Unexpected Destinies Chapter 177
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: 3,301
Summary: Dean meets one of the members of the European branch of the Winchester family.
PRESENT
From the moment that Dean managed to tear his gaze away from the incredibly impressive altar area of the cathedral to look at the newest member of his extended human family, he knew that something was up. Not only did he not normally get looked at like that by religious leaders (though he strongly suspected that the faith healer from Nebraska would have done so if the man hadn't been blind), but his bond brother looked entirely too pleased with himself for something not to be up. He snorted and shook his head, he really should have known better than to expect anything else. His archangels were just completely incapable of leaving well enough alone when it came to him and things that they viewed as an injustice to him.
Although Dean couldn't know for sure what it was that his bond brother had said to the human Michael, he could guess and he braced himself for the type of reaction that he'd gotten from various members of the Vatican.
"Michael," Michael began. "This is my brother Castiel and your own relative, Dean Winchester. Dean, Castiel, this is Michael."
Right, like that wasn't going to get confusing at all.
"It is an honour," the human Michael said, looking first at Castiel before reaching out to shake Dean's hand.
"Nice to meet you," Dean replied, slightly uncomfortable.
"Please, come in away from the tourist areas so that we can talk without being overheard."
"Dean Winchester!" a woman called out.
Surprised, Dean turned to look who it was that recognized him, but he was quite sure that he'd never before seen the older woman who was rushing towards them, though he could be mistaken of course. That said, it would be surprising if he was and that he just happened to run into someone that knew him here in England when he'd not even been in the country for all of ten minutes. Plus he was quite sure that he'd remember her just for her accent.
"Dean Winchester, may I have a word? It'll only take a wee moment."
"Sure," the human Michael replied before turning to look at them. "Excuse me for a moment, I'll join you in a few minutes."
"Huh?" Dean said, totally confused. "I thought that his name was Michael."
"It is," Raziel confirmed, appearing at his side so suddenly that Dean wasn't sure if the archangel had just crept up on them or had actually flown in. He'd say the latter but he hadn't actually heard the archangel's wings so he wasn't sure.
"She called him Dean."
"It's his title. A dean is the chief resident cleric of a cathedral within several of the Christian religions, including the Anglican Communion."
"A title? You've got to be kidding me."
"Nope, 'fraid not. So you see, Michael is actually Dean Michael Winchester, or Dean Winchester to most people here."
"Dude, that's so not cool."
"I believe that it is ironic, though," Michael stated, smiling. "Not only is your first name a title, but it's a religious title as well."
Dean narrowed his eyes at his friend, not at all impressed. This was his name that they were talking about here. The thing that he'd been called his entire life. "That's easy for you to laugh at, you clearly like names to be repeated or reused, I don't."
"It's okay, Beloved," Castiel soothed. "You'll still be unique among all humans, nothing can ever come close to threatening that."
"No, that's not it, Cas," Dean replied, struggling and failing miserably to think of a good way to put it. "I- It's just... I don't know."
Before any of his archangels could reply, the dean came back to them and ushered them out of the public areas so that they could speak in private.
"I believe that it's safe for me to assume that you're not all here for a social visit," Dean Michael said.
"No, unfortunately not," Raziel confirmed.
"Then it is time?"
"Yes."
"Strange as it may seem, that's almost a relief."
"A relief?" Dean questioned in disbelief.
"Yes. We- my family and I- have been tracking the signs of all of the unusual activity that has been transpiring in the States and we didn't know what to make of it all. We'd thought that it might be related to the Apocalypse due to some of the signs, but things just didn't quite come together well enough for us to be sure of that."
Now that Dean could actually understand. There was absolutely nothing worse than having to deal with a situation and not being able to figure out what was going on. Without that crucial bit of information it was nigh on impossible to create a proper plan that could actually be carried out as you just had no idea if it was even feasible or not. Though he'd always been a big fan of just barging in and dealing with things on the fly, even he'd known better than to do so recklessly when he didn't even have the slightest grasp on what he was actually dealing with. That would just be suicidal, pure and simple.
"That would be mainly because of Dean," Michael replied with an undercurrent to his tone that told Dean that his bond brother meant more than merely what he was actually saying and he couldn't help but wonder how his archangel could do that having only met the dean minutes ago. Just what exactly had they talked about? "Your distant cousin simply refused to play his part and instead derailed all plans pertaining to how the Apocalypse should have gone."
"Which you said is what God intended, right?" the dean checked.
Ah, so that's what Michael had said to get his cousin to look at him the way that Dean Michael had. It was clever, Dean had to admit that, though he wouldn't tell his bond brother. The last thing that his archangel needed was encouragement at this point, he'd already discovered firsthand how Michael and the others had no problem turning the tables on him when it suited their purpose. Like hell was he going to give them any more ammo to do so with, not unless there was a clear benefit to it for himself at least.
"Well, I'm not sure that we can say whether Father intended for it to go like this," Castiel responded. "He did approve of the original scripture at one point, but He definitely approved of what happened."
"I hope that you'll excuse me if I say that this is hard to take in so suddenly."
"Don't worry, these guys more than understand where you're coming from as they've all been there themselves at one point or another," Dean reassured the guy.
"If the End of Days is nearly upon us, then I assume that you are here for the items?" Dean Michael asked.
"It won't be the End of Days if we have anything to say about it. But, yeah, we're here for the items that you have, if you don't mind."
"This is not how I'd envisioned things going, but if this is what is intended, then I am here to serve."
The sentiment annoyed Dean, but he bit his tongue as it worked in their favor in this particular instance. It was hard for him to understand how they could be related, though. Between himself and his father there had been an utter lack of faith and he'd never quite known the depth of his brother's belief until they'd dealt with that fake angel job in Providence. So to think of anyone directly related to them literally dedicating their very life to religion was all but mindboggling and if it had been anyone other than his archangels saying that they were related, he'd not have believed them.
/
"Wait, so let me make sure that I've got this right," Sam hissed through clenched teeth. "Not only did you just meet a new archangel in your room earlier today, but he told you about more of our family in Europe who not only knew about the power that ran through our bloodline but also possessed various things that could help us win this Apocalypse and instead of coming to tell us about it you just decided to head over to England alone- with nothing but a text message to us- and deal with it yourself?"
Dean frowned at his brother's agitation and shared a quick look with his husband. "I was hardly alone, Sam."
"Oh, so what? Bobby and I aren't good enough anymore now that you have your angel pals? What the hell, man?"
"Dude, calm down, it wasn't like that."
"No? Then what was it like, Dean? Because I honestly don't even know anymore."
"It was business as usual. A lead came up and so we followed through on it the way that we always do."
"Not alone!"
"For the last time, Sam, I wasn't alone. I was with Cas and Mike in addition to Raziel."
Sam snorted. "An angel whom you know nothing about. Like that hasn't gone wrong before."
"Though we had not known what had happened to Raziel, we did know that he was on our side," Castiel interrupted. "He fought with us during the Rebellion and lost his bond mate to Lucifer's blade. There is absolutely no chance that Raziel would ever side with Lucifer after that."
"That still doesn't explain why you two didn't come and get us."
"How about because we didn't think of it?" Dean responded, feeling his own temper start to rise. "Is that what you wanted to hear, Sam? I didn't think of it."
"You sent me a text," Bobby pointed out. "You thought of that."
"Yeah, sure, because I didn't want you to worry about where I'd vanished off to, but that was all. It just didn't occur to me to drag you guys along. Sorry if that upsets you, but this is how we roll now. A lead comes in and we follow up on it, me and Cas and Mike and Raph. Whoever's free goes after it and then we fill in the others later."
"And if you get into trouble?" Bobby questioned.
"Angels are always connected to each other," Castiel replied. "All it would take is a single call for help and all of my brothers and sisters would hear it if I so wished them to."
"And that never fails?"
"Nothing is fool proof, but Dean has also given Michael and Raphael cell phones, so there have always been two different lines of communication open to us."
"I still can't believe that you didn't think to come get us," Sam muttered. "I mean didn't you even stop to think for a moment that I might have wanted to meet this Michael or the other members of our family over there?"
"No, Sam, I didn't," Dean responded tightly. "And I'm sorry, okay? But you've got to remember, we've been apart for over a year, things change and this is one of them. I'm used to going places with Cas, Mike or Raph now. I've not had to think about including anyone else since Stull Cemetery. And besides, it's not like you can really talk, you didn't tell me about the Campbells after all."
His brother visibly flinched at that and Dean felt slightly bad, but not nearly bad enough to try and take back his words. They were all true and Sam would just have to live with the consequences of his actions for once. He'd already learned the hard way what attempting to soften the blows or negating the blame did.
"That's not fair," Sam complained. "I was under Lucifer's influence then, it wasn't my fault!"
"Being under Lucifer's influence didn't force you to do anything, Sam," Castiel replied firmly. "It merely made you give in to your anger and pride more easily than you would have done otherwise. It did not, however, create the anger and arrogance that you felt, no, those were all your own. It was not like being possessed or being under the power of a dark spell. Your decisions were still your own."
"What?"
"What Cas is trying to say is that it isn't a get out of jail free card," Dean explained. "You can't just blame everything that you did that you didn't like on it and then pretend that they never happened. That was you, Sam, so deal with it. There's a reason why no one, including yourself I might add, realized that something was up and that's because none of it was entirely out of character for you."
"That's not true!"
"No? Sam, you told me yourself that you've got an anger problem after we did that job at the Glenwood Springs Psychiatric Hospital. And if most of your fights with Dad weren't about you knowing better and your ego then I'll eat my shoes."
"Angelic vessels in general and archangel vessels in particular are chosen because of the compatibility that they have with their angel," Castiel stated.
"I'm not like Lucifer!" Sam exclaimed angrily.
"No, but you had enough similarities with him in order to ensure a good fit. Just as Dean did with Michael."
"Why, because I get angry? Everyone gets angry. Hell, Dean hits people when he gets angry, at least I never let mine get physical."
"No, you just keep it all locked up inside you, boiling ever hotter and becoming more and more obsessive," Dean replied. "You of all people should know how bad for you that is. You're always trying to get me to talk about things because you say that it would be good for me."
"I don't get obsessive in my anger, that was Dad, Dean."
"Please, Sam, the two of you were like two peas in a pod. You were just as obsessed with chasing Azazel as Dad was once Jess died, to the point where you were willing to abandon innocent people who were in trouble just because you'd realized that Dad wasn't there. Not to mention your obsession with killing Lilith."
"She'd killed you!"
"Yeah, but if it had really been about me, then you'd have stopped when Cas brought me back. Or at the very least you'd have listened to me, instead you ignored everything that I said in your single minded quest to gank that little bitch. And also, if it had been about me then you wouldn't have broken your promise to me not to use your powers anymore. The fact that you were able to justify that away proves that it wasn't about me, it was about revenge, the thing you used to condemn Dad for being so obsessed with."
"So you're saying what, that making a crossroads deal was a better way of handling things?"
"No, of course not. What I was stupid and thoughtless and it's definitely not something that I would ever do again," Dean admitted freely. "The difference between us is that I've come to terms with why I did it, owned up to my weaknesses and worked to correct them. Have I done so completely? Not even close, but I've made a lot of progress towards that end and definitely plan to continue doing so. You've not done any of that, which is why we're here now, having this discussion."
"Having been with Lucifer merely gave your subconscious license to use and give into your anger, arrogance and self-righteousness even more than you did before," Castiel added. "My brother always felt entitled to whatever he wanted and so did you once you'd been with him, but not because a part of him remained with you after you were pulled free from the cage, but because you were nearly there by yourself anyway. Therefore even you didn't see it as an outside influence as it wasn't a big leap."
"So what are you guys saying?" Sam demanded. "That I'm a lost cause? That I'm rotten through and through and should just give up?"
"Damnit, Sam, that's not what I'm saying at all!" Dean exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "I'm just saying that if you really want to get over this, then you're gonna have to man up, admit to your own faults and work to change them. Simply blaming everything on Lucifer is the easy way out and will only lead to something like this happening again."
"What, a random douchebag angel showing up and you gallivanting off around the world with your angels?"
"Hey, that douchebag angel is the reason you only spent so little time in the cage with Lucifer. Raziel's the one that pulled you out!"
"What?"
"Did he say why?" Bobby asked, piping up for the first time in quite a while.
"Yeah, he said that God told him to do it, said that it was necessary."
And that right there? It threw all of Dean's perfectly justified and righteous anger at the Douche into chaos. After everything that God had done to earn his anger, of course the Guy had to go and do something like this just to complicate things. He hated it when things became complicated, that never led to anything good. Nothing good at all. At least the shock of it seemed to have shut his brother up for now and Sam actually looked contemplative, which was the best that he could hope for at the moment, so he took that as a win.
"Okay, so what about the trip itself, was it worth all of this trouble?" Bobby inquired ironically.
"Yeah, so I've been told," Dean replied.
"You've been told?"
"Well all we got were some old scrolls and a shiny rock that's apparently magical or something, but I've been told that it's all important."
"It's a focusing crystal, Dean," Castiel corrected with mock exasperation, though Dean could feel the indulgence and amusement over their bond. "A flawless one."
"A flawless focusing crystal?" Bobby questioned in disbelief. "Those are nearly impossible to get hold of."
"It took the Winchester family several generations to obtain and they've guarded it carefully ever since."
"No kidding they did."
"I take it the crystal's important then?" Sam asked.
"Extremely so," Castiel confirmed. "It can be used to augment the power of many a spell as well as various other things. If we find a weapon that can be used against Lucifer there is a good chance that this crystal will be capable of enhancing its effectiveness."
"We got to find a weapon first."
"I don't suppose those scrolls contained anything towards that end?" Bobby questioned.
"We don't know," Dean answered. "They all seem to be in some kind of code and Michael- our distant cousin Michael that is- said that though there were rumors that someone in the family could once read them, that particular skill has been lost for ages, along with any knowledge of the scrolls' contents. All he knew is that they are incredibly important and had to be protected at all costs."
"How is something like that even lost?" Sam inquired in disbelief. "I mean if they knew about the importance of our family's destiny?"
"It was at a time when the scrolls were passed on to someone who thought it was nothing more than a family legend, a story told to amuse the children," Castiel explained. "We were told that the only reason the scrolls survived is because they were shoved aside in the attic with various other unwanted items."
"Damn but that would be an awful way to lose an Apocalypse," Bobby muttered.
"That's exactly what I said!" Dean exclaimed before his tone turned petulant, even to his own ears. "They said that I lacked faith."
"But you do, Dean," Castiel stated.
"Bite me, Cas."
"Mm, maybe later."
A.N.: Hey guys, I need a little help. I'm looking for a present for a younger family member and I like to give books. Problem is this person doesn't normally like to read and hardly touches books if it can be helped. There are certain series which are exceptions though and those get flown through. I'm seeking the next such series and am looking for suggestions. Previous hits were Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunter Games. Thanks!
Chapter 178
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,301
Summary: Dean meets one of the members of the European branch of the Winchester family.
PRESENT
From the moment that Dean managed to tear his gaze away from the incredibly impressive altar area of the cathedral to look at the newest member of his extended human family, he knew that something was up. Not only did he not normally get looked at like that by religious leaders (though he strongly suspected that the faith healer from Nebraska would have done so if the man hadn't been blind), but his bond brother looked entirely too pleased with himself for something not to be up. He snorted and shook his head, he really should have known better than to expect anything else. His archangels were just completely incapable of leaving well enough alone when it came to him and things that they viewed as an injustice to him.
Although Dean couldn't know for sure what it was that his bond brother had said to the human Michael, he could guess and he braced himself for the type of reaction that he'd gotten from various members of the Vatican.
"Michael," Michael began. "This is my brother Castiel and your own relative, Dean Winchester. Dean, Castiel, this is Michael."
Right, like that wasn't going to get confusing at all.
"It is an honour," the human Michael said, looking first at Castiel before reaching out to shake Dean's hand.
"Nice to meet you," Dean replied, slightly uncomfortable.
"Please, come in away from the tourist areas so that we can talk without being overheard."
"Dean Winchester!" a woman called out.
Surprised, Dean turned to look who it was that recognized him, but he was quite sure that he'd never before seen the older woman who was rushing towards them, though he could be mistaken of course. That said, it would be surprising if he was and that he just happened to run into someone that knew him here in England when he'd not even been in the country for all of ten minutes. Plus he was quite sure that he'd remember her just for her accent.
"Dean Winchester, may I have a word? It'll only take a wee moment."
"Sure," the human Michael replied before turning to look at them. "Excuse me for a moment, I'll join you in a few minutes."
"Huh?" Dean said, totally confused. "I thought that his name was Michael."
"It is," Raziel confirmed, appearing at his side so suddenly that Dean wasn't sure if the archangel had just crept up on them or had actually flown in. He'd say the latter but he hadn't actually heard the archangel's wings so he wasn't sure.
"She called him Dean."
"It's his title. A dean is the chief resident cleric of a cathedral within several of the Christian religions, including the Anglican Communion."
"A title? You've got to be kidding me."
"Nope, 'fraid not. So you see, Michael is actually Dean Michael Winchester, or Dean Winchester to most people here."
"Dude, that's so not cool."
"I believe that it is ironic, though," Michael stated, smiling. "Not only is your first name a title, but it's a religious title as well."
Dean narrowed his eyes at his friend, not at all impressed. This was his name that they were talking about here. The thing that he'd been called his entire life. "That's easy for you to laugh at, you clearly like names to be repeated or reused, I don't."
"It's okay, Beloved," Castiel soothed. "You'll still be unique among all humans, nothing can ever come close to threatening that."
"No, that's not it, Cas," Dean replied, struggling and failing miserably to think of a good way to put it. "I- It's just... I don't know."
Before any of his archangels could reply, the dean came back to them and ushered them out of the public areas so that they could speak in private.
"I believe that it's safe for me to assume that you're not all here for a social visit," Dean Michael said.
"No, unfortunately not," Raziel confirmed.
"Then it is time?"
"Yes."
"Strange as it may seem, that's almost a relief."
"A relief?" Dean questioned in disbelief.
"Yes. We- my family and I- have been tracking the signs of all of the unusual activity that has been transpiring in the States and we didn't know what to make of it all. We'd thought that it might be related to the Apocalypse due to some of the signs, but things just didn't quite come together well enough for us to be sure of that."
Now that Dean could actually understand. There was absolutely nothing worse than having to deal with a situation and not being able to figure out what was going on. Without that crucial bit of information it was nigh on impossible to create a proper plan that could actually be carried out as you just had no idea if it was even feasible or not. Though he'd always been a big fan of just barging in and dealing with things on the fly, even he'd known better than to do so recklessly when he didn't even have the slightest grasp on what he was actually dealing with. That would just be suicidal, pure and simple.
"That would be mainly because of Dean," Michael replied with an undercurrent to his tone that told Dean that his bond brother meant more than merely what he was actually saying and he couldn't help but wonder how his archangel could do that having only met the dean minutes ago. Just what exactly had they talked about? "Your distant cousin simply refused to play his part and instead derailed all plans pertaining to how the Apocalypse should have gone."
"Which you said is what God intended, right?" the dean checked.
Ah, so that's what Michael had said to get his cousin to look at him the way that Dean Michael had. It was clever, Dean had to admit that, though he wouldn't tell his bond brother. The last thing that his archangel needed was encouragement at this point, he'd already discovered firsthand how Michael and the others had no problem turning the tables on him when it suited their purpose. Like hell was he going to give them any more ammo to do so with, not unless there was a clear benefit to it for himself at least.
"Well, I'm not sure that we can say whether Father intended for it to go like this," Castiel responded. "He did approve of the original scripture at one point, but He definitely approved of what happened."
"I hope that you'll excuse me if I say that this is hard to take in so suddenly."
"Don't worry, these guys more than understand where you're coming from as they've all been there themselves at one point or another," Dean reassured the guy.
"If the End of Days is nearly upon us, then I assume that you are here for the items?" Dean Michael asked.
"It won't be the End of Days if we have anything to say about it. But, yeah, we're here for the items that you have, if you don't mind."
"This is not how I'd envisioned things going, but if this is what is intended, then I am here to serve."
The sentiment annoyed Dean, but he bit his tongue as it worked in their favor in this particular instance. It was hard for him to understand how they could be related, though. Between himself and his father there had been an utter lack of faith and he'd never quite known the depth of his brother's belief until they'd dealt with that fake angel job in Providence. So to think of anyone directly related to them literally dedicating their very life to religion was all but mindboggling and if it had been anyone other than his archangels saying that they were related, he'd not have believed them.
/
"Wait, so let me make sure that I've got this right," Sam hissed through clenched teeth. "Not only did you just meet a new archangel in your room earlier today, but he told you about more of our family in Europe who not only knew about the power that ran through our bloodline but also possessed various things that could help us win this Apocalypse and instead of coming to tell us about it you just decided to head over to England alone- with nothing but a text message to us- and deal with it yourself?"
Dean frowned at his brother's agitation and shared a quick look with his husband. "I was hardly alone, Sam."
"Oh, so what? Bobby and I aren't good enough anymore now that you have your angel pals? What the hell, man?"
"Dude, calm down, it wasn't like that."
"No? Then what was it like, Dean? Because I honestly don't even know anymore."
"It was business as usual. A lead came up and so we followed through on it the way that we always do."
"Not alone!"
"For the last time, Sam, I wasn't alone. I was with Cas and Mike in addition to Raziel."
Sam snorted. "An angel whom you know nothing about. Like that hasn't gone wrong before."
"Though we had not known what had happened to Raziel, we did know that he was on our side," Castiel interrupted. "He fought with us during the Rebellion and lost his bond mate to Lucifer's blade. There is absolutely no chance that Raziel would ever side with Lucifer after that."
"That still doesn't explain why you two didn't come and get us."
"How about because we didn't think of it?" Dean responded, feeling his own temper start to rise. "Is that what you wanted to hear, Sam? I didn't think of it."
"You sent me a text," Bobby pointed out. "You thought of that."
"Yeah, sure, because I didn't want you to worry about where I'd vanished off to, but that was all. It just didn't occur to me to drag you guys along. Sorry if that upsets you, but this is how we roll now. A lead comes in and we follow up on it, me and Cas and Mike and Raph. Whoever's free goes after it and then we fill in the others later."
"And if you get into trouble?" Bobby questioned.
"Angels are always connected to each other," Castiel replied. "All it would take is a single call for help and all of my brothers and sisters would hear it if I so wished them to."
"And that never fails?"
"Nothing is fool proof, but Dean has also given Michael and Raphael cell phones, so there have always been two different lines of communication open to us."
"I still can't believe that you didn't think to come get us," Sam muttered. "I mean didn't you even stop to think for a moment that I might have wanted to meet this Michael or the other members of our family over there?"
"No, Sam, I didn't," Dean responded tightly. "And I'm sorry, okay? But you've got to remember, we've been apart for over a year, things change and this is one of them. I'm used to going places with Cas, Mike or Raph now. I've not had to think about including anyone else since Stull Cemetery. And besides, it's not like you can really talk, you didn't tell me about the Campbells after all."
His brother visibly flinched at that and Dean felt slightly bad, but not nearly bad enough to try and take back his words. They were all true and Sam would just have to live with the consequences of his actions for once. He'd already learned the hard way what attempting to soften the blows or negating the blame did.
"That's not fair," Sam complained. "I was under Lucifer's influence then, it wasn't my fault!"
"Being under Lucifer's influence didn't force you to do anything, Sam," Castiel replied firmly. "It merely made you give in to your anger and pride more easily than you would have done otherwise. It did not, however, create the anger and arrogance that you felt, no, those were all your own. It was not like being possessed or being under the power of a dark spell. Your decisions were still your own."
"What?"
"What Cas is trying to say is that it isn't a get out of jail free card," Dean explained. "You can't just blame everything that you did that you didn't like on it and then pretend that they never happened. That was you, Sam, so deal with it. There's a reason why no one, including yourself I might add, realized that something was up and that's because none of it was entirely out of character for you."
"That's not true!"
"No? Sam, you told me yourself that you've got an anger problem after we did that job at the Glenwood Springs Psychiatric Hospital. And if most of your fights with Dad weren't about you knowing better and your ego then I'll eat my shoes."
"Angelic vessels in general and archangel vessels in particular are chosen because of the compatibility that they have with their angel," Castiel stated.
"I'm not like Lucifer!" Sam exclaimed angrily.
"No, but you had enough similarities with him in order to ensure a good fit. Just as Dean did with Michael."
"Why, because I get angry? Everyone gets angry. Hell, Dean hits people when he gets angry, at least I never let mine get physical."
"No, you just keep it all locked up inside you, boiling ever hotter and becoming more and more obsessive," Dean replied. "You of all people should know how bad for you that is. You're always trying to get me to talk about things because you say that it would be good for me."
"I don't get obsessive in my anger, that was Dad, Dean."
"Please, Sam, the two of you were like two peas in a pod. You were just as obsessed with chasing Azazel as Dad was once Jess died, to the point where you were willing to abandon innocent people who were in trouble just because you'd realized that Dad wasn't there. Not to mention your obsession with killing Lilith."
"She'd killed you!"
"Yeah, but if it had really been about me, then you'd have stopped when Cas brought me back. Or at the very least you'd have listened to me, instead you ignored everything that I said in your single minded quest to gank that little bitch. And also, if it had been about me then you wouldn't have broken your promise to me not to use your powers anymore. The fact that you were able to justify that away proves that it wasn't about me, it was about revenge, the thing you used to condemn Dad for being so obsessed with."
"So you're saying what, that making a crossroads deal was a better way of handling things?"
"No, of course not. What I was stupid and thoughtless and it's definitely not something that I would ever do again," Dean admitted freely. "The difference between us is that I've come to terms with why I did it, owned up to my weaknesses and worked to correct them. Have I done so completely? Not even close, but I've made a lot of progress towards that end and definitely plan to continue doing so. You've not done any of that, which is why we're here now, having this discussion."
"Having been with Lucifer merely gave your subconscious license to use and give into your anger, arrogance and self-righteousness even more than you did before," Castiel added. "My brother always felt entitled to whatever he wanted and so did you once you'd been with him, but not because a part of him remained with you after you were pulled free from the cage, but because you were nearly there by yourself anyway. Therefore even you didn't see it as an outside influence as it wasn't a big leap."
"So what are you guys saying?" Sam demanded. "That I'm a lost cause? That I'm rotten through and through and should just give up?"
"Damnit, Sam, that's not what I'm saying at all!" Dean exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "I'm just saying that if you really want to get over this, then you're gonna have to man up, admit to your own faults and work to change them. Simply blaming everything on Lucifer is the easy way out and will only lead to something like this happening again."
"What, a random douchebag angel showing up and you gallivanting off around the world with your angels?"
"Hey, that douchebag angel is the reason you only spent so little time in the cage with Lucifer. Raziel's the one that pulled you out!"
"What?"
"Did he say why?" Bobby asked, piping up for the first time in quite a while.
"Yeah, he said that God told him to do it, said that it was necessary."
And that right there? It threw all of Dean's perfectly justified and righteous anger at the Douche into chaos. After everything that God had done to earn his anger, of course the Guy had to go and do something like this just to complicate things. He hated it when things became complicated, that never led to anything good. Nothing good at all. At least the shock of it seemed to have shut his brother up for now and Sam actually looked contemplative, which was the best that he could hope for at the moment, so he took that as a win.
"Okay, so what about the trip itself, was it worth all of this trouble?" Bobby inquired ironically.
"Yeah, so I've been told," Dean replied.
"You've been told?"
"Well all we got were some old scrolls and a shiny rock that's apparently magical or something, but I've been told that it's all important."
"It's a focusing crystal, Dean," Castiel corrected with mock exasperation, though Dean could feel the indulgence and amusement over their bond. "A flawless one."
"A flawless focusing crystal?" Bobby questioned in disbelief. "Those are nearly impossible to get hold of."
"It took the Winchester family several generations to obtain and they've guarded it carefully ever since."
"No kidding they did."
"I take it the crystal's important then?" Sam asked.
"Extremely so," Castiel confirmed. "It can be used to augment the power of many a spell as well as various other things. If we find a weapon that can be used against Lucifer there is a good chance that this crystal will be capable of enhancing its effectiveness."
"We got to find a weapon first."
"I don't suppose those scrolls contained anything towards that end?" Bobby questioned.
"We don't know," Dean answered. "They all seem to be in some kind of code and Michael- our distant cousin Michael that is- said that though there were rumors that someone in the family could once read them, that particular skill has been lost for ages, along with any knowledge of the scrolls' contents. All he knew is that they are incredibly important and had to be protected at all costs."
"How is something like that even lost?" Sam inquired in disbelief. "I mean if they knew about the importance of our family's destiny?"
"It was at a time when the scrolls were passed on to someone who thought it was nothing more than a family legend, a story told to amuse the children," Castiel explained. "We were told that the only reason the scrolls survived is because they were shoved aside in the attic with various other unwanted items."
"Damn but that would be an awful way to lose an Apocalypse," Bobby muttered.
"That's exactly what I said!" Dean exclaimed before his tone turned petulant, even to his own ears. "They said that I lacked faith."
"But you do, Dean," Castiel stated.
"Bite me, Cas."
"Mm, maybe later."
A.N.: Hey guys, I need a little help. I'm looking for a present for a younger family member and I like to give books. Problem is this person doesn't normally like to read and hardly touches books if it can be helped. There are certain series which are exceptions though and those get flown through. I'm seeking the next such series and am looking for suggestions. Previous hits were Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunter Games. Thanks!
Chapter 178