Message in the Music - Epilogue
Title: Message In the Music - Epilogue
Author: Hevyyd
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Dean/Castiel, past Lucier/Castiel
Spoilers: none
Themes: AU, Fallen!Cas, Mute!Dean, Not-a-Hunter!Dean
Word Count: 737
Summary: In which I tie up the last few loose ends left behind by the Finale.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know what your thinking, but this is NOT, I repeat NOT a cop-out in any way, shape or form. This is the intended wrap up for the story I've been planning since this whole shebang got started. I'm not going to have my reputation tarnished by readers thinking I've gone soft. *grumble grumble grumble*
Enjoy guys, and thanks for sticking with me. <3
Dean awoke to the sound of soul-wracking sobs. The house was dark and he could feel an all-to-real pain in his chest. Castiel was kneeling beside him, holing his hand and rocking back and forth gently as he tried to calm himself. The walls were scorched in places and Dean could catch the familiar, copper scent of blood around him. His skin tingled and his stomach crawled at the scent of it, and then he realized, slowly but surely.
He was breathing.
Dean bolted upright into a sitting position as Castiel followed him with his eyes, his breathing having finally slowed. He turned and surveyed the darkened room, realizing now that the scorch marks were shaped like wings, connecting to a handsome man with hair the color of sand, the scent of burnt cedar hanging from him like an aura. The man who had killed Dean. Trying to fit the pieces into place, Dean turned to Castiel, searching for answers.
What happened? Dean signed.
"I'm sorry Dean, I'm so sorry." Castiel mumbled, continuing to rock himself. His hands were stained red with blood, blood Dean could only imagine was both his and that of the man he had killed. "I should never have doubted, let him use me, now look what I've done..." Castiel rambled on for minutes longer until finally clenching a hand into a fist and striking the floor with enough force to shatter the wood. The angel exhaled, long and slow, then looked up to Dean again.
"This man is Lucifer, he used to be my mate before he cast me out of Heaven on a whim. He has been asking for me to forgive him, to return to heaven with him, but I always refused. When you left Dean, my resolve, it weakened. Lucifer came to me then and showed me your reconciliation with your father, he used it to take advantage of my confusion and doubt, to trick me into trusting him, but also, Dean, I..." The angel trailed off, and Dean squeezed his hand tightly.
"Dean by living with you I was slowly killing you, leeching away at the light of your soul. I thought it was harmless, but it was not, and by calling you back from the precipice of death, I fear I have caused irreparable damage to you."
How so? Dean signed, I'm alive, right?
"That's not the point!" Castiel snapped, eyes flashing, "Your soul had already left your body when I called it back, I had no power left to draw on after my fight with Lucifer! I used your bodies own life energy to call your soul back! I took without asking! I might have brought you back only to have you die again immediately! I-" Castiel was silenced as Dean pulled him into a tight kiss. Pressing their foreheads together, Dean dove headfirst into his angels thoughts, trying to fill his mate with ease.
You saved me, Dean said simply, with finality. I don't care if I only live for another minute, or a hundred minutes. I don't care if my body lasts a day or a week or 'till I'm old and gray. All I wanted was just a little more time, one life, no matter how short, with you.
Dean could feel the warm tears flowing from his mate's eyes and he knew everything would be okay. He could hear the music in Castiel's soul, and everything would be okay.
--
Dean lived for another ten years, ten long, full, happy years with Cas by his side. They accomplished much in that time. Helping John to cope with life without a voice and assisting Sam in the perils of love and, eventually, fatherhood. It could be said that Mary was always a happy woman, but in those final years she had never smiled so much in her life, her whole family together and smiling.
At the age of thirty six he passed on silently in his sleep, wrapped in his angel's arms. Castiel faded away with him. When Dean's soul next awoke he was stood before the twighlit gates of Heaven, where Michael, having returned from his long absence, welcomed the human in with open arms and a wide smile.
One day Dean's family would join him here, and they would have eternity to share. In death, the greatest journey of Dean's life had only just begun.
END