Unexpected Destinies Chapter 165
Title: Unexpected Destinies
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash, character death
Word Count: 3,675
Summary: Michael checks to make sure that none of the other members of Dean's family have been compromised.
PRESENT
The moment the question fully registered, Michael was before Sam Winchester, making the human jump a little in surprise.
"This will not be pleasant," Michael warned, placing a hand on the head of Dean's brother.
Sam nodded and swallowed thickly. "What do I have to do?"
"Relax and let me in. If you fight me, it will only hurt more."
"Won't the rite that we've been performing make what you want to do impossible?" Bobby asked. "Or won't this mess that up?"
"No," Michael replied. "This is not the same thing as the taking of a vessel, something which I could not do with Sam regardless of whether I had his permission to do so or not. This is me probing his mind. He can try and fight me on it, but that would only work to a certain extent unless he was particularly gifted or strong with his mental defenses."
"I won't fight," Sam promised, face pale. "I gotta know if I'm a danger to Dean or not."
"You weren't obsessed with finding him, though," Gwen pointed out. "Doesn't that make it unlikely?"
"It does decrease the odds of it significantly," Raphael agreed. "Especially since I think that Simiel would have either kept Sam or imbued him with the compulsion to seek out Lucifer if she'd been the one to free him from Hell. We cannot, however, take any more chances, not now that we know that she has already used this tactic once."
"After Sam, the two of you are next," Michael stated, looking at Gwen and Bobby.
Michael could feel how both Dean's cousin and his old friend startled a little, though neither of them offered a protest for which he was glad. His vessel had taught him the importance of always seeking permission before he simply performed anything on a human, but he suspected that this was one case where he would have violated that rule if necessary. He was not risking his precious little one again, not for something which could be prevented or checked for so easily.
On some level Michael knew that he wasn't being entirely reasonable and that Dean would not approve, but he couldn't help it. Not with what he was still feeling from his bond brother over their newly restored connection. Never before had he been this aware of it in such a negative manner. Although Dean hadn't been particularly comfortable with their bond at the start, his friend had always accepted it on a subconscious level and thus most of what he'd received from it had been either content or happy in nature. Now, however, he was only receiving turbulent and distressing signals from it. His vessel was still in severe distress despite being with his bond mate and all of his instincts were crying at him to go to Dean right away and help Castiel soothe him.
Unfortunately Michael could not do that until he'd ensured that it was safe for his vessel to remain here. He could tell Castiel to take Dean back to their nest, but he knew that sooner or later they would have to deal with the question of whether Simiel had gotten to any other members of Dean's family. And knowing his little one, he knew that his vessel would be asking about that and what had happened soon enough and he didn't want Dean to have to worry about that while recovering. Plus he had also seen how much his hunter liked being around Bobby Singer and, sometimes, his brother, so the sooner he checked to see whether they had been compromised or not, the sooner that they could help take care of Dean if they were safe.
"I will begin now," Michael stated, meeting Sam Winchester's gaze.
"Okay," Sam replied, taking a deep breath.
It was a very human reaction Michael now knew and therefore he didn't say anything as he once would have. During his time spent with Dean, he had noticed how humans often performed a physical action such as sighing or taking a deep breath when bracing themselves for something unpleasant. He'd attempted imitating the gestures in order to try and figure out why they were performed but had been unable to do so and he'd simply attributed it to their having always had a physical body.
As soon as he felt that Sam was ready, Michael reached out with his Grace and started to probe the mind of his vessel's brother. Just as he'd expected, he soon ran into some of Sam Winchester's natural defenses but they were nothing which he could not overcome quite readily. Though some part of him wanted to simply brush them aside carelessly, he knew that Dean would be upset with him if he did, so he was careful to circumvent them as gently as possible knowing that to do so painlessly wasn't possible. True to his word, though, Sam attempted to lower his defenses as much as possible and tried not to resist his presence.
Despite all of that, Michael couldn't help but notice how much less aware of himself Sam Winchester was.
If his vessel were to be in the same situation, Michael knew that Dean would be far more aware of his own mental defenses and what it was that was being done to him. It was a startling contrast to see Sam Winchester's mind after having been so close to his little one for so long. Even if he took into account the fact that Dean would always be unique as his bond brother was his one true vessel, the difference was still glaringly obvious. And all of that was with another human who was not only a vessel himself, but one who'd been bonded with an archangel as well. He could only imagine what a normal human would feel like in comparison to his little hunter.
As Raphael had said, it was highly unlikely that Simiel had been the one to pull Sam Winchester from Hell and therefore the odds of Dean's brother having a compulsion were vanishingly small, but nevertheless Michael was more and more relieved when his expansive probe failed to find anything unexpected or out of the ordinary. There were traces of his little brother's presence and a few scars left behind from Sam's demon blood drinking days, but thankfully that was all.
When Michael pulled his Grace back and lifted his hand away from Sam's head, he was surprised when the human staggered back and collapsed into a chair. He hadn't thought that it would have taken that much out of his vessel's brother. Perhaps Dean's surprising strength and resilience had been influencing his judgment, though. He would have to be more careful with the other two.
"Well?" Bobby demanded impatiently. "Is Sam fine?"
"Yes, he has not been compromised."
"Oh, thank God!" Gwen stated before her head snapped up and her eyes opened wide. "Shit! Sorry, about that, I didn't mean to, it just sorta slipped out."
Michael frowned, sharing a quick look with Raphael. Though he disliked the blasphemy, Dean had taken the time to explain to both him and Raphael that humans didn't always mean it as an insult to Father when they uttered it. Given the genuine remorse he now felt from his bond brother's cousin and that she'd retracted it on her own almost instantly, he was willing to forgive her. Besides, he knew from Castiel how long it had taken his brother to get Dean to this very point so he could hardly fault Gwen Campbell.
"Bobby Singer," Michael intoned, approaching the hunter.
To his credit the man merely nodded once, not flinching or wavering in the slightest and Michael found his respect for the human growing. That Bobby clearly meant so much to Dean as to be seen as a substitute father figure would always have earned the human a certain amount of respect from him, but now he was starting to see why the man had earned it from his vessel to begin with. As he'd suspected, Bobby had even less awareness of his mental defenses than Sam and- what surprised him even more- had practically no concept of himself as a soul. To the hunter his physical self was his true self. The fact that it was essentially merely a body, a vessel almost, for his true essence was almost entirely absent.
A slightly closer probe showed Michael that the hunter knew about it, but the concept was entirely foreign to Bobby beyond that. It threw him a little for a moment, but then he realized that it actually made sense and it even explained a lot about humans and their behavior that had continued to elude him despite all that he'd recently learned since joining with Dean and Castiel.
Humans were, when it came right down to it, born into their vessels and spent their whole lives like that. With the odd exception like Dean and Sam or any other vessel that joined with their angel, most of them never had the occasion to learn what it was like to truly be themselves. It wasn't until that moment, when the soul became detached from the body for some reason, that they ever learned what it was that they really were.
The thought stunned Michael and he had a hard time accepting it even now that it had occurred to him. The mere thought of not being fully aware of himself at all times was so foreign in and of itself that he struggled to comprehend it. But it fit and he'd witnessed with fascination all the twists and turns that Dean's mind could take when asleep often enough to know that humans truly had no control over certain aspects of themselves. He'd just never realized how deep that lack of awareness and understanding could run.
"You are free from Simiel's influence as well," Michael declared when he'd swept the man's mind thoroughly and withdrew.
Bobby Singer swayed a little but the man's sheer determination kept him upright in his chair and Michael suppressed a smile. Yes, he was truly beginning to see why his little one liked this particular human so much. He would have disapproved of Singer's general lack of emotional displays except that he'd clearly been able to read the hunter's intentions about the hug, so this one was loath to perform them but would when he felt it necessary. He was pretty sure that was already a step further than Dean's father had tended to go.
Michael still wasn't sure why humans didn't simply just show and tell each other what they actually felt. Why did they need to make everything so much more complicated that it really was?
"Gwen," Michael said, turning to face her.
"Yeah, okay," Gwen replied as she stepped forwards.
Unlike the others, Michael noted that she wavered slightly. It wasn't a conscious action, or at least he didn't think so, but rather an instinctive reaction to what was about to happen. Unlike the others, she was very new to this type of hunting and he was merely happy that she was consenting.
"This will work best if you try and relax," Michael told her kindly as he placed his hand on her forehead.
Gwen snorted. "I'll give it the good old college try."
The expression meant nothing to Michael but it seemed to help her, much as Dean's use of them often helped his vessel. He was merely pleased at being able to instantly recognize it as an expression. It was progress, as for the rest, he'd simply have to ask his human later. Hopefully it would draw a smile from Dean.
The probe was the quickest of them all since Gwen had never been touched by angel before and so there was no lingering interferences to double check. That was a perfect place for Simiel to have hidden her compulsion if she'd placed any and Michael knew how good she'd always been at that kind of delicate work. Soon enough he was able to withdraw, though he only moved his hand as far as Gwen's shoulder as she swayed alarmingly while she recovered.
"Wow," Gwen finally muttered. "Can you say ow?"
"Why would Michael wish to say that?" Raphael inquired.
His brother's mistake seemed to be precisely what the humans needed just now as Gwen began to giggle uncontrollably and then outright laugh, the latter action was soon followed by both Sam Winchester and Bobby Singer.
"What did I say, Brother?" Raphael inquired, confused.
"It was one of those expressions," Michael replied.
"Oh, do you know what it means?"
"No."
"Their laughter does not sound enjoyable."
"I do not think that is the point of it. I believe it is stress relief."
"Humans are strange."
"Yes, they are, Brother," Michael agreed.
/
Not sure that he would ever comprehend humans no matter how long he stayed around them, Raphael turned his attention back to Samuel, running his fingers over the bruises that Michael had left on the hunter's throat. They vanished under his power, as did the concussion that Castiel had inadvertently given the human. With both of those healed, Samuel began to wake up on his own and he only waited long enough to be sure that the compulsion wasn't in control before backing up.
Although Raphael had no qualms with telling the hunter what had happened, he'd observed enough of the interactions among this particular family to know that the bad news would come best from one of the others. As he'd predicted, both Gwen and Sam moved to Campbell's side once they realize what was happening.
"Samuel?" Gwen asked softly. "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah," Samuel replied, blinking and looking around in confusion. "What happened? Why are we in the barn?"
"What's the last thing that you remember?" Bobby inquired, moving closer as well.
"I was inside, having another cup of coffee as I couldn't seem to wake up. What happened? How'd I get in here?" A pause. "Was I possessed?"
"Not possessed, exactly," Sam began. "Turns out you were brought back for a reason, a backup plan if you will."
"A backu- I was an ace in the hole?"
"Yes."
"For who?"
The way that the others looked between themselves was a dead giveaway that something wasn't right and Raphael didn't understand why they didn't just tell Samuel the truth. If he could already see that it was bad news, then certainly the hunter could tell as well.
"Whose backup plan was I?" Samuel demanded once more, voice steel.
"Simiel's," Gwen replied softly, quickly explaining what had happened.
From the way that Samuel blanched, Raphael could tell that the emotion driving the man all along had been genuine, even if the drive itself hadn't been. It was a small token, but one which he knew would mean a lot to both Samuel and Dean.
"And it's still there now?" Samuel checked a few seconds after Gwen finished. "Even though I technically already carried out what I was programmed to do?"
"Yes," Michael confirmed. "And we cannot undo it."
"So none of it's real? Everything that I feel for Dean, it's all fake?"
"No," Raphael corrected immediately. "Your emotions are true and your own, it is just the obsession that is Simiel's."
"How do you know that?" Sam inquired with a frown.
"There are many forms that obsession can take, Sam," Michael replied, voice displeased. "You of all people should know that. By allowing the compulsion to utilize Samuel's own feelings for Dean, Simiel was able to keep it more hidden."
"Hey, speaking of obsessions of the negative variety," Gwen began.
"Christian," Bobby finished, turning to look at them.
"Dean's other cousin?" Raphael asked.
"Yes, he was obsessed with Dean but in exactly the opposite way of Samuel."
"Whereas Dean could do no wrong as far as Samuel was concerned, Christian saw everything that he did as wrong somehow," Gwen elaborated.
"Did he wish to find Dean?" Michael inquired.
"No, just the opposite."
"Then it seems unlikely that he would have been manipulated by Simiel, though it would be best to check."
"Can you have him come to us?" Raphael questioned.
Sam laughed harshly. "Christian come back? When Hell freezes over. He couldn't get away from us fast enough once he'd made up his mind to do so."
"I'll see what I can do," Gwen offered. "But Sam is right, it's unlikely that he'll do so. And even if he did, he wouldn't let you near him."
"Why not?" Raphael asked.
"Because you're with Dean."
"That does not sound like Simiel's work, but rather pure human jealousy and dislike," Michael commented.
"The fact that he was right about the nature of my obsession won't help matters any either," Samuel added.
The silence that fell over the group then was by no means comfortable and Raphael was unsure how to move the situation along to what they had to do next. He knew from previous experience that the actions of angels could often be seen as cold or uncaring by humans and he had no desire to appear so now to those who meant so much to his bond brother. That didn't change what needed to be done though and from the subtle signs he was picking up from Michael he knew that things were not going as well with Dean and Castiel as he'd hoped that they were.
"Can... can I see Dean?" Samuel finally asked, breaking the silence. "Just once more before...?"
"I'm sorry, but no," Michael responded. "Though you have no more First Darkness, we cannot know how the compulsion might affect you should you be near him once more, especially now that the secret of its existence is out. Besides, Dean is still recovering from what happened."
"Wait, you said that he was all better," Sam interrupted.
"No, we said that he survived," Michael corrected. "Physically your brother has been fully healed, but his soul was nearly completely extinguished, that is not an experience that can simply be shrugged off easily."
"Oh, God," Samuel muttered, eyes squeezed shut for a moment before they snapped open and sought out Bobby. "Tell Dean that I'm sorry, that I'm so, so sorry and that if I'd known, I'd have stayed as far away from him as I possibly could. Please tell him that for me."
"Of course I'll tell him," Bobby reassured. "But if I know anything, it'll be that Dean says you have nothing to be sorry about. This was not your fault, Samuel, and there was no way that you could have known what Simiel had done to you."
"Still, it was my meatsuit that was used and my hand that stabbed him. We should have thought more closely about how I'd gotten out of Heaven in the first place and why."
"Hey, Samuel," Sam said, drawing his grandfather's attention. "My return was inexplicable as well and yet I have no such compulsion. We did all that we could to figure out what had happened and since we've never encountered anything quite like this before there was nothing that we could have done."
The words didn't quite seem to do what Winchester had intended, but since Samuel Campbell was related to Dean that didn't particularly surprise Raphael. His bond brother had to have gotten his inherent stubbornness from multiple places to have it as strongly as Dean did.
"Raphael?" Michael inquired.
"I will take care of it, Brother," Raphael replied. "You go to your vessel and help Castiel take care of him."
Samuel closed his eyes briefly once more before he nodded to himself and got to his feet. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Whoa, wait, just like that?" Gwen demanded, startled.
"I refuse to stick around longer for selfish reasons and be a danger to Dean. Besides, everyone I need to see is here, everyone but for the one person that I can't see just now anyway."
"What about resurrection?" Sam suddenly questioned, turning to look at Michael and him. "Can't you kill him, undo whatever Simiel did and then just bring him back?"
"Resurrection is not something to be performed lightly and incessantly," Raphael replied disapprovingly. "Humans are meant to die and their souls to pass on."
"You've done it before."
"In particular circumstances."
"But-"
"Sam, Raphael is right," Samuel interrupted, voice calm and accepting. "I was already dead before all of this started and was pulled out of Heaven and resurrected for no good. I've already had my life and it was a long and good one for a hunter."
"But it's not fair!" Sam complained.
"Life rarely is."
"What's dead should stay dead," Bobby added quietly.
"Like you haven't been brought back."
"And believe me, ya idjit, if it had been done by anyone but Castiel, I'd have been damned suspicious about it too!"
"Samuel will still go to Heaven, right?" Gwen asked, tears in her eyes. "What he did here now won't change that. Will it?"
"No," Michael reassured her. "Samuel has earned his place in Heaven and there he shall return." With that his brother walked over to the hunter and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It has been an honor to know you and you shall be missed."
"Th- thanks," Samuel replied, blinking when Michael flew off.
Raphael remained where he was so that the others could say their goodbyes without feeling pressured. It took a while with all of the hunters making good use of the fact that, for once, they were able to say a proper goodbye to one of their own. When they were done, he stepped forwards and placed a hand on Samuel's head.
"Will it hurt?" the hunter inquired.
"No, it shall not," Raphael replied gently.
All it took was a little twist of his Grace and Raphael had Samuel's soul in his hands. He took special care to lower the body gently to the ground before he dismissed the reaper that had arrived and took the soul up to Heaven himself.
Chapter 166
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash, character death
Word Count: 3,675
Summary: Michael checks to make sure that none of the other members of Dean's family have been compromised.
PRESENT
The moment the question fully registered, Michael was before Sam Winchester, making the human jump a little in surprise.
"This will not be pleasant," Michael warned, placing a hand on the head of Dean's brother.
Sam nodded and swallowed thickly. "What do I have to do?"
"Relax and let me in. If you fight me, it will only hurt more."
"Won't the rite that we've been performing make what you want to do impossible?" Bobby asked. "Or won't this mess that up?"
"No," Michael replied. "This is not the same thing as the taking of a vessel, something which I could not do with Sam regardless of whether I had his permission to do so or not. This is me probing his mind. He can try and fight me on it, but that would only work to a certain extent unless he was particularly gifted or strong with his mental defenses."
"I won't fight," Sam promised, face pale. "I gotta know if I'm a danger to Dean or not."
"You weren't obsessed with finding him, though," Gwen pointed out. "Doesn't that make it unlikely?"
"It does decrease the odds of it significantly," Raphael agreed. "Especially since I think that Simiel would have either kept Sam or imbued him with the compulsion to seek out Lucifer if she'd been the one to free him from Hell. We cannot, however, take any more chances, not now that we know that she has already used this tactic once."
"After Sam, the two of you are next," Michael stated, looking at Gwen and Bobby.
Michael could feel how both Dean's cousin and his old friend startled a little, though neither of them offered a protest for which he was glad. His vessel had taught him the importance of always seeking permission before he simply performed anything on a human, but he suspected that this was one case where he would have violated that rule if necessary. He was not risking his precious little one again, not for something which could be prevented or checked for so easily.
On some level Michael knew that he wasn't being entirely reasonable and that Dean would not approve, but he couldn't help it. Not with what he was still feeling from his bond brother over their newly restored connection. Never before had he been this aware of it in such a negative manner. Although Dean hadn't been particularly comfortable with their bond at the start, his friend had always accepted it on a subconscious level and thus most of what he'd received from it had been either content or happy in nature. Now, however, he was only receiving turbulent and distressing signals from it. His vessel was still in severe distress despite being with his bond mate and all of his instincts were crying at him to go to Dean right away and help Castiel soothe him.
Unfortunately Michael could not do that until he'd ensured that it was safe for his vessel to remain here. He could tell Castiel to take Dean back to their nest, but he knew that sooner or later they would have to deal with the question of whether Simiel had gotten to any other members of Dean's family. And knowing his little one, he knew that his vessel would be asking about that and what had happened soon enough and he didn't want Dean to have to worry about that while recovering. Plus he had also seen how much his hunter liked being around Bobby Singer and, sometimes, his brother, so the sooner he checked to see whether they had been compromised or not, the sooner that they could help take care of Dean if they were safe.
"I will begin now," Michael stated, meeting Sam Winchester's gaze.
"Okay," Sam replied, taking a deep breath.
It was a very human reaction Michael now knew and therefore he didn't say anything as he once would have. During his time spent with Dean, he had noticed how humans often performed a physical action such as sighing or taking a deep breath when bracing themselves for something unpleasant. He'd attempted imitating the gestures in order to try and figure out why they were performed but had been unable to do so and he'd simply attributed it to their having always had a physical body.
As soon as he felt that Sam was ready, Michael reached out with his Grace and started to probe the mind of his vessel's brother. Just as he'd expected, he soon ran into some of Sam Winchester's natural defenses but they were nothing which he could not overcome quite readily. Though some part of him wanted to simply brush them aside carelessly, he knew that Dean would be upset with him if he did, so he was careful to circumvent them as gently as possible knowing that to do so painlessly wasn't possible. True to his word, though, Sam attempted to lower his defenses as much as possible and tried not to resist his presence.
Despite all of that, Michael couldn't help but notice how much less aware of himself Sam Winchester was.
If his vessel were to be in the same situation, Michael knew that Dean would be far more aware of his own mental defenses and what it was that was being done to him. It was a startling contrast to see Sam Winchester's mind after having been so close to his little one for so long. Even if he took into account the fact that Dean would always be unique as his bond brother was his one true vessel, the difference was still glaringly obvious. And all of that was with another human who was not only a vessel himself, but one who'd been bonded with an archangel as well. He could only imagine what a normal human would feel like in comparison to his little hunter.
As Raphael had said, it was highly unlikely that Simiel had been the one to pull Sam Winchester from Hell and therefore the odds of Dean's brother having a compulsion were vanishingly small, but nevertheless Michael was more and more relieved when his expansive probe failed to find anything unexpected or out of the ordinary. There were traces of his little brother's presence and a few scars left behind from Sam's demon blood drinking days, but thankfully that was all.
When Michael pulled his Grace back and lifted his hand away from Sam's head, he was surprised when the human staggered back and collapsed into a chair. He hadn't thought that it would have taken that much out of his vessel's brother. Perhaps Dean's surprising strength and resilience had been influencing his judgment, though. He would have to be more careful with the other two.
"Well?" Bobby demanded impatiently. "Is Sam fine?"
"Yes, he has not been compromised."
"Oh, thank God!" Gwen stated before her head snapped up and her eyes opened wide. "Shit! Sorry, about that, I didn't mean to, it just sorta slipped out."
Michael frowned, sharing a quick look with Raphael. Though he disliked the blasphemy, Dean had taken the time to explain to both him and Raphael that humans didn't always mean it as an insult to Father when they uttered it. Given the genuine remorse he now felt from his bond brother's cousin and that she'd retracted it on her own almost instantly, he was willing to forgive her. Besides, he knew from Castiel how long it had taken his brother to get Dean to this very point so he could hardly fault Gwen Campbell.
"Bobby Singer," Michael intoned, approaching the hunter.
To his credit the man merely nodded once, not flinching or wavering in the slightest and Michael found his respect for the human growing. That Bobby clearly meant so much to Dean as to be seen as a substitute father figure would always have earned the human a certain amount of respect from him, but now he was starting to see why the man had earned it from his vessel to begin with. As he'd suspected, Bobby had even less awareness of his mental defenses than Sam and- what surprised him even more- had practically no concept of himself as a soul. To the hunter his physical self was his true self. The fact that it was essentially merely a body, a vessel almost, for his true essence was almost entirely absent.
A slightly closer probe showed Michael that the hunter knew about it, but the concept was entirely foreign to Bobby beyond that. It threw him a little for a moment, but then he realized that it actually made sense and it even explained a lot about humans and their behavior that had continued to elude him despite all that he'd recently learned since joining with Dean and Castiel.
Humans were, when it came right down to it, born into their vessels and spent their whole lives like that. With the odd exception like Dean and Sam or any other vessel that joined with their angel, most of them never had the occasion to learn what it was like to truly be themselves. It wasn't until that moment, when the soul became detached from the body for some reason, that they ever learned what it was that they really were.
The thought stunned Michael and he had a hard time accepting it even now that it had occurred to him. The mere thought of not being fully aware of himself at all times was so foreign in and of itself that he struggled to comprehend it. But it fit and he'd witnessed with fascination all the twists and turns that Dean's mind could take when asleep often enough to know that humans truly had no control over certain aspects of themselves. He'd just never realized how deep that lack of awareness and understanding could run.
"You are free from Simiel's influence as well," Michael declared when he'd swept the man's mind thoroughly and withdrew.
Bobby Singer swayed a little but the man's sheer determination kept him upright in his chair and Michael suppressed a smile. Yes, he was truly beginning to see why his little one liked this particular human so much. He would have disapproved of Singer's general lack of emotional displays except that he'd clearly been able to read the hunter's intentions about the hug, so this one was loath to perform them but would when he felt it necessary. He was pretty sure that was already a step further than Dean's father had tended to go.
Michael still wasn't sure why humans didn't simply just show and tell each other what they actually felt. Why did they need to make everything so much more complicated that it really was?
"Gwen," Michael said, turning to face her.
"Yeah, okay," Gwen replied as she stepped forwards.
Unlike the others, Michael noted that she wavered slightly. It wasn't a conscious action, or at least he didn't think so, but rather an instinctive reaction to what was about to happen. Unlike the others, she was very new to this type of hunting and he was merely happy that she was consenting.
"This will work best if you try and relax," Michael told her kindly as he placed his hand on her forehead.
Gwen snorted. "I'll give it the good old college try."
The expression meant nothing to Michael but it seemed to help her, much as Dean's use of them often helped his vessel. He was merely pleased at being able to instantly recognize it as an expression. It was progress, as for the rest, he'd simply have to ask his human later. Hopefully it would draw a smile from Dean.
The probe was the quickest of them all since Gwen had never been touched by angel before and so there was no lingering interferences to double check. That was a perfect place for Simiel to have hidden her compulsion if she'd placed any and Michael knew how good she'd always been at that kind of delicate work. Soon enough he was able to withdraw, though he only moved his hand as far as Gwen's shoulder as she swayed alarmingly while she recovered.
"Wow," Gwen finally muttered. "Can you say ow?"
"Why would Michael wish to say that?" Raphael inquired.
His brother's mistake seemed to be precisely what the humans needed just now as Gwen began to giggle uncontrollably and then outright laugh, the latter action was soon followed by both Sam Winchester and Bobby Singer.
"What did I say, Brother?" Raphael inquired, confused.
"It was one of those expressions," Michael replied.
"Oh, do you know what it means?"
"No."
"Their laughter does not sound enjoyable."
"I do not think that is the point of it. I believe it is stress relief."
"Humans are strange."
"Yes, they are, Brother," Michael agreed.
/
Not sure that he would ever comprehend humans no matter how long he stayed around them, Raphael turned his attention back to Samuel, running his fingers over the bruises that Michael had left on the hunter's throat. They vanished under his power, as did the concussion that Castiel had inadvertently given the human. With both of those healed, Samuel began to wake up on his own and he only waited long enough to be sure that the compulsion wasn't in control before backing up.
Although Raphael had no qualms with telling the hunter what had happened, he'd observed enough of the interactions among this particular family to know that the bad news would come best from one of the others. As he'd predicted, both Gwen and Sam moved to Campbell's side once they realize what was happening.
"Samuel?" Gwen asked softly. "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah," Samuel replied, blinking and looking around in confusion. "What happened? Why are we in the barn?"
"What's the last thing that you remember?" Bobby inquired, moving closer as well.
"I was inside, having another cup of coffee as I couldn't seem to wake up. What happened? How'd I get in here?" A pause. "Was I possessed?"
"Not possessed, exactly," Sam began. "Turns out you were brought back for a reason, a backup plan if you will."
"A backu- I was an ace in the hole?"
"Yes."
"For who?"
The way that the others looked between themselves was a dead giveaway that something wasn't right and Raphael didn't understand why they didn't just tell Samuel the truth. If he could already see that it was bad news, then certainly the hunter could tell as well.
"Whose backup plan was I?" Samuel demanded once more, voice steel.
"Simiel's," Gwen replied softly, quickly explaining what had happened.
From the way that Samuel blanched, Raphael could tell that the emotion driving the man all along had been genuine, even if the drive itself hadn't been. It was a small token, but one which he knew would mean a lot to both Samuel and Dean.
"And it's still there now?" Samuel checked a few seconds after Gwen finished. "Even though I technically already carried out what I was programmed to do?"
"Yes," Michael confirmed. "And we cannot undo it."
"So none of it's real? Everything that I feel for Dean, it's all fake?"
"No," Raphael corrected immediately. "Your emotions are true and your own, it is just the obsession that is Simiel's."
"How do you know that?" Sam inquired with a frown.
"There are many forms that obsession can take, Sam," Michael replied, voice displeased. "You of all people should know that. By allowing the compulsion to utilize Samuel's own feelings for Dean, Simiel was able to keep it more hidden."
"Hey, speaking of obsessions of the negative variety," Gwen began.
"Christian," Bobby finished, turning to look at them.
"Dean's other cousin?" Raphael asked.
"Yes, he was obsessed with Dean but in exactly the opposite way of Samuel."
"Whereas Dean could do no wrong as far as Samuel was concerned, Christian saw everything that he did as wrong somehow," Gwen elaborated.
"Did he wish to find Dean?" Michael inquired.
"No, just the opposite."
"Then it seems unlikely that he would have been manipulated by Simiel, though it would be best to check."
"Can you have him come to us?" Raphael questioned.
Sam laughed harshly. "Christian come back? When Hell freezes over. He couldn't get away from us fast enough once he'd made up his mind to do so."
"I'll see what I can do," Gwen offered. "But Sam is right, it's unlikely that he'll do so. And even if he did, he wouldn't let you near him."
"Why not?" Raphael asked.
"Because you're with Dean."
"That does not sound like Simiel's work, but rather pure human jealousy and dislike," Michael commented.
"The fact that he was right about the nature of my obsession won't help matters any either," Samuel added.
The silence that fell over the group then was by no means comfortable and Raphael was unsure how to move the situation along to what they had to do next. He knew from previous experience that the actions of angels could often be seen as cold or uncaring by humans and he had no desire to appear so now to those who meant so much to his bond brother. That didn't change what needed to be done though and from the subtle signs he was picking up from Michael he knew that things were not going as well with Dean and Castiel as he'd hoped that they were.
"Can... can I see Dean?" Samuel finally asked, breaking the silence. "Just once more before...?"
"I'm sorry, but no," Michael responded. "Though you have no more First Darkness, we cannot know how the compulsion might affect you should you be near him once more, especially now that the secret of its existence is out. Besides, Dean is still recovering from what happened."
"Wait, you said that he was all better," Sam interrupted.
"No, we said that he survived," Michael corrected. "Physically your brother has been fully healed, but his soul was nearly completely extinguished, that is not an experience that can simply be shrugged off easily."
"Oh, God," Samuel muttered, eyes squeezed shut for a moment before they snapped open and sought out Bobby. "Tell Dean that I'm sorry, that I'm so, so sorry and that if I'd known, I'd have stayed as far away from him as I possibly could. Please tell him that for me."
"Of course I'll tell him," Bobby reassured. "But if I know anything, it'll be that Dean says you have nothing to be sorry about. This was not your fault, Samuel, and there was no way that you could have known what Simiel had done to you."
"Still, it was my meatsuit that was used and my hand that stabbed him. We should have thought more closely about how I'd gotten out of Heaven in the first place and why."
"Hey, Samuel," Sam said, drawing his grandfather's attention. "My return was inexplicable as well and yet I have no such compulsion. We did all that we could to figure out what had happened and since we've never encountered anything quite like this before there was nothing that we could have done."
The words didn't quite seem to do what Winchester had intended, but since Samuel Campbell was related to Dean that didn't particularly surprise Raphael. His bond brother had to have gotten his inherent stubbornness from multiple places to have it as strongly as Dean did.
"Raphael?" Michael inquired.
"I will take care of it, Brother," Raphael replied. "You go to your vessel and help Castiel take care of him."
Samuel closed his eyes briefly once more before he nodded to himself and got to his feet. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Whoa, wait, just like that?" Gwen demanded, startled.
"I refuse to stick around longer for selfish reasons and be a danger to Dean. Besides, everyone I need to see is here, everyone but for the one person that I can't see just now anyway."
"What about resurrection?" Sam suddenly questioned, turning to look at Michael and him. "Can't you kill him, undo whatever Simiel did and then just bring him back?"
"Resurrection is not something to be performed lightly and incessantly," Raphael replied disapprovingly. "Humans are meant to die and their souls to pass on."
"You've done it before."
"In particular circumstances."
"But-"
"Sam, Raphael is right," Samuel interrupted, voice calm and accepting. "I was already dead before all of this started and was pulled out of Heaven and resurrected for no good. I've already had my life and it was a long and good one for a hunter."
"But it's not fair!" Sam complained.
"Life rarely is."
"What's dead should stay dead," Bobby added quietly.
"Like you haven't been brought back."
"And believe me, ya idjit, if it had been done by anyone but Castiel, I'd have been damned suspicious about it too!"
"Samuel will still go to Heaven, right?" Gwen asked, tears in her eyes. "What he did here now won't change that. Will it?"
"No," Michael reassured her. "Samuel has earned his place in Heaven and there he shall return." With that his brother walked over to the hunter and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It has been an honor to know you and you shall be missed."
"Th- thanks," Samuel replied, blinking when Michael flew off.
Raphael remained where he was so that the others could say their goodbyes without feeling pressured. It took a while with all of the hunters making good use of the fact that, for once, they were able to say a proper goodbye to one of their own. When they were done, he stepped forwards and placed a hand on Samuel's head.
"Will it hurt?" the hunter inquired.
"No, it shall not," Raphael replied gently.
All it took was a little twist of his Grace and Raphael had Samuel's soul in his hands. He took special care to lower the body gently to the ground before he dismissed the reaper that had arrived and took the soul up to Heaven himself.
Chapter 166