The original title of this ficlet was Gods Don't Get Hugs
Do I win a prize for fastest-ever episode coda? :D
Spoilers for 6x22, natch. Takes place immediately (and I mean *immediately*) after the events. Unbeta'ed. Probably gets rather schmoopy toward the end. If you come up with a better title, let me know.
A present for 888mph and cassiopeia7 who wanted their ship fixed.
Redemption, Dean/Cas-ish but not quite, PG, 6x22 coda.
~~~~~~~~
"Bow down and profess your love unto me, your Lord, or I shall destroy you."
Dean swallows. "No."
Cas pauses. Dean holds his eyes, gritting his teeth against the inhuman power he can feel focusing on him, like a vise around his soul.
This isn't Cas anymore. This is Castiel. But it's more than Castiel -- it's something darker, stronger, and absolute.
"No?" Castiel asks, his voice flat and eternal and wrong.
"No." Dean says, stepping forward, moving ever so slightly in front of Bobby. "No, Cas. Go ahead and kill me. Kill all of us, but this isn't you, man. You're not God. You love God, remember?"
Castiel is impassive. Stone. "God abandoned us. I will be a better God."
"A better God? One who forces people to bow down to him or be destroyed? That's not right, you know that. What about everything you've been fighting for? Free will?"
"I am offering you a choice." Castiel opens his hands, a perverted gesture of mercy. "You can love me, or die."
Dean drops his head, squeezing his eyes shut. He can't look at Castiel like this, so certain, so righteous, so wrong. Was it something Dean said, somewhere in all his impromptu lessons on free will and humanity that made Cas think that this was the answer? That what humanity needed wasn't freedom, but a better overseer?
"Cas," he whispers to the floor. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," says the thing that used to be Castiel. "This is the righteous path."
It raises a hand to him, touches his chin, lifts his head to look into those depthless eyes. The touch is loving and unforgiving. "Now choose."
Dean stares back, tries to see something of the angel he used to know. There has to be something, some spark left of Castiel underneath all those monstrous souls he had swallowed. "I said no."
"Then die," the thing answers.
Dean closes his eyes as Castiel places a hand on his forehead and he waits for the end, for the flash of light and thunder that will send him -- to Heaven? To Hell? Purgatory? Or will it just wipe him from existence?
It doesn't matter. He's ready for it all to be over.
But it doesn't end. Nothing happens for a long moment, Castiel's hands cupping his face. Dean cracks an eye open and looks up.
Castiel is staring at him, through him, but there's something different in his eyes. They're still ancient and unfathomable, but no longer implacable.
"I don't..." Castiel says. "This isn't right."
Dean's heart leaps. "No, it's not, Cas. Come on. Fight it."
"The Winchesters are my family. I did all of this for them, to keep them safe." Castiel squeezes his eyes shut. "I can't destroy them."
Dean shakes his head, feels Cas's hand in his hair. "No. You can't. You know that."
"I want the world to bow down and love me --"
"But we already love you, Cas." Dean's voice breaks but he can't stop. "I already love you. Isn't that enough?"
Cas lets out a shaky breath and opens his eyes. It's him again, Dean can see it, it's Cas the way he was before he started down his terrible path.
"We're all you need, Cas. Let them go."
Cas nods, not breaking his gaze. There's a light building, a faint spark in the depths of his eyes that grows, grows, until Dean is wincing, until he has to look away, until he has to close his eyes, until he has to let go of Cas and cover his face, until the whole world is nothing but sharp white light.
Then it fades, it fades, it goes out. Cas's hands fall away from Dean's face and Dean reaches out, grabbing blindly through the spots in his vision to catch Cas before he falls but he can't keep the two of them from tumbling to the ground.
"Dean," Cas says, and it's a familiar gravelly fondness that clenches something inside Dean's chest. Dean can't tell if he's still an angel but right now he doesn't care. "Dean."
"Cas," Dean says, swallowing hard. "You really know how to give a guy a heart attack, you know that?"
"Apologies," Cas says, and that's it, Dean hauls him into the closest, tightest hug he's ever given to anyone who wasn't a blood relative or Bobby.
There's a shuffle, and suddenly Sam is there, kneeling beside them, his hand on Cas's arm.
"You did the right thing, Cas," Sam says, and Dean hear the smile and the tears in his voice. "After all, Gods don't get hugs."
"You should have told me that before," Cas answers, and his voice is so serious and so warm and Sam is right there and he's fine and Bobby's fine too and they just stopped the apocalypse AGAIN and Dean just can't hold it in.
He starts laughing and he can't stop, but it's okay because his family is all here laughing with him.
Spoilers for 6x22, natch. Takes place immediately (and I mean *immediately*) after the events. Unbeta'ed. Probably gets rather schmoopy toward the end. If you come up with a better title, let me know.
A present for 888mph and cassiopeia7 who wanted their ship fixed.
Redemption, Dean/Cas-ish but not quite, PG, 6x22 coda.
~~~~~~~~
"Bow down and profess your love unto me, your Lord, or I shall destroy you."
Dean swallows. "No."
Cas pauses. Dean holds his eyes, gritting his teeth against the inhuman power he can feel focusing on him, like a vise around his soul.
This isn't Cas anymore. This is Castiel. But it's more than Castiel -- it's something darker, stronger, and absolute.
"No?" Castiel asks, his voice flat and eternal and wrong.
"No." Dean says, stepping forward, moving ever so slightly in front of Bobby. "No, Cas. Go ahead and kill me. Kill all of us, but this isn't you, man. You're not God. You love God, remember?"
Castiel is impassive. Stone. "God abandoned us. I will be a better God."
"A better God? One who forces people to bow down to him or be destroyed? That's not right, you know that. What about everything you've been fighting for? Free will?"
"I am offering you a choice." Castiel opens his hands, a perverted gesture of mercy. "You can love me, or die."
Dean drops his head, squeezing his eyes shut. He can't look at Castiel like this, so certain, so righteous, so wrong. Was it something Dean said, somewhere in all his impromptu lessons on free will and humanity that made Cas think that this was the answer? That what humanity needed wasn't freedom, but a better overseer?
"Cas," he whispers to the floor. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," says the thing that used to be Castiel. "This is the righteous path."
It raises a hand to him, touches his chin, lifts his head to look into those depthless eyes. The touch is loving and unforgiving. "Now choose."
Dean stares back, tries to see something of the angel he used to know. There has to be something, some spark left of Castiel underneath all those monstrous souls he had swallowed. "I said no."
"Then die," the thing answers.
Dean closes his eyes as Castiel places a hand on his forehead and he waits for the end, for the flash of light and thunder that will send him -- to Heaven? To Hell? Purgatory? Or will it just wipe him from existence?
It doesn't matter. He's ready for it all to be over.
But it doesn't end. Nothing happens for a long moment, Castiel's hands cupping his face. Dean cracks an eye open and looks up.
Castiel is staring at him, through him, but there's something different in his eyes. They're still ancient and unfathomable, but no longer implacable.
"I don't..." Castiel says. "This isn't right."
Dean's heart leaps. "No, it's not, Cas. Come on. Fight it."
"The Winchesters are my family. I did all of this for them, to keep them safe." Castiel squeezes his eyes shut. "I can't destroy them."
Dean shakes his head, feels Cas's hand in his hair. "No. You can't. You know that."
"I want the world to bow down and love me --"
"But we already love you, Cas." Dean's voice breaks but he can't stop. "I already love you. Isn't that enough?"
Cas lets out a shaky breath and opens his eyes. It's him again, Dean can see it, it's Cas the way he was before he started down his terrible path.
"We're all you need, Cas. Let them go."
Cas nods, not breaking his gaze. There's a light building, a faint spark in the depths of his eyes that grows, grows, until Dean is wincing, until he has to look away, until he has to close his eyes, until he has to let go of Cas and cover his face, until the whole world is nothing but sharp white light.
Then it fades, it fades, it goes out. Cas's hands fall away from Dean's face and Dean reaches out, grabbing blindly through the spots in his vision to catch Cas before he falls but he can't keep the two of them from tumbling to the ground.
"Dean," Cas says, and it's a familiar gravelly fondness that clenches something inside Dean's chest. Dean can't tell if he's still an angel but right now he doesn't care. "Dean."
"Cas," Dean says, swallowing hard. "You really know how to give a guy a heart attack, you know that?"
"Apologies," Cas says, and that's it, Dean hauls him into the closest, tightest hug he's ever given to anyone who wasn't a blood relative or Bobby.
There's a shuffle, and suddenly Sam is there, kneeling beside them, his hand on Cas's arm.
"You did the right thing, Cas," Sam says, and Dean hear the smile and the tears in his voice. "After all, Gods don't get hugs."
"You should have told me that before," Cas answers, and his voice is so serious and so warm and Sam is right there and he's fine and Bobby's fine too and they just stopped the apocalypse AGAIN and Dean just can't hold it in.
He starts laughing and he can't stop, but it's okay because his family is all here laughing with him.