Fic: What Have You Learned?
Title: What Have You Learned?
Author: greenx3red
Rating: PG 13
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters and/or Pairing: Balthazar, Castiel
Spoilers: up to 6x03
Warnings: Torture
Word Count: 1387
Summary: Cas' re-education enlightens Balthazar.
Author’s Note: Cross posted from my tumblr.
Balthazar has lost. It’s the first time he has ever lost anything so important before in his life and he feels like he’s breaking in two. For a brief moment he wonders if he has been stabbed for his insolence towards the Council. If he has been stabbed, he doesn’t think it matters very much.
“I’m sorry,” is all that he can manage to say as his brother is dragged before him and strapped to a warded device. It’s almost as if, if he can repeat it enough it will express what he means. If he can apologize one more time, maybe Cas will understand. He’s sorry he couldn’t sway the Council. He’s sorry that his words seemed to harm more than help. He’s sorry he can’t free him, save him, release him.
Cas nods and struggles to speak through the bit in his mouth.
“I’m sorry,” he manages to get out before the teacher adjusts the bit so that his words are not understandable.
Balthazar barely registers that he too is being chained up. He’s too focused on the circles on the floor. He can’t understand why they would force Cas into a new vessel or why they would force him to stay there. But understanding comes to him with the teacher’s blade. This is learning through pain.
The angel’s sword draws long red lines across the vessel’s body. Cas bites down hard on the leather between his teeth as the teacher proceeds to remove the vessel’s skin from its body.
“Castiel, a vessel is only carrier,” said the teacher. Her voice is beautiful even by angel standards. Its melody hangs in the air after her ever word. “An Angel of the Lord is greater than its vessel.”
The teacher repeats it again and again as it continues to skin Cas’ vessel. Once the skin is removed, Balthazar’s hopes that this is all over are short lived. The teacher starts all over again, this time removing a layer of muscle all while continuing the mantra.
Cas is for the most part silent, choosing to bite down on the spelled leather rather than cry out. He continues to stay silent, even when the leather causes the corners of his mouth to bleed.
It is his younger brother’s silence that keeps him from crying out as well. He will be strong for his brother. Not once in the battlefield has he shown his brother weakness, and he will not break under these conditions. He stays silent and unmoving and not once does he look away; not when the teacher removes so much flesh that Cas’ vessel’s innards fall out, or when the blade starts removing layers of bone.
The teacher stops and Balthazar is caught completely by surprise. There is nothing left of the human vessel that contained his brother. It lies, in bloody strips and chunks on the floor around his brother’s feet.
“Castiel,” said the teacher as she put the sword away. She walks around and for a moment Balthazar twitches against his own restraints. “You are a servant of your father. You do not serve man.”
The teacher’s hands go up and Balthazar has to force himself to not look away. He clenches his hands so hard in anticipation that his palms begin to bleed.
Cas only looks tired and slightly confused, until the teacher’s hand grab a hold of a fist full of feathers. He realizes what is about to happen and attempts to protest through is gag. However, it is pointless and the teacher rips the black feathers from Cas’ wings.
Now Cas is screaming. The spelled bit keeps his true voice from escaping, but binds do not keep his wings from twitching and his body from trying to pull away. They do not keep his face from contorting in pain.
With each pull of feathers the teacher repeats her new mantra and Balthazar is forced to struggle more and more to remain in control. It isn’t until the teacher has plucked every last feather from Cas’ left wing and moved to touch it again, that Balthazar cannot take it anymore.
“Please,” he cried out. “Please, don’t.”
But the teacher’s hands wrap around the wing regardless of Balthazar’s pleas. The grip tightens and then the hands move in opposite directions. Balthazar screams with his brother as the bones snap and the wing falls, limp and useless, to rest at an awkward angle at Cas’ side.
The process is started all over again and now Balthazar is pulling at his restraints. He pulls so hard that his wrists and ankles bleed. However, he doesn’t scream. Instead he whispers and coos as he tries to get Cas through this. He reminds them of their good times, careful to avoid the topic of flying. He isn’t sure if it helps, but it is all he can do.
By the time the teacher snaps Cas’ second wing Balthazar is hopeful. Perhaps, this is almost over. Cas is no longer thrashing in pain; he only twitches when the wing breaks.
“Castiel, why are you here?” asks the teacher as she washes her hands in holy water. She washes her hands and then moves to face Cas.
“Castiel, why are you here?” she asks again, this time removing the spelled leather from his mouth.
“Because I lost sight of my purpose,” he somehow manages to whisper. The sound is hoarse and broken and so unlike Cas that for a moment Balthazar is confused as to where it came from.
“And what did you learn?” she asked.
“I serve Father and my family. I am not the servant of man,” he answered.
“Very good,” she said. “Raphael will be along shortly to heal you.”
With that she leaves them. There is nothing but silence because there is nothing left for them to say. The nightmare is over and maybe now things can go back to the way they were.
When Raphael finally strolled into the warded room Balthazar was relieved. The archangel quickly fixed Cas up and ordered him out of the room. The moment Cas is gone Raphael’s attention is on Balthazar.
“Tell me, Balthazar, what have you learned?” he asked and Balthazar only stared back.
It had not occurred to him that there was a greater lesson that he was supposed to be learning. He had spoken back to the Council and he was punished for it. However, he had every right to speak for Cas during a trial. No matter how much he thought, he could not understand what lesson was so great and important that it required Cas to be torn apart in front of him. However, Raphael was waiting for an answer.
These angels, his siblings, had tortured Cas and now they expected him to just fall before them, beg for their forgiveness, and plead to be spared. He could feel something new course through his body as he lifted his head up and looked Raphael in the eyes.
“I almost prevented my brother’s re-education. I failed to understand the greater workings of the Council. I have failed Castiel and all of my brethren,” he lied.
His first lie, and to an archangel no less, but it would be worth it. When Cas had been dragged into trial, Balthazar had been the only one to stand for him. Should Cas ever get in any trouble again and Balthazar was not there to help, it could spell the end for him. He would be no use chained to a wall and he would be no use in Heaven or on Earth if he was broken to their twisted will.
Raphael looked down upon him and pondered him.
“We forgive you,” he says. Without another word he turned and left Balthazar strapped to the wall.
It was then that Balthazar decided what he was going to do. He will stay and ignore what are most definitely the first signs of his impending descent. For as long as there is the possibility that he can do some good for Cas, he will not fall. Once he has failed his brother, but never again. Even if he has to play nice with the scum that ripped the only pure soul left in Heaven apart. Now he knows anger and when the day comes, his enemies will know it well.
Author: greenx3red
Rating: PG 13
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters and/or Pairing: Balthazar, Castiel
Spoilers: up to 6x03
Warnings: Torture
Word Count: 1387
Summary: Cas' re-education enlightens Balthazar.
Author’s Note: Cross posted from my tumblr.
Balthazar has lost. It’s the first time he has ever lost anything so important before in his life and he feels like he’s breaking in two. For a brief moment he wonders if he has been stabbed for his insolence towards the Council. If he has been stabbed, he doesn’t think it matters very much.
“I’m sorry,” is all that he can manage to say as his brother is dragged before him and strapped to a warded device. It’s almost as if, if he can repeat it enough it will express what he means. If he can apologize one more time, maybe Cas will understand. He’s sorry he couldn’t sway the Council. He’s sorry that his words seemed to harm more than help. He’s sorry he can’t free him, save him, release him.
Cas nods and struggles to speak through the bit in his mouth.
“I’m sorry,” he manages to get out before the teacher adjusts the bit so that his words are not understandable.
Balthazar barely registers that he too is being chained up. He’s too focused on the circles on the floor. He can’t understand why they would force Cas into a new vessel or why they would force him to stay there. But understanding comes to him with the teacher’s blade. This is learning through pain.
The angel’s sword draws long red lines across the vessel’s body. Cas bites down hard on the leather between his teeth as the teacher proceeds to remove the vessel’s skin from its body.
“Castiel, a vessel is only carrier,” said the teacher. Her voice is beautiful even by angel standards. Its melody hangs in the air after her ever word. “An Angel of the Lord is greater than its vessel.”
The teacher repeats it again and again as it continues to skin Cas’ vessel. Once the skin is removed, Balthazar’s hopes that this is all over are short lived. The teacher starts all over again, this time removing a layer of muscle all while continuing the mantra.
Cas is for the most part silent, choosing to bite down on the spelled leather rather than cry out. He continues to stay silent, even when the leather causes the corners of his mouth to bleed.
It is his younger brother’s silence that keeps him from crying out as well. He will be strong for his brother. Not once in the battlefield has he shown his brother weakness, and he will not break under these conditions. He stays silent and unmoving and not once does he look away; not when the teacher removes so much flesh that Cas’ vessel’s innards fall out, or when the blade starts removing layers of bone.
The teacher stops and Balthazar is caught completely by surprise. There is nothing left of the human vessel that contained his brother. It lies, in bloody strips and chunks on the floor around his brother’s feet.
“Castiel,” said the teacher as she put the sword away. She walks around and for a moment Balthazar twitches against his own restraints. “You are a servant of your father. You do not serve man.”
The teacher’s hands go up and Balthazar has to force himself to not look away. He clenches his hands so hard in anticipation that his palms begin to bleed.
Cas only looks tired and slightly confused, until the teacher’s hand grab a hold of a fist full of feathers. He realizes what is about to happen and attempts to protest through is gag. However, it is pointless and the teacher rips the black feathers from Cas’ wings.
Now Cas is screaming. The spelled bit keeps his true voice from escaping, but binds do not keep his wings from twitching and his body from trying to pull away. They do not keep his face from contorting in pain.
With each pull of feathers the teacher repeats her new mantra and Balthazar is forced to struggle more and more to remain in control. It isn’t until the teacher has plucked every last feather from Cas’ left wing and moved to touch it again, that Balthazar cannot take it anymore.
“Please,” he cried out. “Please, don’t.”
But the teacher’s hands wrap around the wing regardless of Balthazar’s pleas. The grip tightens and then the hands move in opposite directions. Balthazar screams with his brother as the bones snap and the wing falls, limp and useless, to rest at an awkward angle at Cas’ side.
The process is started all over again and now Balthazar is pulling at his restraints. He pulls so hard that his wrists and ankles bleed. However, he doesn’t scream. Instead he whispers and coos as he tries to get Cas through this. He reminds them of their good times, careful to avoid the topic of flying. He isn’t sure if it helps, but it is all he can do.
By the time the teacher snaps Cas’ second wing Balthazar is hopeful. Perhaps, this is almost over. Cas is no longer thrashing in pain; he only twitches when the wing breaks.
“Castiel, why are you here?” asks the teacher as she washes her hands in holy water. She washes her hands and then moves to face Cas.
“Castiel, why are you here?” she asks again, this time removing the spelled leather from his mouth.
“Because I lost sight of my purpose,” he somehow manages to whisper. The sound is hoarse and broken and so unlike Cas that for a moment Balthazar is confused as to where it came from.
“And what did you learn?” she asked.
“I serve Father and my family. I am not the servant of man,” he answered.
“Very good,” she said. “Raphael will be along shortly to heal you.”
With that she leaves them. There is nothing but silence because there is nothing left for them to say. The nightmare is over and maybe now things can go back to the way they were.
When Raphael finally strolled into the warded room Balthazar was relieved. The archangel quickly fixed Cas up and ordered him out of the room. The moment Cas is gone Raphael’s attention is on Balthazar.
“Tell me, Balthazar, what have you learned?” he asked and Balthazar only stared back.
It had not occurred to him that there was a greater lesson that he was supposed to be learning. He had spoken back to the Council and he was punished for it. However, he had every right to speak for Cas during a trial. No matter how much he thought, he could not understand what lesson was so great and important that it required Cas to be torn apart in front of him. However, Raphael was waiting for an answer.
These angels, his siblings, had tortured Cas and now they expected him to just fall before them, beg for their forgiveness, and plead to be spared. He could feel something new course through his body as he lifted his head up and looked Raphael in the eyes.
“I almost prevented my brother’s re-education. I failed to understand the greater workings of the Council. I have failed Castiel and all of my brethren,” he lied.
His first lie, and to an archangel no less, but it would be worth it. When Cas had been dragged into trial, Balthazar had been the only one to stand for him. Should Cas ever get in any trouble again and Balthazar was not there to help, it could spell the end for him. He would be no use chained to a wall and he would be no use in Heaven or on Earth if he was broken to their twisted will.
Raphael looked down upon him and pondered him.
“We forgive you,” he says. Without another word he turned and left Balthazar strapped to the wall.
It was then that Balthazar decided what he was going to do. He will stay and ignore what are most definitely the first signs of his impending descent. For as long as there is the possibility that he can do some good for Cas, he will not fall. Once he has failed his brother, but never again. Even if he has to play nice with the scum that ripped the only pure soul left in Heaven apart. Now he knows anger and when the day comes, his enemies will know it well.