could only remember being in Heaven twice, but this was absolutely gorgeous. It was breathtaking and he was thankful that Michael paused a moment and simply let him take it all in. The sky was actually familiar now that he thought about it as he vaguely remembered seeing something like it the first time while he'd been driving the Impala along the Road. As before the moon was full and the stars were doing their spiral loopy thingy.
"Spiral loopy thing?" Michael questioned with humor.
"Shut up," Dean threw right back, embarrassed.
Below the sky was a landscape as familiar and yet as alien as the sky. It shouldn't have stood out as being anything special as mountains with valleys and orchards were a dime a dozen on Earth and yet it did. Like the sky, it was familiar enough for the alien bits to really stand out and make it seem otherworldly in a way he had a hard time explaining, even to himself. He supposed that it all seemed to radiate some dark inner light. He'd say it radiated light except for the fact that all of that had absolutely nothing on the light the kalsika that hung among the fruit in the trees radiated. That was true light, so the rest seemed dark in comparison and yet it still all had a glow to it that mountains and valleys and orchards on Earth didn't possess. It made his head hurt to try and process it all and he understood that the only reason that he was seeing any of this in the first place was entirely due to the angelic vision he currently had thanks to Michael's presence within his meatsuit. Or at least that would be the case with a normal vessel. Given that he could view angels' wings these days, all bets were off regarding the other stuff. But still, he was only seeing all of this due to some reason as ordinary humans would just be seeing odd orbs among the normal, if exotic, looking fruit.
"I still can't believe that there's actually a Garden of Eden," Dean whispered, something about the feel of the place making him lower his voice even if nothing he said would be spoken aloud.
There was a sense of peace and bliss that hung over the grove that would normally have given Dean the creeps but which now inspired him with nothing short of awe. That was probably down to the fact that he knew this wasn't anything bad whereas in any other circumstance his supernatural radar would have been pinging far too much for him to be able to simply take it all in and enjoy it.
"Your Bible got the location of it and all of the details wrong, but yes, the Garden of Eden is an actual place as you can now see for yourself," Michael replied proudly.
"I take it the whole Adam and Eve thing is bullshit then?"
"No, they were originally allowed in here but lost that particular privilege when they broke the two rules that Father had laid down for them."
"Two? I thought it was just the one, that they not ear any of the... well it was supposed to be an apple, but I guess it's really whatever those fruits are."
"Yes, they partook from the forbidden fruit, but Eve also touched a kalsika and this was strictly forbidden without the proper rituals and intentions."
"Oh, that part got forgotten somewhere along the line."
"It is for the best as we would not wish demons to learn of the kalsika."
"Yeah, I can see why," Dean replied before he gave himself a mental shake and tried to overcome his awe enough to focus on the reason why they'd come here. "Okay, so how do we do this?"
"Normally an angel seeking to bond with their mate would wander the grove until they found, or rather were drawn to, the right kalsika."
"Which I obviously can't do."
"No, but I can do so for you. I shall pull back as much as it is possible for me to and you will need to concentrate on reaching outwards and trying to feel the pull of your kalsika."
"And what if I can't find it?" Dean asked, finally voicing the fear he'd had ever since first reading about the kalsika. "What if there isn't one that is compatible with me?"
"Hush, Little One, there will be one, I am certain of it. You just need to allow yourself to find it. Now, reach out with your soul and you will know when we pass near the right one."
A.N.: Yes, I'm fully aware that I haven't explained exactly what a kalsika is, you'll just have to wait and see
:D
Chapter 112
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 2,734
Summary: Michael finds Dean's reaction to the bright seal entertaining.
PAST
Michael tried to keep his amusement to himself but found that it was surprisingly difficult to do. He'd gotten so used to sharing his emotions with his vessel that keeping things from Dean now took more effort than sharing them did. Besides, his friend definitely wasn't helping matters with Dean's precious annoyance and constant dark mutters of how he hadn't prettied up the seal.
"I didn't!" Dean insisted as his vessel caught wind of where his thoughts had gone.
"No, of course not," Michael soothed placatingly.
He was unable to make himself sound as calm or genuine as he'd intended though and felt the irritation and glare sparking off of Dean's soul. This is turn made it even harder for Michael to keep his mirth hidden and a smile escaped his control.
"What is so amusing, Brother?" Castiel asked with a frown, pausing in his task of hiding the bright seal from view.
"Your precious mate," Michael replied and Dean literally growled within him at that adjective and Michael's smile only grew. "He seems to find offense in the fact that I said he is responsible for making the seal so bright."
"But he is," Castiel frowned.
"I may have used the word pretty."
"Ah, I see."
"'m not pretty!" Dean protested loudly with a little prod to his Grace that his vessel probably thought was a good jab. "I don't prettify things!"
"Prettify, Little One?"
"Dude, shut up."
This time Michael couldn't help it, he laughed aloud, drawing a look of mild reproof from his brother that he knew was staged for his vessel's benefit.
From the way Dean's soul roiled within him full of indignation and mild outrage, Michael knew that his friend saw right through Castiel's act as well. The muttering that started up again let him know that Dean wasn't truly angry with them but was rather dealing with some sense of wounded human pride or this sense of emasculation Castiel had once told him human males could feel in certain situations. Even though he didn't fully understand this emasculation, he'd gotten enough of it to know that if Dean were an angel all of his feathers would be ruffled and puffed up at the moment and that image sent another wave of amusement through him that he tried to suppress. Instead he returned his attention to the task at hand, helping out where he could to ameliorate the damage Lucifer had caused all the while bathing the soul nestled within him with affection.
/
It wasn't fair, Dean nearly muttered aloud. Michael wasn't playing fair, pretending to give him some space while simultaneously giving him that. The emotion swirled around him, warm and bright and everything he just wanted to surrender himself to and revel in.
Manipulative bastard.
"Dude!" Dean finally protested, when he felt his indignation starting to fade away.
"Yes, Little One?" Michael replied innocently.
Dean scowled. "You're not gonna stop calling me that, are you?"
"No, I like it."
"Of course you do."
"What did you want, Dean?"
And now the archangel called him by his name. Dean was certain that Michael was doing it to get to him, he'd done this type of shit often enough to Sam to be able to recognize it for what it was. The only question was whether or not his friend realized what he was doing. Tempting as it was to assume that Michael was and retaliate accordingly, he actually didn't think that his friend did realize it and he was a bit afraid that if he reacted too much to it that the archangel might stop it altogether. Although a part of wanted just that at the moment, the rest of him was far too touched by it. He knew from experience the affection that went into that sort of thing and it told him that what he felt now from Michael was very real.
That was what brought Dean up short and made him squirm in a way that usually preceded a quick, strategic exit on his part, only that just wasn't possible this time. Instead he tried to bury those thoughts and focus back on what was going on around him. It was amazingly easy to get lost in his thoughts and lose track of time while with Michael and he wondered if that had to do with the fact that he was currently a soul. His archangels had told him that being a soul meant that he couldn't hide things from himself or deny them. It was why he knew that Michael and Castiel were right about the seal thing no matter how much he wanted them to be wrong. He'd felt the way he- his soul that was- had reacted and interacted with Michael's power on a truly visceral level and it kinda terrified him.
Dean shifted uncomfortably even now, just thinking about it. The connection he had with Michael had flared open wider than ever before during the creation of the seal and he'd quite literally felt the archangel's power flowing through him almost as if it were his own. It made him dizzy to just think about being able to command that amount of power and while they had been creating the seal that had been almost what it felt like which really freaked him out for some reason. Beyond that, however, there was also the fact that he'd been able to see that the power had been different, brighter, when it had left him than when it had entered his soul. Still, he didn't think that it would be enough to make the seal that much brighter.
It wasn't his fault, damnit!
"Of course not."
"Bite me," Dean muttered.
The seal wasn't nearly so bright now, Dean saw. Castiel had done a brilliant job of it, managing to disguise it so that it now looked more like some random supernatural artifact than a seal. It was a good thing too as he was sure that rescue crews were bound to start arriving soon and they'd have to be done and gone before that happened or they'd have some tough questions to answer.
"How are you feeling, Michael?" Castiel asked, stepping close to them.
"Better, I should be able to fly back now," Michael replied.
"Are you okay to fly to Heaven instead?" Dean inquired hesitantly.
"Yes, I would be able to do that and my recovery would be faster there. Why?"
"I can be in Heaven for a while, right? There won't be any adverse effects so long as I'm with you like this?"
"You wish to go to Heaven, Little One?"
The surprise in his archangel's voice made Dean wince a little as he knew exactly what Michael was thinking of. He had made his dislike of Heaven quite clear, but this time it couldn't be avoided and he had no intention of trying to find a substitute for what he needed. The book on angelic bonding had been quite clear on what the first step towards initiating an official bonding ceremony needed to be and he was determined to this right for Castiel. His lover deserved that much, besides, he knew that he'd be perfectly safe with Michael so there would really be no excuse not to do this right.
"I want to find a kalsika," Dean admitted a little hesitantly, not used to sharing these types of emotions with anyone other than his lover.
The way that Michael froze made Dean a little worried that he'd done something wrong. He'd tried to do everything that the book had said so he didn't think he'd missed anything but it was always possible that there were things that hadn't been covered in the book that angels just took for granted as common knowledge. The next moment all doubts fled as Michael's Grace constricted around him in what he assumed was an entire soul hug, or at least that was the closest equivalent that he could think of.
"Dude!" Dean complained, squirming once more. "Personal space, Mike."
"Doing this will obliterate that concept entirely."
"With Cas," Dean pointed out, trying to wiggle out of the hug. "Dude, seriously!"
"I am not going to vanish on you, Dean, I will not leave you so you do not need to try and maintain a superficial distance between us."
The words stilled Dean instantly and if he'd been in control of his meatsuit then he was sure that he'd have a lump in his throat. He hadn't thought that Michael would, at least not consciously anyway, but those words definitely struck a cord and he suddenly felt incredibly vulnerable as if his archangel had stripped him bare of any and all defenses that he had. It made sense that on a subconscious level he'd been afraid of exactly that scenario after what had happened with Sam, but he wasn't ready to confront the fact that a part of him was afraid that his new friend would abandon and betray him like his brother had.
It was simply far too agonizing a possibility to think about and made Dean wonder how he'd even been able to allow himself to trust Michael this much in the first place.
"Shall we go?" Castiel asked, a frown on his face and Dean realized that they must have spaced out on his lover.
Of course Castiel had played a large role in that, Dean suddenly understood. His lover's trust that Michael was truly on their side had preceded his own trust and he was now incredibly grateful for that even if the sudden revelation still left him feeling shaky at best.
"You go ahead, I need to make a stop somewhere else first," Michael stated.
"Do you need help?"
"No, Dean would like to stop by Heaven," Michael began and Dean winced, not having wanted to tell his lover about that.
It was meant to be a surprise and one he sprung at the right time.
"Heaven?"
"Yes, he wishes to visit Raphael," Michael lied for him.
Oh, that was actually a pretty good explanation and definitely one that Castiel wouldn't question. Not that he was going to tell Michael that, the archangel's ego was already far too large as far as Dean was concerned. The fact that he didn't get a friendly jab in return was a clear indication that his friend could tell how shaky he still felt. Michael's Grace curled around him instead and he allowed the comfort it offered to soak into him. Damn his brother for making him feel like this in the first place!
"Okay," Castiel said. "I shall ensure that Dean has something to eat when you return."
With that his lover spread his magnificent ebony wings and took off. Obligingly, Michael watched Castiel go so Dean got an excellent view of his lover in flight before Michael spread his own wings and they took off as well. Now that he wasn't seriously distracted by the horrible condition that Castiel had been in the last time they'd flown to Heaven, he was able to pay attention to his surroundings and it was weird. At first it seemed like they were simply flying upwards, straight into the sky, but instead of feeling the air get thinner around them and hitting the stratosphere, there was almost a ripple in the air around them and things started to change. Perhaps he'd missed something, some critical threshold or so, as he still wasn't able to process everything that he was seeing, but it seemed like they were suddenly somewhere else.
Logically Dean knew that they were in Heaven now, but it looked unlike anything that he'd ever seen there before. Not that it was particularly surprising given that he could only remember being in Heaven twice, but this was absolutely gorgeous. It was breathtaking and he was thankful that Michael paused a moment and simply let him take it all in. The sky was actually familiar now that he thought about it as he vaguely remembered seeing something like it the first time while he'd been driving the Impala along the Road. As before the moon was full and the stars were doing their spiral loopy thingy.
"Spiral loopy thing?" Michael questioned with humor.
"Shut up," Dean threw right back, embarrassed.
Below the sky was a landscape as familiar and yet as alien as the sky. It shouldn't have stood out as being anything special as mountains with valleys and orchards were a dime a dozen on Earth and yet it did. Like the sky, it was familiar enough for the alien bits to really stand out and make it seem otherworldly in a way he had a hard time explaining, even to himself. He supposed that it all seemed to radiate some dark inner light. He'd say it radiated light except for the fact that all of that had absolutely nothing on the light the kalsika that hung among the fruit in the trees radiated. That was true light, so the rest seemed dark in comparison and yet it still all had a glow to it that mountains and valleys and orchards on Earth didn't possess. It made his head hurt to try and process it all and he understood that the only reason that he was seeing any of this in the first place was entirely due to the angelic vision he currently had thanks to Michael's presence within his meatsuit. Or at least that would be the case with a normal vessel. Given that he could view angels' wings these days, all bets were off regarding the other stuff. But still, he was only seeing all of this due to some reason as ordinary humans would just be seeing odd orbs among the normal, if exotic, looking fruit.
"I still can't believe that there's actually a Garden of Eden," Dean whispered, something about the feel of the place making him lower his voice even if nothing he said would be spoken aloud.
There was a sense of peace and bliss that hung over the grove that would normally have given Dean the creeps but which now inspired him with nothing short of awe. That was probably down to the fact that he knew this wasn't anything bad whereas in any other circumstance his supernatural radar would have been pinging far too much for him to be able to simply take it all in and enjoy it.
"Your Bible got the location of it and all of the details wrong, but yes, the Garden of Eden is an actual place as you can now see for yourself," Michael replied proudly.
"I take it the whole Adam and Eve thing is bullshit then?"
"No, they were originally allowed in here but lost that particular privilege when they broke the two rules that Father had laid down for them."
"Two? I thought it was just the one, that they not ear any of the... well it was supposed to be an apple, but I guess it's really whatever those fruits are."
"Yes, they partook from the forbidden fruit, but Eve also touched a kalsika and this was strictly forbidden without the proper rituals and intentions."
"Oh, that part got forgotten somewhere along the line."
"It is for the best as we would not wish demons to learn of the kalsika."
"Yeah, I can see why," Dean replied before he gave himself a mental shake and tried to overcome his awe enough to focus on the reason why they'd come here. "Okay, so how do we do this?"
"Normally an angel seeking to bond with their mate would wander the grove until they found, or rather were drawn to, the right kalsika."
"Which I obviously can't do."
"No, but I can do so for you. I shall pull back as much as it is possible for me to and you will need to concentrate on reaching outwards and trying to feel the pull of your kalsika."
"And what if I can't find it?" Dean asked, finally voicing the fear he'd had ever since first reading about the kalsika. "What if there isn't one that is compatible with me?"
"Hush, Little One, there will be one, I am certain of it. You just need to allow yourself to find it. Now, reach out with your soul and you will know when we pass near the right one."
A.N.: Yes, I'm fully aware that I haven't explained exactly what a kalsika is, you'll just have to wait and see
:D
Chapter 112