The Blind Side 8/?
"Why everyone has been talking about the new prophet. It is the gossip of the Host,” Balthazar said as he regarded his older brother with feigned innocence. “How can you be keeping her to yourself Gabriel?"
"And when have I ever given a damn about what the Host has to say?" Gabriel responded tersely. Eyeing his younger brother with an almost predatory grin, he challenged him. "So, I heard that you've been pretty busy since I've been gone... you know, selling the weapons of Heaven to humans in exchange for their souls. So out of curiosity, since when did you go from angel of the Lord to crossroads demon?"
"I am not a crossroads demon,” claimed Balthazar as his eyes narrowed. “But the human soul does have a...certain worth. I thought you, of all people, would understand that...given the sacrifices that were made in your honor, Loki."
"Just because people made sacrifices to me doesn't mean that I forced them into it! I never touched their souls! Those sacrifices were of their flesh, blood, and whatever material objects they thought would appease a capricious pagan god," Gabriel argued as he visibly bristled at his brother’s accusation. He grabbed Balthazar by his shirt and pulled him in closer. "I know exactly what you're after though, and I'll tell you right now that you are not going to get it!"
“What is going on?” Dean said, interrupting the two when he came upstairs after hearing the heated argument. “Do you two find each other as annoying as I find each of you? Please...just go kill each other somewhere else.”
"None of your business, Dean-o,” Gabriel snapped at the hunter, while keeping his eyes on Balthazar. “I just found out that one of my little brothers has become a peeping Tom, that's all. I'm sure you must understand the disappointment of realizing your little brother is up to no good.”
"Oh now...I didn't really come for the peep show, though that was a nice little bonus,” Balthazar answered with a lopsided grin. “I was just checking up on things here. I came as a favor to Cas. You know, have a look see at the new prophet, check on the Winchesters, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.”
“Wait a minute? Why are you checking on us?” Dean asked in confusion. “Why didn’t Cas just come here himself?”
“Oh this is rich,” Balthazar chuckled as he looked back and forth between Gabriel and Dean. “Your archangel squatter here didn’t tell you? He banned Cas from coming here...or at least from being around the precious little prophet.”
“You did what?!” Dean bellowed at Gabriel. “You had no right. This isn’t your house!”
“Yeah, well the last time I checked, it wasn’t your house either, pal,” Gabriel shot back, glaring at Balthazar before turning to Dean. “Apparently your favorite little angel is desperate enough to try and ally himself with a demon so he can win the war with Raphael. Tillie had a vision about it... about how whoever Cas is working with wants to get rid of her so she can't tell anyone what's happening. So yeah, Castiel's not allowed near her for a while, not until I figure out a way to fix this mess you muttonheads helped cause."
"But you didn't say I couldn't come by to play now, did you?" Balthazar said, as he cocked an eyebrow.
"And you don't think that I can't fix that?" Gabriel scowled, shoving Balthazar against the wall. “Cas is just trying to do an end run around me, and that stops now.”
“Whoa, whoa…wait a minute. Back to Cas working with a demon,” Dean interrupted, pulling the two angels apart. Looking at Gabriel he asked, "Are you sure about this?"
“After our pow wow downstairs about Cas and Meg working together with you two mooks to kill Crowley and you still have to ask me that, especially given the fact that he kissed her?’ Gabriel snorted. "Yeah, I’m pretty damn sure."
At that moment, Tillie came out of the bathroom, dressed in one of her newer, but simple outfits, at the same time Sam joined them in the hallway. Everyone paused for a moment, unsure of themselves. It was Tillie who first broke the silence. "Um...hello? I can hear you all breathing so I know you are out here in the hall. What is going on?"
“Damn it. This is ridiculous,” Dean muttered taking a step back from everyone. “I am calling Cas. Now. I want to hear his side of things.”
"Like hell you are,” Gabriel lashed out at Dean. “How do you know that anything he's been telling you over the past several months is true?"
"It's Cas man!” Dean said, dumbfounded that Gabriel could believe that Cas, of all of his brothers, could be lying. “Cas doesn't lie...He…he is the Willow Rosenberg of Heaven, all mojo and innocence wrapped up in one neat little package."
“You’re joking, right?” Tillie said in disbelief. “Don't you remember what happened to Willow in the sixth season of Buffy? She went all power hungry and flayed a guy alive! And from my perspective, you are living out your sixth season right now.”
“Dean didn’t watch Buffy as much after the third season,” Sam scoffed, rocking nervously back and forth on his feet as he betrayed his brother’s television viewing habits. “He wasn’t too happy that Angel left. And I don’t think he ever liked Tara either.”
Gabriel just gaped at Dean, but Balthazar couldn’t help but throw his two cents into the mix. “So you traded your love for one Angel to another then?”
“My life is not a television show,” Dean growled through gritted teeth. “And Cas is not a witch who is going to try to destroy the world because his gay lover dies.”
“You are so missing the point,” Tillie said crossing her arms across her chest.
“Hmm, that Dean needs to open his eyes to reality before he can be the gay lover that dies?” Balthazar quipped.
Tillie just ignored Balthazar and continued. “It is about power corrupting people. Cas has taken up the mantle of free will that you preached to him….and he is leading a group of people in a war in Heaven based on the very idea that they can do whatever they want.”
“You really don't think that Cas couldn't learn to lie?” Gabriel asked Dean. Waving his hand in Dean’s face mockingly he added, “Hello, look at me. Here's proof right in front of you that angels can trick people into believing that they're something else entirely."
“Gabriel, did you learn something else when you talked to Cas today...or…find proof?” Tillie asked nervously.
"It's more like what he didn't say that worries me," Gabriel sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Wait just a minute,” Dean interrupted Gabriel before he could continue, as Tillie moved behind the archangel away from the hunter. “Just how long have you even known that this was even a possibility…that Cas might, and I do say might be up to something less than honest?”
Gabriel ignored Dean’s question for the moment. "Castiel is hiding something... and whatever he's hiding, well, that worries me. He told me that he didn't know what I was talking about. But, well... let's just say that little brother couldn't look me in the eye while he was telling me that."
"Well then, I think I have seen all I need to see here and I have more than worn out my welcome,” Balthazar interjected, suddenly apprehensive at the turn the conversation was taking. “I should be going."
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed as he poked his brother in the chest. "Balthazar? What I told Castiel applies to you as well. Leave Tillie alone. And I'm not joking around either."
"Right then, goodbye," the angel said before he disappeared.
“You two still haven't told me how long you have known this was a possibility," Dean huffed, eyeing Gabriel and Tillie suspiciously.
"Less than a day,” Gabriel answered, rolling his eyes. “I didn't know for certain though until I went and had a little brotherly heart-to-heart."
“You mean this morning? When the two of you took off?” Dean asked in disbelief as he stepped toward the pair. He looked accusingly at Tillie. “Then you did know what it was about, and you didn't tell us? You are having visions and keeping them to yourself?"
“Dean, slow down for a second,” Sam said, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. ‘”She barely knows either one of us. Why would she trust us with that kind of information? Especially since we are friends with Cas.”
“You...you wouldn't have taken it better this morning than you are now,” Tillie stammered from behind Gabriel. “I was on my own this morning after Gabriel left. There was no way I was going to tell you then.”
"Oh, for the love of my Dad!” Gabriel snapped. “Are you honestly telling me that you expect everyone in your life to tell you everything they know or that happens to them, the second it occurs, if it in anyway remotely pertains to you, but you won’t even give your brother the choice of whether he gets his memories back or not? No, you just make that decision for him.”
“I warned you about bringing that crap up,” Dean snarled, stepping into Gabriel’s space. “If we start messing with his memories, that wall could come down. If that happens, he will have to remember the torture that was Hell, or worse. He has already had one seizure due to his memories, that is not happening on my watch again.”
“He also doesn’t remember what he did when he didn’t have a soul,” Gabriel argued. “And yet he feels guilty about all of those things even though he doesn’t know about them. Sammy here needs to face his past in order to be able to forgive himself. You haven’t even given him a chance to do that.”
“I won’t let that wall come down!” Dean bellowed. “If you try anything to ‘help’ him remember, I will kick your sorry ass.”
Behind Gabriel, Tillie began shaking. “Oh no, it’s happening…this was part of my vision…the two of you arguing about Sam.”
They all turned to stare at her. Gabriel put an arm around her and rubbed her back gently in an attempt to soothe her. “It’s going to be alright. Just because the first part of the vision is happening doesn’t mean the second part is going to happen immediately afterwards.”
“Tillie, I’m confused,” Sam said. “What was your vision? I thought it involved Cas?”
“It did,” Tillie nodded. “But the first part was these two arguing over you and your memories. Then it switched to something different, where Cas had me trapped in a warehouse, trying to force me into telling him about a prophecy and promising me he would restore my vision if I did. There was someone else there, too…Cas was worried about me placing the two of them together. But the other person said I would never leave the warehouse alive.”
“No…no way!” Dean rejected the idea out right. “That is not Cas. He would never do anything like that.”
“Face it, Dean-o,” Gabriel pressed the hunter. “I don’t like any better than you do. He’s my brother. But it’s a prophecy, and part of it has already come to pass.”
“Dean, we need to at least consider the possibility,” Sam broached carefully. “Cas hasn’t exactly told us much about this war, only that he has been busy. It couldn’t hurt to look into the prophecy and see if we can’t find more information to back it up.”
“I can’t believe you!” Dean exclaimed. “You are willing to take the word of a woman we barely even know and this clown who has done nothing but toy with us every time we see him over Cas? Unbelievable!”
Tillie shifted uncomfortably on her feet. She did not like being even the partial focus of an argument like this. “Maybe I should just leave,” Tillie offered. “I could find somewhere else to stay.”
“That is one of the best prophecies you have had since you got here lady,” Dean agreed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”
Gabriel had enough of Dean’s attitude towards Tillie at this point and began to visibly swell in anger. He reached up and seized Dean by the front of his shirt. "You listen to me, you arrogant prick. Stop trying to blame this on Tillie. I am telling you, that kind of crap won’t fly with me. Tillie doesn’t make this stuff happen. She just sees it before it actually occurs so you have a warning.”
"Last time I checked, trying to change a prophecy doesn't work," Dean said, a low angry growl coming from the back of his throat as he shoved Gabriel off of him. Boring a look into Tillie, he grumbled, "And when has a warning ever done us a damn bit of good?"
"Just stop it. It's not worth it,” Tillie pleaded, grabbing Gabriel’s arm trying to pull him away from the hunter. “You know Dean, it still doesn't make this all my fault. I didn't ask for any of this to happen. But maybe you could try talking to Cas. He is your friend."
“You’re damn right he’s my friend,” Dean spat out. “He gave up a helluva lot to help me and Sam. I can’t say the same for you lady. I don’t know you from Adam.”
“And we can all see how much you care about him,” Gabriel shot back as Dean glared at him. “I do know Tillie and she had done as much for me as Cas ever did for you.”
"Damn it, Dean!” Sam exclaimed. “Chill out for a minute and stop taking it out on her. It is not like she is the one pulling all of this bullshit."
"Really, Sam?” Dean asked in disbelief. “You really want to go there right now? How many times has a prophet screwed us over?"
"You're joking right?” Sam chuckled. “It was Zachariah who screwed us over by giving Chuck a false vision. The Whore of Babylon screwed us over by pretending to be a prophet and ended up turning a whole town against itself. Yeah, sure, Chuck is an annoying little sleaze bag who sold our life stories off as cheesy novels. The worst part of that is that there is small fan base lead by Becky Rosen that keeps that sad website and that pathetic excuse for a convention going. It's not like Tillie is writing her own novels though, is it?”
"Yeah, well..." Dean sputtered suddenly at loss for words.
But it was too late. Tillie had had enough. She grabbed her cane and began to walk away from all of them towards her room, pausing only to say her final peace to Dean. "Sam's right. I'm not Chuck. I'm not going to cower and shake in your presence just because you raise your voice. I don't think you're really mad at me. You're angry at the idea that Cas might possibly be capable of something like this and if so, you would have to feel guilty because you could have helped caused it. But I'm done. Clearly you don't want me here. I'm not sticking around so I can be treated like I'm the scum of the earth because I remind you of something you don't want to think about. You guys can fight it out if you like. I'm going to find another place to stay and then I am gone."
Sam gave his brother a bitchface that clearly communicated both ‘way to be a jerk’ and ‘how I am related to you again?’ before taking off after the prophet. "Tillie, wait up," he said following after her.
"So, aren't you going to go pack up your feathers, too and go with her?” Dean asked, giving the archangel a hopeful glance, though much of the wind was out of his sails after listening to Tillie. He was clearly giving what she had to say some thought, though not enough to let the archangel off the hook. “I thought you were a package deal."
"Shut your cakehole. This isn't over, chucklehead. And if you want to bury your head in the sand, then fine, go ahead. Don't come running to me when you find out that I'm right," Gabriel sneered. He glanced over at Tillie and Sam to make sure she got to her room before leaning closer to Dean. "Believe me, if I thought that it would make Tillie feel better, I'd put you in a loop of Snakes on Plane until you stopped being a colossal dick. Unfortunately, that probably won't work. It would just be another place you could try to hide so you could forget about what you learned today."
"Yeah, because sticking me in your own personal form of entertainment has always had such a good outcome for you," Dean argued.
"I said that I'd stuff you in there,” Gabriel laughed walking away from the frustrated hunter. “I didn't say that I'd stick around to watch. Or when I'd let you out."
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