VI ► VOICE

[gotbackupagain]

It's strange to think that exactly nine months ago, I was a completely different person. And now... It seems like it was last week. Time passes a lot faster than I'd like to realize.

[It's unclear where exactly she's going with this... But nothing else is said. Perhaps she's just speaking out loud, to herself or whomever happens to be listening. The

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[wingsandwill]

[Castiel can hear his name being called from almost anywhere when he's actually being addressed, and even here in his strange dimension that hasn't changed. He hears Anna request, or rather order, his presence and he hesitates, unsure of why she'd be summoning him in such a way. He was also vaguely offended she seemed to think he was at her beck and call; what had given his siblings this idea, lately?

Still, he has no reason to ignore her, and she might really need something and that be the reason she was being so short. So he reaches out his senses, locating his sister and flying to her, appearing in an instant with a rustle of feathers.]

What is it, Anna?

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[gotbackupagain]

[Old habits die hard, she guessed. The tone was simply automatic. She was annoyed. With a lot of things; mainly Castiel himself. So it had slipped out in her demand of his presence. But she was patient, waiting for him to come to her. She knew he would. Be it a knee jerk reaction, which she doubted was the case anymore, or the simple act of .. Well. If he didn't come to her, she would go to him. And things would have been a lot less pleasant.]

Tell me. Why did I think it was a good idea to go on a suicide mission to stop Sam and Dean from being born?

[She doesn't hesitate in getting to the point. But there's no running away this time Castiel. There's nowhere to hide in this city; and if he did run? She would hunt him down, no questions asked.]

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[wingsandwill]

[Of all the things he might have expected her to want from him at the moment, this was not one of them. Where had it come from? But then, he thought about it, and it made sense: Michael. She has to have spoken to Michael, who would have no real reason to hide anything from her.

But he'd already spoken with her about this a bit; why was she questioning him further?]

Because you thought it would stop the Apocalypse.

[It was the same answer he'd given the other times, and he felt no desire to elaborate this time any more than he had last.]

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[gotbackupagain]

[She takes a breath. Yes. That had been the answer she'd gotten from every angle she'd pushed. But she was getting her answer tonight, blissful ignorance be damned.]

Why would I even think that? All that would do, is bring Michael's reign of fire down on me, and-[She raises her hands, gesturing to the whole 'look what it gets me'.] I would have no logical reason to do that. I'm not stupid, Castiel.

You know why I did it, and you won't tell me. So I'm asking you now; Why did I do it?

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[wingsandwill]

[He tilts his head slightly at her, frowning now. He knew she wasn't going to let this go forever, but he also had no real intentions of answering her, and she couldn't make him.]

Anna, I don't know the reason you decided this was the best plan. [Which, despite being a lie, was partially true. He had no idea how her mind had been working, but he did know that the reason she'd acted as she had was that she'd gone pretty much insane, if not totally so. And he wasn't about to explain why.]

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[gotbackupagain]

[It's only a blink of an eye until she's close enough, fist pulled back in the flight so that once she's close enough to reach out and touch... Her fist cracks against his jaw instead. An irrational, impulse reaction, perhaps.. But she doesn't care. This had gone on long enough.]

Don't lie to me, Castiel. [She knew he was. Had known for a while now that he was, at the very least, leaving out details.]

What aren't you telling me? [It's that tone again. Her holier than thou, I'm your boss type tone. And while she had no real right to use it; not since she'd torn out her grace all those years ago... She can't help it. Castiel had always been her underling, and she was pissed.]

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[wingsandwill]

[That was the very last thing he'd expected Anna to do, and the sudden blow knocked him off balance a few steps. To say he was shocked was an understatement, and he just stared at his sister as she spoke, anger and outrage beginning to kick in late as she finished with that tone. She had no right, not to speak to him that way and certainly not to hit him; he was not a lackey, and he wouldn't put up with it.]

Don't test me, Anna.

[He speaks completely coldly in contrast to her tone, straightening back to his full height and extending his presence outward, the angel equivalent of a cat fluffing up to look bigger.]

I don't have to tell you anything. You won't like the answer anyway.

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[gotbackupagain]

I won't like it? Or you won't like it?

[She could feel him putting his hackles up, her own feathers ruffled; her presence was still relatively the same as his own, but he held more power. Stolen power, though she didn't know it.]

It concerns me, Cas. I'm not a human who needs to be kept in the dark for the greater good. I'm your sister, your family. Something happens to me, something bad, if your stubbornness is any indication. What. Is it.

[She's closer again, close enough to strike if he wanted. But she's not raising her own fist just yet, not again. But that tone had yet to leave her voice. The overlay of her true voice thrumming beneath the weak human vocal chords of her newly renewed vessel.]

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[wingsandwill]

[He steps into her space, using his vessel's height to look down at her from close up and showing he wasn't concerned by what she might try to do. She's not going to let this go, he realizes; not this time. He could just leave the conversation entirely, but he knew she'd follow him, and he'd run out of time when it came to this secret.]

You're taken back to Heaven, and you go insane.

[The truth, for once, even if it leaves out the very important detail that Castiel was the one who'd turned her in.]

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[gotbackupagain]

[It's not the first time she's been looked down the nose at. Not in a long, long time, in her particular case, but none the less. Her expression melts into.. Something akin to fear. She'd been caught. Handed over to Heaven and Michael or Raphael or someone had tried their hand at fixing her.]

They couldn't have found me. [She knew how to hide. Where to hide. She knew they were too busy with Dean and Sam, too busy preparing for the Apocalypse that a run-away Angel was of no urgent importance unless she stepped out of bounds.]

... [But that only left one option. Who had found her. Lured her into a false sense of security, only to hand her over to the authorities. Anna wasn't stupid, not by a long shot.] You did it.

[And for a moment, as if waiting for him to say otherwise.. It looks like she might leave. Might pull back and collect herself. But what good was that? There was no other continent to run to, to hide away and deal with things. There was this city, and only the city. So she lashed out instead. Through her weight into her

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[wingsandwill]

[He just watched her work out what had happened, coming to the inevitable, correct conclusion. He didn't answer her comments, expression impassive and giving nothing away, and that in itself would answer her more strongly than anything he said would.

He expected anger, yelling, maybe even another punch, but not quite that violent a reaction. He impacted with the wall and tumbled to the street, surprised more than hurt, getting up almost instantly. He'd let the punch go, but he wasn't about to ignore this, and he extended a hand to toss her hard against a nearby chunk of rubble.]

I didn't have a choice.

[He growled out the words, and wasn't entirely sure she would hear them, but he had to try to justify himself all the same.]

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[gotbackupagain]

[She's only down for maybe a few seconds, air slammed out of her lungs upon impact, before she's up again. This time in Castiel's personal space again, palm slamming forward against his vessel's sternum, more than hard enough to break human bones.]

Like hell you didn't. We have choices, Cas. You just let other people make them for you.

[And if he hadn't retaliated, then she'd be grabbing him by the shoulders of his stupid trench coat and throwing him into the same stupid piece of rubble she'd busted her back over.]

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[wingsandwill]

[He gasped in pain at the break in his sternum, a hand coming to it instinctively and his eyes narrowing as he listened to her words. Then suddenly he was crashing against that hunk of concrete, hard enough to crack it, against ending up on the street. He got to his feet again, gritting his teeth, forcing out an angry answer.]

It was either you or me.

[And he'd picked himself, as he then did over and over again every time he had to fight another sibling to protect himself. It wasn't a choice he ever liked to make, but it was also one that by this point he could make without even a thought.

And suddenly he's in front of her, slamming the heel of his palm upwards against her chin.]

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[gotbackupagain]

[And somehow, hearing that come out of Cas .. Hurt a lot more than it should have. Of course he had. She'd fallen and the last time she'd seen him, his orders had been to kill her. He might have looked a little reluctant, but then again, anyone would have standing next to the smite-happy Uriel.

His palm cracks against her chin, snapping her head back, knocking her clean off her feet as she stumbles. It only takes one forceful tug before her neck snacks back into place. It hurt, but it wouldn't kill her. This time she reaches with her grace, using the brunt equivalent of her elbow to slam down against his shoulder, to knock him to the ground as she struggled back to her feet.]

You could have fought it. You chose to roll belly up and hand me over; they wouldn't kill you for not being able to find me. [Every word is like venom, snapped out like she does with her grace, clawing at his own in a moment of fury.]

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[wingsandwill]

[Once more he struck the ground, starting to pull himself up again but the strikes that accompanied her words hurt, in a way that damage to his vessel didn't compare to. Forgetting his attempt to get off the asphalt, his reached out with his own grace toward hers, hitting back aimlessly, just wanting to inflict some damage on her in return. It wasn't just the fight, but that she didn't understand, and she was acting for something that hadn't even happened to her yet.

Finally, he managed to respond, voice louder than normal and holding an echo from anger as he spoke.]

They were watching me; I didn't choose to turn you over, I simply didn't stop it. I couldn't. I was on my last chance.

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[gotbackupagain]

[It always hurt worse when the damage went beyond the vessel and bore into their core. Which is why she's hissing in recoil as he lashes out against her own light. It hurts a lot more than it would have normally. This is where Castiel could over power her if he really tried