My Brother’s Keeper
Title: My Brother’s Keeper
Chapter: 1/?
Rating: Probably R overall. Not sure yet. Barely pg13 for this chap.
Pairing: Eventual Dean/Castiel
Summary: Everyone has their story to tell. Balthazar has always kept his close. Until now.
Warnings: References to torture. Probably some swearing. A lot of drinking.
A/N: My first Supernatural fic, and it’s been a long time since I’ve written anything. Let me know what you think.
DISCLAIMER : I do not own any of this. I am merely taking someone else’s genius and putting my own spin on it. I am not making any money off of this.
When Balthazar opened his eyes, he didn’t know what to think. He raised his hand to touch the spot where Castiel’s blade had skewered him. Nothing. Sitting up slowly, he took in his surroundings. He was in the woods where he had pulled the truth from Castiel and lied to his face. There was a lot of that going around. Balthazar scrambled to his feet and planned his next move. Castiel knew he had betrayed him. He stabbed him. In the back. Castiel had deliberately moved from in front of him to behind him just so he could drive that last message home. This is what it feels like. This is what you did to me.
But why was he alive? How? Deciding he’d rather ponder the meanings and implications somewhere a little bit safer and less exposed, Balthazar flew to the only place he knew he could go.
Upon arriving in Bobby’s living room, Balthazar was met with three confused and frightened faces.
“Where the hell have you been?” Dean’s voice barked out. His face was slightly different than the other two. Something more clouding his eyes.
“Sorry cupcake, I had a slight case of being found out and impaled. Thanks for that concern you’re so famous for.”
“What do you mean impaled?” Sam stood up and moved closer, eyeing Balthazar carefully. There was something else in his eyes as well. Something Balthazar hadn’t seen since… Well. That wasn’t important.
“I mean my baby brother shoved an archangel blade through my spine.” He huffed nonchalantly. “And don’t bother asking how I survived, I’m just as out of ideas as you. So. How much did I miss?”
~*~
After the three humans finished catching Balthazar up, the world seemed a little darker and he felt the need to sit down.
“That doesn’t- Cassie wouldn’t-“ He shook his head as if it would clear everything out. “No.”
“He stabbed you. Why are you having such a hard time wrapping your head around him going megalomaniacal?”
“Because. I know my brother. I know everything he’s done and everything he could do and this… This isn’t him.”
“Well it is now.” Dean grumbled, opening what Balthazar assumed was his tenth bottle of whiskey.
“And whose fault is that?”
“Excuse me?” Dean lowered the bottle slowly, his eyes narrowing. Balthazar could tell he hit a nerve. Good.
“I’m sorry, were you under the impression that this isn’t all your fault? You twisted and pulled him in every direction and then left him to hang. Unless of course you needed him for something. I stood by and watched him risk everything because of you. Watched him sacrifice himself. Literally dive into hell for you. I begged him not to. We all did. Do you know that? None of us thought he could survive. Do you know what being in hell is like for an angel? The damage it causes? We all told him he wouldn’t survive. That it was too much. A battalion of twenty angels laid siege to hell to get you. Castiel was the only one who survived. And that wasn’t the least of what he’s done for you. I’ll be the first to admit, being around you changed him much for the better in more than a few ways. But in the end… In the end, you broke him.”
Dean stared at him in shock as he tried to form words. Opting instead for a silent glare, he returned to the warm comfort of the bottle in his hand.
“What now?” Bobby interjected into the awkward silence.
“Maybe I can talk to him. Maybe… Maybe there’s something I can do.”
“You really think it’s as simple as that?”
“He’s my baby brother. I’ve taken care of him since the day he was created. We took him to the beach. We wanted to show him everything. He was so excited. He almost stepped on this little… I suppose you could call it a fish. Lucy stopped him. Told him how there were big plans. We all knew that. Knew what dad was cooking up from that little fish. If we had really known… Well anyway. Cassie just stared at the thing for a moment, and then knelt down next to it and began to pet it.” He chuckled quietly to himself as if reliving the memory in his head. “In that moment. All at once, we knew. We knew what he would be. How he would be. Everything that was in his heart. We knew.”
“Wait a minute. When you say Lucy…” Sam trailed off, looking at Balthazar incredulously.
“People forget. Lucifer wasn’t always what he became. There was a time. A very long time ago. When he was our big brother. Kind. Helpful. He loved us. Mentored us. What he became, well. My brother died and was replaced by the devil.”
Balthazar didn’t miss the quick dart that Dean’s eyes made over to Sam.
“So I think you’ll understand if I’m not willing to let my brother die and become some new god.”
“Are you seriously comparing Cas to Lucifer?” Balthazar couldn’t tell what Dean was angrier about; the implication, or the fact that it fit.
“Yes I am. And I think it may be the only way to get through to him. If I had to pick one angel who was the most hurt and broken hearted by Lucifer’s fall, it was Castiel.”
“Why is that?”
“You’ve heard that Lucifer was dad’s favorite? Well, Castiel was Lucifer’s favorite. The littlest angel. Our baby brother. We all looked out for him. Protected him. Spoiled him rotten. But Lucifer… He doted on him. More than any of us. He taught Cassie everything he could think of. They were as close as… Well… As close as you two lugs.”
“So why did Cas stay loyal to God? Why not join his favorite big brother?”
A shudder ripped through Balthazar at the question.
“Because he knew that Lucifer was wrong. It broke his heart to stand against him. But he knew that he was making the right choice. Lucifer tried to get Cas to join him. During that first war he… He captured him. Tried to persuade him to switch sides. He tortured him.”
“How long?” Dean rasped out. “How long did that son of a bitch have him for?”
“Roughly? Three thousand years. And I think Sam can tell you just how fun and inventive Lucy can be.” Balthazar almost felt bad at the look that Sam cast at the floor. But he was too caught up in his own emotions to care. “When we finally got him back… Broken. So very…” He sighed. “I remember Gabe holding him after we got him back. I remember saying over and over that I would kill Lucifer for what he did. And Cassie… He just looked up at me. This confused, innocent, and honest look on his face, and asked me ‘Why would you say such a thing?’” Balthazar rubbed his hands over his face. “There is not a malignant iota of Castiel’s being. There never has been. Whatever he’s going through right now. We can fix this. I can fix this.”