Unexpected Destinies Chapter 164
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: 3,391
Summary: Death and Dean have a conversation about what happened.
PRESENT
In the end, Death was pleased that he'd restored Dean Winchester's angelic bonds as the two archangels had managed to do what he'd hoped and keep the human calm when Dean had regained enough of his awareness to realize exactly who he was. Truth be told, he was a little surprised at how quickly the human had recognized him as it was even faster than he'd expected it to be.
Just as he'd known would happen, Death already found himself even more fascinated by Dean Winchester than before. As a result, he found that he disliked the way the human's soul reacted to his presence. The archangels were able to keep Dean from resisting him but they could do nothing about the fear that the human felt. He found that he disliked it, especially after what he had just done for the soul and the effort it had taken him.
Despite all of the countless souls that he had held- literally in the palm of his hands- Death could unequivocally state that Dean Winchester's was unique. Reluctantly he had to admit that his old friend had truly outdone himself with this one but he couldn't help but wonder if God had fully known exactly what it was that he was making or seeking to achieve. That alone, though, would have made him proceed with the recreation of this soul and kept him interested as he'd love to see his old friend overcome by one of his own creations.
If there was anyone who could and would stand up to God, it was this boy who'd dared to come face him with his own scythe in hand and with the intention of stealing his ring. Death smiled fondly at the memory. Yes, Dean Winchester would definitely stand up to his old friend and probably be less afraid in doing so than when the human had faced him. He couldn't help but feel proud of that even if he currently wished that the boy wasn't trembling so hard in his hands. A soul though couldn't lie or deceive itself and he was sure that the annoyance he felt was because Dean knew that, which was surprising knowledge for a human.
Death wasn't sure why he was still surprised by anything about this particular soul given all that he already knew about Dean Winchester.
"Death," Dean finally said, acknowledging him verbally when he was done recreating the human's soul.
There was a surprising vulnerability in Dean's voice and Death felt how the soul clung to its archangels, drawing both strength and comfort from them. The bonds between each of them were unexpectedly strong and spoke of a previously unheard of connection between a human and an angel, let alone an archangel. It intrigued him even further and made him wonder if this too had been part of God's plan or whether this was part of how it had all spiraled out of control on his old friend. It would be interesting to find out. It was as he was examining the bonds closer that he realized something else; some of the vulnerability and terror which still shook Winchester's soul was the result of the severe trauma it had just undergone and not simply a reaction to his presence.
It relieved Death in a way and also made a lot of sense given that the total extermination of a soul was something far worse than anything that even Dean Winchester had ever experienced before.
"Dean," Death replied evenly, fascinated by how even just his use of the boy's name affected the soul, making it shudder at having drawn the personal attention of someone like him.
So this was what had always lain beneath Dean's mask of bravado. Death had always known that this was there to some extent, but he had never quite dug deep enough to discover the full extent of it. Apparently the human had less of a death wish than he had previously thought. Well, either that or things had changed enough in Winchester's life for the human's priorities in that regard to have changed significantly. Given the bonds Dean now currently had with two of his old friend's archangels, he would not be particularly surprised to learn that it was the latter.
"I... uh... look, thanks, okay?" Dean finally stammered, soul twisting with discomfort but the words still coming out.
"Thanks?" Death couldn't help but question.
This was much too intriguing and more fun than he had experienced in far longer than Death cared to remember. Being as strong and powerful as he was did have its drawbacks as his true pleasures were few and far in-between.
"Yeah, for saving me," Dean replied, still not even remotely at ease but the words flowing faster nonetheless. "For... stopping it, whatever the Hell that was. It-"
Pity overcame Death for the first time in millennia and he found himself shifting his grasp on the soul, though the way it reacted indicated that his touch was not soothing as intended. He was more than a little out of practice when it came to eliciting anything other than fear, death or resignation from a human. Nevertheless, the intent was there now as he had never approved of the extinguishing of a soul- it was so wasteful when the soul could so easily be transformed into something new and different- and knew from previous experience how traumatic surviving such an ordeal could be for a human.
Clearly sensing the boy's distress, the two archangels reacted, bringing Dean Winchester's soul even further under their protective and loving embrace. Death wondered if they could even fathom what it was that their precious human had just experienced. Though they could understand it academically, he doubted that they could translate that into a true understanding, their Grace being so different from a soul in that particular regard. Whether they understood it or not, though, they could still tell the effect that the experience'd had on their human and that was clearly enough for them to react.
In a way Death envied all of them their close connections. It was something which he had never truly experienced himself, being a far more solitary creature. Truthfully he'd wondered about it sometimes, but rarely was he envious of the bonds other creatures formed and shared. Not only had he witnessed them ending poorly, but they had simply not appealed to him. He could hardly even tolerate his own brothers most of the time, let alone someone who would place even greater demands on his time and attention.
Still, there were times when he wondered. Thankfully they were normally fleeting in nature as he was sure these would be.
"It would have been the complete eradication of your soul," Death stated, not sure if the boy had fully grasped that. "Any longer and you would have been utterly gone forever."
The way Dean Winchester shuddered and clung even harder to his archangels told Death that the soul hadn't fully understood what had been happening, just that it had been worse than Hell itself. Even now he doubted if the human fully understood what it meant for a soul to be extinguished, but he had little doubt that the boy wouldn't remain ignorant for long. The protective and clinging behavior of the archangels would clue him in soon enough.
"Yeah, well, thanks for that," Dean finally replied. "Seriously."
Even if a soul couldn't lie, Death knew perfectly well that didn't mean that they had to act on what they knew to be true. Therefore he took the words for what they were as he knew the hunter would normally rather be caught dead than have to admit any sentiment of this nature to anything it viewed as supernatural in nature. Well, almost anything, certain angels had clearly been excepted from that lack of distinction. In the end Dean Winchester was still so very human despite all of the soul's peculiarities and uniqueness.
It was a most captivating duality.
"Consider us even now," Death responded, keeping his true motivations hidden. "And tell that little angel of yours my debt to him is cleared too."
"Yeah, sure."
With a last good look at the soul now that it wasn't obscured by a body, Death left. The angels could take care of the rest.
/
When the very feel of the room changed, Bobby was unable to keep his eyes closed any longer. Carefully he opened them, shielding his eyes with his hand. It took him a moment to get used to the sheer intensity of the light, but it didn't seem to be damaging, which was a definite plus, though he wasn't sure that he could have looked away even if that hadn't been the case.
Dean's soul was still spinning in the air, but Death had gone and Bobby now saw Michael moving forwards to take hold of Dean. It was strange how quickly and easily he'd come to think of what was essentially a giant ball of light as Dean instead of the boy's meatsuit, but it just seemed so fitting. It was almost as if the light somehow emitted the feel of Dean and he felt sure that he'd have recognized the eldest Winchester even if he hadn't already known that it was Dean.
Bobby didn't care how much the boy protested, but as soon as he was sure that Dean could physically handle it, he was clutching the boy to himself and he hadn't yet decided if he was ever letting go again. It seemed like every time he let Dean out of his sight something happened to the boy he saw as a son and he wasn't sure how much more he could take and that was even without knowing just how Dean and Michael had gotten stabbed through the chest as Becky Rosen had mentioned they were during that Rite of Contressa. Or whatever else had transpired in the year he'd been stupid enough to allow a true distance between them.
That was one mistake that Bobby was sure he'd never forgive himself for even if it seemed like Dean somehow had.
"Raphael?" Michael asked.
"His body is fully healed and ready for the return of his soul," Raphael replied.
"Castiel," Michael said, offering Dean's soul.
The way the boy twined himself around Castiel's hand made something within Bobby ache as he thought inexplicably of Karen and though his eyes were watering by now, he couldn't look away. Having the opportunity to see a soul was rare enough (and he had to admit to himself that he'd been jealous when he'd learned that the boys had), but to actually see one being brought back to life was something else entirely. Even if it hadn't been Dean's he'd have wanted to watch it.
For a while nothing happened as Castiel just held Dean's soul in his hand and Bobby wondered if the angel was communicating with the boy. Then Castiel moved his arm down and into Dean's meatsuit and it was all that he could do not to shout or rush forwards as it just looked so wrong. A moment later though the boy's whole body convulsed and Dean grasped for air. His euphoria was quickly dashed at the way in which the boy's meatsuit jerked erratically as if Dean had little to no control over it.
Before Bobby could do anything, Castiel scooped Dean up in his arms and pulled him close as if the boy weighed nothing at all instead of being a full grown- and indeed larger than average- guy. Dean made an incoherent little noise before grasping hold of Castiel and burying his face into the angel's chest, the boy's whole body shuddering visibly.
"Dean?" Sam questioned worriedly.
Castiel glanced over at the younger Winchester. "Later," was all the angel said before disappearing abruptly with his precious burden.
"Hey!" Bobby couldn't help but protest along with Sam.
"Where'd they go?" Sam demanded, leaping to his feet.
"You need to give them some time," Michael responded. "Dean needs time with his bond mate in order to recover."
"Bond mate?" Bobby questioned.
"He hasn't told you."
"Obviously not, ya idjit."
"It's the angelic equivalent of husband, Bobby," Sam stated. "Dean and Cas did some kind of angelic marriage ritual and now they're bonded, soul to Grace."
"What?" Bobby demanded, incredulous.
Dean had married? The boy had married and not told him? The news hurt far more than he'd have expected that it would even though he knew that it was probably his own fault. But still, why hadn't Dean told him?
The boy had married!
It explained a lot about the way that Dean and Castiel had been acting lately and part of Bobby wondered why he hadn't seen it before. But he knew why, this was Dean they were talking about after all. While he'd never doubted the boy's ability to love someone enough for a successful marriage, he'd always feared that Dean had been far to damaged by the scars of his life to ever let someone in far enough for that type of relationship. Which was precisely one of the reasons why he'd been so willing to give the boy some distance with Lisa.
Bobby was pleased to learn that he'd been wrong about Dean's ability to create such connections.
"He told you and not Bobby Singer?" Michael questioned, tone clearly surprised for once.
"Hey!" Sam protested. "He just did, said he was gonna tell the others as well when Samuel walked in and..."
"And what?" Bobby demanded. "What the Hell happened here?"
"I don't know. It was all so unexpected. Samuel literally just came into the room, walked up to Dean and stabbed him."
"Was he possessed?"
"No, he was not," Michael stated, face tight with what even Bobby could tell was anger.
"Then what was wrong with him?" Gwen demanded. "Samuel loves Dean, he'd never do anything to hurt him."
"Of that I have little doubt, what happened here isn't his fault, it's Simiel's."
"Simiel?" Raphael demanded, looking up from where the archangel had moved to Samuel's side.
"Yes, look deep into his mind."
"What are you two talking about?" Bobby asked, not at all liking where this sounded like it was headed.
"Simiel must have been the one who broke into Heaven and stole Samuel Campbell's soul," Michael explained. "She resurrected him specifically for this purpose."
"But how? I've spent over a year with Samuel and he seemed perfectly normal!" Gwen exclaimed.
"He would have been for the most part," Raphael replied, pulling his hand away from Samuel's head. "Simiel planted the compulsion deep within his subconscious mind. He would have been totally unaware of its presence there even as it exerted part of its influence on him."
"What influence?" Bobby questioned.
"The compulsion to find Dean," Sam realized. "Christian was right, it wasn't natural."
"No, it was not, at least not in this case," Michael confirmed. "The only reason that Samuel wasn't driven to finding Dean far sooner was because of the way in which Simiel implanted the compulsion. She hid it deep so that we would not notice it without a careful and invasive probe."
"So is that why he only acted on it now, despite having been around Dean for a while now?" Bobby inquired.
"Yes, precisely," Raphael confirmed. "Not only did implanting the command so deeply hide it, but it also meant that it wouldn't be activated the instant that Samuel had access to Dean. Which was precisely when Castiel, Michael and I were most cautious. Simiel knew that if we encountered him, we would lower our guard after our initial assessment had found him to be no threat and once we assumed him to be an ally."
"We did precisely what she wanted us to," Michael agreed.
"How do you even know all of this already?" Sam demanded. "It's only just happened."
"When I arrived earlier, I saw that Castiel was already tending to Dean and knew Raphael would be best suited to help him, so I focused my attention first on assessing if any threat remained. Though Castiel had already rendered Samuel semi-coherent, I needed to ensure that he would not be of any further danger to Dean or anyone else," Michael explained.
"So now what?" Gwen demanded. "Can you undo the compulsion?"
"No," Raphael stated bluntly. "It is interwoven far too deeply into his mind for us to be able to undo it. The only way to ensure that Samuel isn't forced to act on it again at a later time is to destroy that part of his brain, but doing so will kill him."
"What? Are you sure?" Bobby asked. "There's really no way to just save him?"
"I am sorry but no, Simiel did far too good a job for us to be able to undo it."
"And what if we just send Samuel to the other side of the globe, would that work?" Sam questioned. "He could help us remotely with research and things."
"You do not understand the power of this type of compulsion," Michael replied. "Even if he is made aware that it exists, he will be powerless to resist it. Although keeping him far from Dean would provide some temporary relief, the compulsion would only grow in his mind until he is compelled to seek Dean out, at which point he will attempt to kill him once more."
"And that is a risk we simply cannot afford to take," Raphael declared firmly. "Not again."
"What did Samuel do anyway?" Gwen inquired. "That poison you mentioned, this First, what is it?"
"It's called First Darkness and it's the true essence of chaos and destruction," Michael explained. "It not only almost killed Dean, but practically extinguished his very soul itself forever."
Bobby felt his stomach drop at that. "What do you mean, extinguished?"
"I mean that Dean would have been gone forever. When a soul is literally destroyed as it is with First Darkness, it is gone."
"But Heaven and Hell-" Sam began.
"Need there to be a soul. The soul goes there after a physical death, this would have been a spiritual death as well. There would have been no afterlife of any kind whatsoever. Dean would have been eradicated in every sense of the word."
"Except for God, right?" Sam asked desperately.
Bobby knew precisely how the boy felt. The thought of what Michael was saying was enough to make him feel physically ill. The mere idea of Dean being permanently destroyed was not something he even wanted to contemplate, let alone know had nearly happened. As in so nearly happened that even the archangels had clearly thought that it had happened. He had to stagger back to a chair or he'd fall to the ground as his knees turned to jelly.
He never thought he'd actually wish for Dean to die, but death would be infinitely preferable to what had apparently nearly happened.
"No, not even Father could have brought Dean back if his soul had been fully extinguished," Raphael stated. "Once it is gone, no one can bring it back. We were extremely lucky that Death got here just in time. I was not even aware that he was capable of recreating a soul from a sliver of the original entity."
"Nor was I," Michael added.
"How on Earth did Samuel get his hands on something like that?" Gwen demanded, voice shaken.
"Simiel must have given it to him, concealed somehow until such a time as the compulsion was activated," Michael offered. "It is the only explanation that I can think of."
"But Dean will be fine now, right?" Bobby asked, not entirely sure that he wanted an answer to that for fear of what it might be.
"He should be," Raphael replied cautiously. "Physically he has been fully healed and his soul has been restored in its entirety, but a trauma of that kind can always leave it's mark."
"In addition to which having had his soul recreated by Death has left it superficially altered, which may also have an effect," Michael added.
"And what about me?" Sam asked, voice shaken. "Was Simiel the one who pulled me out of the cage? Did she leave a similar compulsion within me? Am I also a danger to Dean?"
A.N.: If anyone hasn't done so already, go vote for Destiel here as we're losing! If you read the comments you'll see some Wincest fans are angry that Destiel beat them out in round 1 and are thus voting for the other pairing out of spite, let's not let them win like that.
Chapter 165
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,391
Summary: Death and Dean have a conversation about what happened.
PRESENT
In the end, Death was pleased that he'd restored Dean Winchester's angelic bonds as the two archangels had managed to do what he'd hoped and keep the human calm when Dean had regained enough of his awareness to realize exactly who he was. Truth be told, he was a little surprised at how quickly the human had recognized him as it was even faster than he'd expected it to be.
Just as he'd known would happen, Death already found himself even more fascinated by Dean Winchester than before. As a result, he found that he disliked the way the human's soul reacted to his presence. The archangels were able to keep Dean from resisting him but they could do nothing about the fear that the human felt. He found that he disliked it, especially after what he had just done for the soul and the effort it had taken him.
Despite all of the countless souls that he had held- literally in the palm of his hands- Death could unequivocally state that Dean Winchester's was unique. Reluctantly he had to admit that his old friend had truly outdone himself with this one but he couldn't help but wonder if God had fully known exactly what it was that he was making or seeking to achieve. That alone, though, would have made him proceed with the recreation of this soul and kept him interested as he'd love to see his old friend overcome by one of his own creations.
If there was anyone who could and would stand up to God, it was this boy who'd dared to come face him with his own scythe in hand and with the intention of stealing his ring. Death smiled fondly at the memory. Yes, Dean Winchester would definitely stand up to his old friend and probably be less afraid in doing so than when the human had faced him. He couldn't help but feel proud of that even if he currently wished that the boy wasn't trembling so hard in his hands. A soul though couldn't lie or deceive itself and he was sure that the annoyance he felt was because Dean knew that, which was surprising knowledge for a human.
Death wasn't sure why he was still surprised by anything about this particular soul given all that he already knew about Dean Winchester.
"Death," Dean finally said, acknowledging him verbally when he was done recreating the human's soul.
There was a surprising vulnerability in Dean's voice and Death felt how the soul clung to its archangels, drawing both strength and comfort from them. The bonds between each of them were unexpectedly strong and spoke of a previously unheard of connection between a human and an angel, let alone an archangel. It intrigued him even further and made him wonder if this too had been part of God's plan or whether this was part of how it had all spiraled out of control on his old friend. It would be interesting to find out. It was as he was examining the bonds closer that he realized something else; some of the vulnerability and terror which still shook Winchester's soul was the result of the severe trauma it had just undergone and not simply a reaction to his presence.
It relieved Death in a way and also made a lot of sense given that the total extermination of a soul was something far worse than anything that even Dean Winchester had ever experienced before.
"Dean," Death replied evenly, fascinated by how even just his use of the boy's name affected the soul, making it shudder at having drawn the personal attention of someone like him.
So this was what had always lain beneath Dean's mask of bravado. Death had always known that this was there to some extent, but he had never quite dug deep enough to discover the full extent of it. Apparently the human had less of a death wish than he had previously thought. Well, either that or things had changed enough in Winchester's life for the human's priorities in that regard to have changed significantly. Given the bonds Dean now currently had with two of his old friend's archangels, he would not be particularly surprised to learn that it was the latter.
"I... uh... look, thanks, okay?" Dean finally stammered, soul twisting with discomfort but the words still coming out.
"Thanks?" Death couldn't help but question.
This was much too intriguing and more fun than he had experienced in far longer than Death cared to remember. Being as strong and powerful as he was did have its drawbacks as his true pleasures were few and far in-between.
"Yeah, for saving me," Dean replied, still not even remotely at ease but the words flowing faster nonetheless. "For... stopping it, whatever the Hell that was. It-"
Pity overcame Death for the first time in millennia and he found himself shifting his grasp on the soul, though the way it reacted indicated that his touch was not soothing as intended. He was more than a little out of practice when it came to eliciting anything other than fear, death or resignation from a human. Nevertheless, the intent was there now as he had never approved of the extinguishing of a soul- it was so wasteful when the soul could so easily be transformed into something new and different- and knew from previous experience how traumatic surviving such an ordeal could be for a human.
Clearly sensing the boy's distress, the two archangels reacted, bringing Dean Winchester's soul even further under their protective and loving embrace. Death wondered if they could even fathom what it was that their precious human had just experienced. Though they could understand it academically, he doubted that they could translate that into a true understanding, their Grace being so different from a soul in that particular regard. Whether they understood it or not, though, they could still tell the effect that the experience'd had on their human and that was clearly enough for them to react.
In a way Death envied all of them their close connections. It was something which he had never truly experienced himself, being a far more solitary creature. Truthfully he'd wondered about it sometimes, but rarely was he envious of the bonds other creatures formed and shared. Not only had he witnessed them ending poorly, but they had simply not appealed to him. He could hardly even tolerate his own brothers most of the time, let alone someone who would place even greater demands on his time and attention.
Still, there were times when he wondered. Thankfully they were normally fleeting in nature as he was sure these would be.
"It would have been the complete eradication of your soul," Death stated, not sure if the boy had fully grasped that. "Any longer and you would have been utterly gone forever."
The way Dean Winchester shuddered and clung even harder to his archangels told Death that the soul hadn't fully understood what had been happening, just that it had been worse than Hell itself. Even now he doubted if the human fully understood what it meant for a soul to be extinguished, but he had little doubt that the boy wouldn't remain ignorant for long. The protective and clinging behavior of the archangels would clue him in soon enough.
"Yeah, well, thanks for that," Dean finally replied. "Seriously."
Even if a soul couldn't lie, Death knew perfectly well that didn't mean that they had to act on what they knew to be true. Therefore he took the words for what they were as he knew the hunter would normally rather be caught dead than have to admit any sentiment of this nature to anything it viewed as supernatural in nature. Well, almost anything, certain angels had clearly been excepted from that lack of distinction. In the end Dean Winchester was still so very human despite all of the soul's peculiarities and uniqueness.
It was a most captivating duality.
"Consider us even now," Death responded, keeping his true motivations hidden. "And tell that little angel of yours my debt to him is cleared too."
"Yeah, sure."
With a last good look at the soul now that it wasn't obscured by a body, Death left. The angels could take care of the rest.
/
When the very feel of the room changed, Bobby was unable to keep his eyes closed any longer. Carefully he opened them, shielding his eyes with his hand. It took him a moment to get used to the sheer intensity of the light, but it didn't seem to be damaging, which was a definite plus, though he wasn't sure that he could have looked away even if that hadn't been the case.
Dean's soul was still spinning in the air, but Death had gone and Bobby now saw Michael moving forwards to take hold of Dean. It was strange how quickly and easily he'd come to think of what was essentially a giant ball of light as Dean instead of the boy's meatsuit, but it just seemed so fitting. It was almost as if the light somehow emitted the feel of Dean and he felt sure that he'd have recognized the eldest Winchester even if he hadn't already known that it was Dean.
Bobby didn't care how much the boy protested, but as soon as he was sure that Dean could physically handle it, he was clutching the boy to himself and he hadn't yet decided if he was ever letting go again. It seemed like every time he let Dean out of his sight something happened to the boy he saw as a son and he wasn't sure how much more he could take and that was even without knowing just how Dean and Michael had gotten stabbed through the chest as Becky Rosen had mentioned they were during that Rite of Contressa. Or whatever else had transpired in the year he'd been stupid enough to allow a true distance between them.
That was one mistake that Bobby was sure he'd never forgive himself for even if it seemed like Dean somehow had.
"Raphael?" Michael asked.
"His body is fully healed and ready for the return of his soul," Raphael replied.
"Castiel," Michael said, offering Dean's soul.
The way the boy twined himself around Castiel's hand made something within Bobby ache as he thought inexplicably of Karen and though his eyes were watering by now, he couldn't look away. Having the opportunity to see a soul was rare enough (and he had to admit to himself that he'd been jealous when he'd learned that the boys had), but to actually see one being brought back to life was something else entirely. Even if it hadn't been Dean's he'd have wanted to watch it.
For a while nothing happened as Castiel just held Dean's soul in his hand and Bobby wondered if the angel was communicating with the boy. Then Castiel moved his arm down and into Dean's meatsuit and it was all that he could do not to shout or rush forwards as it just looked so wrong. A moment later though the boy's whole body convulsed and Dean grasped for air. His euphoria was quickly dashed at the way in which the boy's meatsuit jerked erratically as if Dean had little to no control over it.
Before Bobby could do anything, Castiel scooped Dean up in his arms and pulled him close as if the boy weighed nothing at all instead of being a full grown- and indeed larger than average- guy. Dean made an incoherent little noise before grasping hold of Castiel and burying his face into the angel's chest, the boy's whole body shuddering visibly.
"Dean?" Sam questioned worriedly.
Castiel glanced over at the younger Winchester. "Later," was all the angel said before disappearing abruptly with his precious burden.
"Hey!" Bobby couldn't help but protest along with Sam.
"Where'd they go?" Sam demanded, leaping to his feet.
"You need to give them some time," Michael responded. "Dean needs time with his bond mate in order to recover."
"Bond mate?" Bobby questioned.
"He hasn't told you."
"Obviously not, ya idjit."
"It's the angelic equivalent of husband, Bobby," Sam stated. "Dean and Cas did some kind of angelic marriage ritual and now they're bonded, soul to Grace."
"What?" Bobby demanded, incredulous.
Dean had married? The boy had married and not told him? The news hurt far more than he'd have expected that it would even though he knew that it was probably his own fault. But still, why hadn't Dean told him?
The boy had married!
It explained a lot about the way that Dean and Castiel had been acting lately and part of Bobby wondered why he hadn't seen it before. But he knew why, this was Dean they were talking about after all. While he'd never doubted the boy's ability to love someone enough for a successful marriage, he'd always feared that Dean had been far to damaged by the scars of his life to ever let someone in far enough for that type of relationship. Which was precisely one of the reasons why he'd been so willing to give the boy some distance with Lisa.
Bobby was pleased to learn that he'd been wrong about Dean's ability to create such connections.
"He told you and not Bobby Singer?" Michael questioned, tone clearly surprised for once.
"Hey!" Sam protested. "He just did, said he was gonna tell the others as well when Samuel walked in and..."
"And what?" Bobby demanded. "What the Hell happened here?"
"I don't know. It was all so unexpected. Samuel literally just came into the room, walked up to Dean and stabbed him."
"Was he possessed?"
"No, he was not," Michael stated, face tight with what even Bobby could tell was anger.
"Then what was wrong with him?" Gwen demanded. "Samuel loves Dean, he'd never do anything to hurt him."
"Of that I have little doubt, what happened here isn't his fault, it's Simiel's."
"Simiel?" Raphael demanded, looking up from where the archangel had moved to Samuel's side.
"Yes, look deep into his mind."
"What are you two talking about?" Bobby asked, not at all liking where this sounded like it was headed.
"Simiel must have been the one who broke into Heaven and stole Samuel Campbell's soul," Michael explained. "She resurrected him specifically for this purpose."
"But how? I've spent over a year with Samuel and he seemed perfectly normal!" Gwen exclaimed.
"He would have been for the most part," Raphael replied, pulling his hand away from Samuel's head. "Simiel planted the compulsion deep within his subconscious mind. He would have been totally unaware of its presence there even as it exerted part of its influence on him."
"What influence?" Bobby questioned.
"The compulsion to find Dean," Sam realized. "Christian was right, it wasn't natural."
"No, it was not, at least not in this case," Michael confirmed. "The only reason that Samuel wasn't driven to finding Dean far sooner was because of the way in which Simiel implanted the compulsion. She hid it deep so that we would not notice it without a careful and invasive probe."
"So is that why he only acted on it now, despite having been around Dean for a while now?" Bobby inquired.
"Yes, precisely," Raphael confirmed. "Not only did implanting the command so deeply hide it, but it also meant that it wouldn't be activated the instant that Samuel had access to Dean. Which was precisely when Castiel, Michael and I were most cautious. Simiel knew that if we encountered him, we would lower our guard after our initial assessment had found him to be no threat and once we assumed him to be an ally."
"We did precisely what she wanted us to," Michael agreed.
"How do you even know all of this already?" Sam demanded. "It's only just happened."
"When I arrived earlier, I saw that Castiel was already tending to Dean and knew Raphael would be best suited to help him, so I focused my attention first on assessing if any threat remained. Though Castiel had already rendered Samuel semi-coherent, I needed to ensure that he would not be of any further danger to Dean or anyone else," Michael explained.
"So now what?" Gwen demanded. "Can you undo the compulsion?"
"No," Raphael stated bluntly. "It is interwoven far too deeply into his mind for us to be able to undo it. The only way to ensure that Samuel isn't forced to act on it again at a later time is to destroy that part of his brain, but doing so will kill him."
"What? Are you sure?" Bobby asked. "There's really no way to just save him?"
"I am sorry but no, Simiel did far too good a job for us to be able to undo it."
"And what if we just send Samuel to the other side of the globe, would that work?" Sam questioned. "He could help us remotely with research and things."
"You do not understand the power of this type of compulsion," Michael replied. "Even if he is made aware that it exists, he will be powerless to resist it. Although keeping him far from Dean would provide some temporary relief, the compulsion would only grow in his mind until he is compelled to seek Dean out, at which point he will attempt to kill him once more."
"And that is a risk we simply cannot afford to take," Raphael declared firmly. "Not again."
"What did Samuel do anyway?" Gwen inquired. "That poison you mentioned, this First, what is it?"
"It's called First Darkness and it's the true essence of chaos and destruction," Michael explained. "It not only almost killed Dean, but practically extinguished his very soul itself forever."
Bobby felt his stomach drop at that. "What do you mean, extinguished?"
"I mean that Dean would have been gone forever. When a soul is literally destroyed as it is with First Darkness, it is gone."
"But Heaven and Hell-" Sam began.
"Need there to be a soul. The soul goes there after a physical death, this would have been a spiritual death as well. There would have been no afterlife of any kind whatsoever. Dean would have been eradicated in every sense of the word."
"Except for God, right?" Sam asked desperately.
Bobby knew precisely how the boy felt. The thought of what Michael was saying was enough to make him feel physically ill. The mere idea of Dean being permanently destroyed was not something he even wanted to contemplate, let alone know had nearly happened. As in so nearly happened that even the archangels had clearly thought that it had happened. He had to stagger back to a chair or he'd fall to the ground as his knees turned to jelly.
He never thought he'd actually wish for Dean to die, but death would be infinitely preferable to what had apparently nearly happened.
"No, not even Father could have brought Dean back if his soul had been fully extinguished," Raphael stated. "Once it is gone, no one can bring it back. We were extremely lucky that Death got here just in time. I was not even aware that he was capable of recreating a soul from a sliver of the original entity."
"Nor was I," Michael added.
"How on Earth did Samuel get his hands on something like that?" Gwen demanded, voice shaken.
"Simiel must have given it to him, concealed somehow until such a time as the compulsion was activated," Michael offered. "It is the only explanation that I can think of."
"But Dean will be fine now, right?" Bobby asked, not entirely sure that he wanted an answer to that for fear of what it might be.
"He should be," Raphael replied cautiously. "Physically he has been fully healed and his soul has been restored in its entirety, but a trauma of that kind can always leave it's mark."
"In addition to which having had his soul recreated by Death has left it superficially altered, which may also have an effect," Michael added.
"And what about me?" Sam asked, voice shaken. "Was Simiel the one who pulled me out of the cage? Did she leave a similar compulsion within me? Am I also a danger to Dean?"
A.N.: If anyone hasn't done so already, go vote for Destiel here as we're losing! If you read the comments you'll see some Wincest fans are angry that Destiel beat them out in round 1 and are thus voting for the other pairing out of spite, let's not let them win like that.
Chapter 165