Fic: The Shattered One (28/?)
See the masterpost for disclaimer, summary, and previous parts.
The holy fire was a flickering torment, dancing around Castiel, flaunting its power to hold him. The angel shifted anxiously in his trap. He paced what little he could. He tested his cage because he couldn’t stand still and not try. Every time he edged too close to the fire, it jumped up and licked at his wingtips, the burning of holiness shooting up into the core of Castiel’s grace and punishing him with white-hot, blinding pain. Castiel jerked back and fidgeted, tension quivering through his body.
Even when he didn’t touch it, the fire affected him. The press of it from all sides was smothering, bogging down the strength of his grace.
The ferris wheel of fire reflected unevenly on the faces of the demons left to watch him. They prowled the perimeter, like demonic wolves, all black eyes and flashing teeth.
Castiel had pulled his cellular phone out of his pocket once and attempted to call Dean, to warn him, but the device would not work.
He was afraid for Dean and Sam. He was afraid for Daniel.
But he was helpless to save them.
Castiel was swaying anxiously in the small space allotted him when a presence, for a moment, filled up the dark room. It gusted in like a storm front, shoving at the press of demonic power in the night club. Castiel flinched instinctively. The demons shrieked and retreated from the new arrival.
Castiel straightened in surprise when he recognized it as an angel… an angel he knew.
“Gabriel.”
Gabriel stood on the other side of the pattern of holy fire and returned Castiel’s look. For once, he didn’t look flippant or cheeky. He looked pissed. He looked like he was on a mission.
The demons were recovering and rallying to attack.
Gabriel lifted a hand and snapped his fingers. The half-dozen demons in the spacious room seized, flared out, and fell lifeless to the floor.
In the resulting dead quiet and stillness, broken only by the crackle and flicker of flames, Gabriel and Castiel stared at one another across the barrier of fire. Castiel felt hope and fear mounting together in him. He didn’t know why Gabriel had come, or what he meant to do now that he had.
For a second, it looked like Gabriel didn’t really know the answers, either.
Gabriel’s eyes shifted down to the perpetually-burning concrete. He made a small table-clearing gesture with his hand. With a great groan and heave, huge chunks of the floor ripped up and went airborne, crashing against the far wall.
With it went the holy oil. And with that, the fire.
Just like that, Castiel was free.
He flung out his wings in readiness to fly. He hesitated only a second to meet his brother’s eyes, wondering. Questioning.
But Dean and Sam and Daniel needed him. Anything else could wait.
Castiel flew.
Next
The holy fire was a flickering torment, dancing around Castiel, flaunting its power to hold him. The angel shifted anxiously in his trap. He paced what little he could. He tested his cage because he couldn’t stand still and not try. Every time he edged too close to the fire, it jumped up and licked at his wingtips, the burning of holiness shooting up into the core of Castiel’s grace and punishing him with white-hot, blinding pain. Castiel jerked back and fidgeted, tension quivering through his body.
Even when he didn’t touch it, the fire affected him. The press of it from all sides was smothering, bogging down the strength of his grace.
The ferris wheel of fire reflected unevenly on the faces of the demons left to watch him. They prowled the perimeter, like demonic wolves, all black eyes and flashing teeth.
Castiel had pulled his cellular phone out of his pocket once and attempted to call Dean, to warn him, but the device would not work.
He was afraid for Dean and Sam. He was afraid for Daniel.
But he was helpless to save them.
Castiel was swaying anxiously in the small space allotted him when a presence, for a moment, filled up the dark room. It gusted in like a storm front, shoving at the press of demonic power in the night club. Castiel flinched instinctively. The demons shrieked and retreated from the new arrival.
Castiel straightened in surprise when he recognized it as an angel… an angel he knew.
“Gabriel.”
Gabriel stood on the other side of the pattern of holy fire and returned Castiel’s look. For once, he didn’t look flippant or cheeky. He looked pissed. He looked like he was on a mission.
The demons were recovering and rallying to attack.
Gabriel lifted a hand and snapped his fingers. The half-dozen demons in the spacious room seized, flared out, and fell lifeless to the floor.
In the resulting dead quiet and stillness, broken only by the crackle and flicker of flames, Gabriel and Castiel stared at one another across the barrier of fire. Castiel felt hope and fear mounting together in him. He didn’t know why Gabriel had come, or what he meant to do now that he had.
For a second, it looked like Gabriel didn’t really know the answers, either.
Gabriel’s eyes shifted down to the perpetually-burning concrete. He made a small table-clearing gesture with his hand. With a great groan and heave, huge chunks of the floor ripped up and went airborne, crashing against the far wall.
With it went the holy oil. And with that, the fire.
Just like that, Castiel was free.
He flung out his wings in readiness to fly. He hesitated only a second to meet his brother’s eyes, wondering. Questioning.
But Dean and Sam and Daniel needed him. Anything else could wait.
Castiel flew.
Next