Unexpected Destinies Chapter 174
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
Word Count: 3,050
Summary: A hunt doesn't go as expected, but in a good way for once.
PRESENT
Dean resisted the temptation to start shifting restlessly as he waited, crouched behind a red outcropping of rock. Why had he gotten stuck with the job of blocking this exit route? How come he hadn't been able to take Sam or Bobby's place herding the damned ra-ra into the trap? Just because they'd done more of the reading on this particular creature than him didn't mean that he couldn't herd it. He was good at herding, all it took was looking badass enough to convince the thing that it was better off running away than attacking him.
"I can be threatening without being provocative," Dean muttered under his breath. "Just because I'm good at that doesn't mean I can't not do it. It's not my fault that I've got a knack for it. Sam's just jealous that he can't get under people's skin that easily."
Even as he said it, Dean knew that it wasn't true. His little brother would never see the point of getting under anyone's skin unless it was a creature and even then Sam would infinitely prefer to go a less confrontational route or just be outright rude if it came down to that. His brother simply didn't see the point in being more subtle about it or dragging it out. He just sometimes wished that Sam would see it for the difference in communications styles that it was and not as a character flaw that needed rectifying. He simply couldn't pull off his brother's puppy dog routine and never had, not even as a child. After having seen what had happened to his mom and then being trained by his father to help protect Sammy, he'd just never had that innocence long enough to learn how to fake it.
Pretty much what it had come down to was that when people looked at Sam they'd seen a lost little boy who'd never had a mother and desperately needed one. Women had used to flock to his little brother in a way that Dean had always envied, wanting nothing more than to spoil Sam and mother him. When they'd looked at him, though, all they'd seen had been the mask that he'd constructed to keep the pain locked up deep inside of him just so that he could get through the day. Add to that the fact that he still remembered his mother and had no intention of letting anyone else try to take her place and the result hadn't been good. The women had seen all of that and interpreted it as trouble, as someone to be wary of lest he try and steal their money or mess up their precious things. It had hurt but he just hadn't known how to bring down that mask and allow himself to be open and vulnerable again like he'd been with his mother.
Later on Dean had learned to channel this impression into something useful and then he'd eventually learned that while women were instinctually afraid or wary of that attitude in a little boy, they were secretly thrilled to have it in a lover. So, yeah, he simply couldn't pull Sam's routine of ingratiating himself with normal adults, but that didn't mean that his own methods were wrong. They were just different and sometimes his brother's way of communicating with people would work better and sometimes his own would. He didn't see why that was so hard to grasp or why Sam had to keep insisting that the ones he got on with better weren't normal. Just because some people weren't like the majority of the population didn't make them worth any less or meant that their ideas and opinions weren't valuable. No, it just made them different which was a good thing as far as he was concerned.
Dean had spent more than enough time calling his own bullshit recently to know that he was allowing himself to wallow, but he felt like it just now damnit.
It wasn't conducive to good hunting though so Dean tried to shove it aside, though he made a note to deal with it later, knowing that otherwise it would come back to bite him in the ass. Besides, now was a good time to deal with this shit as he and Sam were already off balance as it was. Might as well get it all out of the way with at once so that they both knew where they stood with each other. But the hunt came first.
A quick peak around his cover showed Dean that neither the ra-ra nor the others were coming his way just yet so he shifted position slightly, trying to get as comfortable as he could be given that it was November in Utah. At least he got to visit Bryce Canyon again, he'd always liked it since the first time that they'd passed through here on a hunt with their father more years ago now than he cared to remember. The ra-ra had been preying on tourists and the pattern had been picked up by a hunter that Bobby knew. The man had come down with a partner, who thought they that knew what they were getting themselves into and then promptly discovered that they didn't. The partner had died, becoming the ra-ra's most recent victims while Bobby's friend had landed in the hospital with a broken leg. Gwen was still there with him just in case the creature chose to go finish him off instead of returning to its usual hunting grounds.
The memory of his cousin's indignation reminded Dean that he could have pulled a worse assignment, but there had been no choice in the matter. The night shift nurse had taken a shine to Gwen and that had been the end of that. Though he was more than happy to flirt his ass off for a case and knew that Castiel would not begrudge him it for a case, all of that was useless if the target was a firmly heterosexual man. So, Gwen it had been if they wanted someone there past the end of visiting hours. He just wished that the rest of the job could be as easily taken care of as that. Unfortunately it seemed that their good luck had run out there. Their creature was some Russian peasant folklore beastie whose full name he couldn't even remember much less pronounce so he'd dubbed it the ra-ra and ignored Bobby's exasperated look.
Then, on top of that, it turned out that there wasn't a single illustration of the damn thing in any reference book that they could find. Hell, apparently it wasn't even considered a 'true' Russian mythical creature as there were only the vaguest of references to it which the so called experts wrote off as nothing but rumors or lies. Whose lies he wasn't entirely sure, but then he hadn't quite cared to hear his brother's explanation either. All he wanted to know was what it was, what it looked like, what it could do and how to kill it. Apparently all they knew was the answer to the first one. Upon coming up empty themselves, Bobby's friend and his partner had decided that instead of killing it, they'd simply re-imprison the damn thing into the crystal from which it had escaped during some new special cleaning process that the museum that had owned the crystal had performed.
Who knew? Buff the shiny rock with Pledge and poof! Instant creature surprise.
Altogether, Dean infinitely preferred when the surprise was candy. Or chocolate, chocolate was more than good as well.
To make matters even worse, Bobby's friend had told them that when he and his partner had finally tracked the damn thing down that they'd quickly figured out exactly why there were no illustrations of it. Apparently the damn thing wasn't corporeal or at least didn't look it and was instead some kind of freaky mix between a spirit and a monster as it's claws or whatever had clearly been able to do serious damage as attested to by the state of the poor guy's partner. The corpse had been thoroughly mutilated, though the not being able to see the ra-ra bit had Dean the most nervous truth be told. Sure, his father had taught him how to fight blind but that didn't mean that he was as good at it as when he could see or that he had to like it. The issue became academic when he heard what was to him a clearly inhuman roar of anger. Looked like it was show time.
Dean tensed as he could feel adrenaline flood his system as his body geared up for one hell of a fight. Bobby's friend had told them that the ra-ra had been docile enough, letting them herd it towards the trap, right up until the moment that it had noticed that its options were to either fight or to step into the crystal's power radius at which point it would be sucked back into its beautiful prison. So, basically, shit shouldn't hit the fan until he stepped out from behind his cover and the ra-ra realized that it had no way out. He could only hope that it chose to attack him rather than Sam or Bobby. It should, though, as on his own he would appear to be the lesser threat.
Another roar echoing off the canyon walls told Dean that the ra-ra was closer but not yet close enough to have rounded the bend just before the canyon split in two. He used the opportunity to peak from behind his cover again, just to make sure that the crystal was still in place. It was exactly where he'd left it and he chided himself for his nerves. It wasn't like he hadn't faced plenty of foes that other hunters might hesitate at. So why did this particular one put him on edge? He didn't know and he tried to shove it aside.
The next roar was followed by the sounds of movement and Dean waited for the sound of two more sets of footsteps to reach him before stepping out into view. His first impression of the ra-ra was of a haze of color and motion that made him squeeze his eyes shut before he'd consciously thought of it. When he did, he snapped his eyes open again, bracing himself for an attack. The ra-ra hadn't chosen to take advantage of his moment of inattention though and instead stood frozen in place, regarding him with caution and no little confusion.
Vaguely Dean was aware of the edges of the creature shifting and changing as they had when he'd first laid eyes on it, but all of his attention was focused on the ra-ra's hideous appearance. It looked strangely familiar but he couldn't quite place where he'd seen something like it before or even when, just that he had. Sam and Bobby's arrival around the bend snapped the both of them from their contemplation of each other and the ra-ra took a cautious step forward towards him, sniffing the air with its ruined nose as it did so.
Though confused, Dean took a step forwards, preparing himself to either attack or spring aside, depending on what the ra-ra did. What happened next was the absolute last thing that he'd expected or could ever have predicted. The ra-ra tensed at his approach as expected, but instead of rushing towards him in a sudden frenzied attack as Bobby's friend had described happening with them, the creature pulled back with a wail. It shifted its position slightly, glancing towards Sam and Bobby but he moved with it, not about to let the ra-ra attack them. Sensing weakness, he moved in and contrary to all expectations, the damn thing turned around and fled, voluntarily running straight for the crystal, screaming loudly.
"What the hell?" Dean demanded, dumbfounded, when the sudden flare of light from the crystal faded and the ra-ra was gone, trapped within it's depths once more.
"What did you do?" Sam questioned, staring at him in shock.
"Nothing!"
"That didn't look like nothing to me," Bobby stated.
"Yeah well it's true. You pretty much saw it all. The only thing you missed was me coming out from behind my cover and blinking to get a better look at it."
"You say that as if you could see it."
"Not at first, no, but after that initial daze, yeah, sure."
"Dean, we couldn't get a visual lock on it. It was just blur of light and movement to us," Sam informed him quietly, voice grave.
"What? Then why could I see it?"
"You don't have a clue?" Bobby asked.
"No!"
"You said that you blinked?"
"Yeah, just for a moment. It was like when you wake up and you're looking at a blank white wall, you know, when you can't quite judge how far away it is until you reach out and touch it? And then it just kinda snaps into place visually? It was just like that, only I blinked instead of reaching out towards it."
"I've never heard of anything like that happening to a hunter before. You either just see it or you don't unless something changes significantly."
Bobby didn't need to elaborate on that any further as Dean could quite easily remember how different everything had been when he and Sam had taken a walk on the wild side by going astral the other year.
"And even if you had, I doubt it would explain why it just turned and fled like that," Sam said. "I mean it voluntarily chose to lock itself back up in the crystal that had imprisoned it for millennia rather than face Dean. There's got to be more to that."
"Dude," Dean mock protested, turning to face his little brother. "I'm just that badass and he knew it."
"Yes, Dean, I'm sure the ancient warrior monster was totally cowed by your infantile presence."
"Hey! You're infantile."
"Compared to it you are nothing but a babe, ya idjit," Bobby snorted. "There's something we're missing here."
"Not an infant," Dean muttered under his breath before raising his voice. "And who said the ra-ra couldn't just tell skill when he saw it?"
"The ra-ra, Dean?" Sam questioned in disbelief and exasperation. "Really?"
"Bite me, Bitch."
"Jerk."
"I'd say Heaven help me, but I doubt even they could," Bobby sighed wearily.
"Hey!"
"Oh shut up, ya idjits. You made your beds, now lie in 'em."
/
Dean was still laughing when he came out of the shower at the Campbell place and walked through to the bedroom. He could honestly admit that he'd never seen what happened coming, it was definitely one for the books. They still had no clue why the thing had acted the way that it had, but he was endlessly amused by it nonetheless. He knew that he was badass, but even he didn't really think that he was badass enough to get that kind of reaction. Especially not on sight or considering the fact that the last time the creature had gotten trapped in the crystal, it hadn't gotten out for several millennia. Regardless, he'd take what he could get and use it to his fullest advantage. After all, it wasn't like either Bobby or Sam could claim that anything like this had ever happened to them, or at least not with something that was supposed to be extremely dangerous and deadly.
Still chuckling, Dean dropped his towel and started to pull on some clean clothes. The hunt had been a nice change of pace, but it was back to the books now, though at least there would be a few of them in the library so it wouldn't feel as lonely as it had when none of his archangels had been around to help him before. Plus it was always good to bounce ideas off of other humans as they were more apt to come up with unconventional or off the wall ideas. Angels in general tended to lack creativity, though not for lack of trying. Castiel in particular was getting better at thinking outside the box.
The flutter of wings had Dean looking up from his duffel, a smile of greeting already on his face before he realized that the young Hispanic man was not an angel that he'd ever seen before.
"Dean Winchester," the angel said, looking him over.
"Who are you?" Dean demanded, right hand slipping into the pocket that he'd just put the Jewel of Abel into.
"Do not be afraid, I am on your side, Righteous Man."
The angel approached him as he said it and Dean pulled his hand from his pocket as soon as the Jewel of Abel was securely wrapped around his wrist. He brought it up to bare and concentrated on it just enough to make the Jewel glow with power.
"You'll have to excuse me if I don't just take your word for it," Dean stated, shifting his weight so he'd be more stable if he needed to use the Jewel. "So how about a name to start with and we go from there, huh?"
The angel grinned. "You have fire in you, I can see why Father likes you so much and why you drove Zachariah nuts."
The mention of the angel he'd killed made Dean tense and he channeled more power to the Jewel even as the angel stepped closer still so that he was almost touching the angel's chest with his fingers.
"Who do you think I am?" the angel continued, twitching his wings.
Dean's eyes were automatically drawn to the movement and he snapped them back as soon as he realized that he'd done it. Then he got the significance of what he'd seen and he glanced back in shock.
Nine pairs of wings. Nine. But that meant-
Archangel.
"Mike!" Dean sent instantly. "Cas!"
He also took a few steps back. While Dean had no problem going face to face with Lucifer he wasn't stupid enough to confront an archangel alone when he had backup instantly available to him. Besides he didn't quite know where this one stood and any hesitation on his part could prove to be fatal.
"Raziel," Dean finally replied.
A.N.: I was beginning to think that this chapter was cursed because every time that I sat down to post it something came up. So I'm doing it now and I don't even want to think about what time it is, but it seems to have worked! So I hope you enjoy it and I know that the last line blows a few of your different theories out of the water, but hopefully in a good way for most.
Chapter 175
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,050
Summary: A hunt doesn't go as expected, but in a good way for once.
PRESENT
Dean resisted the temptation to start shifting restlessly as he waited, crouched behind a red outcropping of rock. Why had he gotten stuck with the job of blocking this exit route? How come he hadn't been able to take Sam or Bobby's place herding the damned ra-ra into the trap? Just because they'd done more of the reading on this particular creature than him didn't mean that he couldn't herd it. He was good at herding, all it took was looking badass enough to convince the thing that it was better off running away than attacking him.
"I can be threatening without being provocative," Dean muttered under his breath. "Just because I'm good at that doesn't mean I can't not do it. It's not my fault that I've got a knack for it. Sam's just jealous that he can't get under people's skin that easily."
Even as he said it, Dean knew that it wasn't true. His little brother would never see the point of getting under anyone's skin unless it was a creature and even then Sam would infinitely prefer to go a less confrontational route or just be outright rude if it came down to that. His brother simply didn't see the point in being more subtle about it or dragging it out. He just sometimes wished that Sam would see it for the difference in communications styles that it was and not as a character flaw that needed rectifying. He simply couldn't pull off his brother's puppy dog routine and never had, not even as a child. After having seen what had happened to his mom and then being trained by his father to help protect Sammy, he'd just never had that innocence long enough to learn how to fake it.
Pretty much what it had come down to was that when people looked at Sam they'd seen a lost little boy who'd never had a mother and desperately needed one. Women had used to flock to his little brother in a way that Dean had always envied, wanting nothing more than to spoil Sam and mother him. When they'd looked at him, though, all they'd seen had been the mask that he'd constructed to keep the pain locked up deep inside of him just so that he could get through the day. Add to that the fact that he still remembered his mother and had no intention of letting anyone else try to take her place and the result hadn't been good. The women had seen all of that and interpreted it as trouble, as someone to be wary of lest he try and steal their money or mess up their precious things. It had hurt but he just hadn't known how to bring down that mask and allow himself to be open and vulnerable again like he'd been with his mother.
Later on Dean had learned to channel this impression into something useful and then he'd eventually learned that while women were instinctually afraid or wary of that attitude in a little boy, they were secretly thrilled to have it in a lover. So, yeah, he simply couldn't pull Sam's routine of ingratiating himself with normal adults, but that didn't mean that his own methods were wrong. They were just different and sometimes his brother's way of communicating with people would work better and sometimes his own would. He didn't see why that was so hard to grasp or why Sam had to keep insisting that the ones he got on with better weren't normal. Just because some people weren't like the majority of the population didn't make them worth any less or meant that their ideas and opinions weren't valuable. No, it just made them different which was a good thing as far as he was concerned.
Dean had spent more than enough time calling his own bullshit recently to know that he was allowing himself to wallow, but he felt like it just now damnit.
It wasn't conducive to good hunting though so Dean tried to shove it aside, though he made a note to deal with it later, knowing that otherwise it would come back to bite him in the ass. Besides, now was a good time to deal with this shit as he and Sam were already off balance as it was. Might as well get it all out of the way with at once so that they both knew where they stood with each other. But the hunt came first.
A quick peak around his cover showed Dean that neither the ra-ra nor the others were coming his way just yet so he shifted position slightly, trying to get as comfortable as he could be given that it was November in Utah. At least he got to visit Bryce Canyon again, he'd always liked it since the first time that they'd passed through here on a hunt with their father more years ago now than he cared to remember. The ra-ra had been preying on tourists and the pattern had been picked up by a hunter that Bobby knew. The man had come down with a partner, who thought they that knew what they were getting themselves into and then promptly discovered that they didn't. The partner had died, becoming the ra-ra's most recent victims while Bobby's friend had landed in the hospital with a broken leg. Gwen was still there with him just in case the creature chose to go finish him off instead of returning to its usual hunting grounds.
The memory of his cousin's indignation reminded Dean that he could have pulled a worse assignment, but there had been no choice in the matter. The night shift nurse had taken a shine to Gwen and that had been the end of that. Though he was more than happy to flirt his ass off for a case and knew that Castiel would not begrudge him it for a case, all of that was useless if the target was a firmly heterosexual man. So, Gwen it had been if they wanted someone there past the end of visiting hours. He just wished that the rest of the job could be as easily taken care of as that. Unfortunately it seemed that their good luck had run out there. Their creature was some Russian peasant folklore beastie whose full name he couldn't even remember much less pronounce so he'd dubbed it the ra-ra and ignored Bobby's exasperated look.
Then, on top of that, it turned out that there wasn't a single illustration of the damn thing in any reference book that they could find. Hell, apparently it wasn't even considered a 'true' Russian mythical creature as there were only the vaguest of references to it which the so called experts wrote off as nothing but rumors or lies. Whose lies he wasn't entirely sure, but then he hadn't quite cared to hear his brother's explanation either. All he wanted to know was what it was, what it looked like, what it could do and how to kill it. Apparently all they knew was the answer to the first one. Upon coming up empty themselves, Bobby's friend and his partner had decided that instead of killing it, they'd simply re-imprison the damn thing into the crystal from which it had escaped during some new special cleaning process that the museum that had owned the crystal had performed.
Who knew? Buff the shiny rock with Pledge and poof! Instant creature surprise.
Altogether, Dean infinitely preferred when the surprise was candy. Or chocolate, chocolate was more than good as well.
To make matters even worse, Bobby's friend had told them that when he and his partner had finally tracked the damn thing down that they'd quickly figured out exactly why there were no illustrations of it. Apparently the damn thing wasn't corporeal or at least didn't look it and was instead some kind of freaky mix between a spirit and a monster as it's claws or whatever had clearly been able to do serious damage as attested to by the state of the poor guy's partner. The corpse had been thoroughly mutilated, though the not being able to see the ra-ra bit had Dean the most nervous truth be told. Sure, his father had taught him how to fight blind but that didn't mean that he was as good at it as when he could see or that he had to like it. The issue became academic when he heard what was to him a clearly inhuman roar of anger. Looked like it was show time.
Dean tensed as he could feel adrenaline flood his system as his body geared up for one hell of a fight. Bobby's friend had told them that the ra-ra had been docile enough, letting them herd it towards the trap, right up until the moment that it had noticed that its options were to either fight or to step into the crystal's power radius at which point it would be sucked back into its beautiful prison. So, basically, shit shouldn't hit the fan until he stepped out from behind his cover and the ra-ra realized that it had no way out. He could only hope that it chose to attack him rather than Sam or Bobby. It should, though, as on his own he would appear to be the lesser threat.
Another roar echoing off the canyon walls told Dean that the ra-ra was closer but not yet close enough to have rounded the bend just before the canyon split in two. He used the opportunity to peak from behind his cover again, just to make sure that the crystal was still in place. It was exactly where he'd left it and he chided himself for his nerves. It wasn't like he hadn't faced plenty of foes that other hunters might hesitate at. So why did this particular one put him on edge? He didn't know and he tried to shove it aside.
The next roar was followed by the sounds of movement and Dean waited for the sound of two more sets of footsteps to reach him before stepping out into view. His first impression of the ra-ra was of a haze of color and motion that made him squeeze his eyes shut before he'd consciously thought of it. When he did, he snapped his eyes open again, bracing himself for an attack. The ra-ra hadn't chosen to take advantage of his moment of inattention though and instead stood frozen in place, regarding him with caution and no little confusion.
Vaguely Dean was aware of the edges of the creature shifting and changing as they had when he'd first laid eyes on it, but all of his attention was focused on the ra-ra's hideous appearance. It looked strangely familiar but he couldn't quite place where he'd seen something like it before or even when, just that he had. Sam and Bobby's arrival around the bend snapped the both of them from their contemplation of each other and the ra-ra took a cautious step forward towards him, sniffing the air with its ruined nose as it did so.
Though confused, Dean took a step forwards, preparing himself to either attack or spring aside, depending on what the ra-ra did. What happened next was the absolute last thing that he'd expected or could ever have predicted. The ra-ra tensed at his approach as expected, but instead of rushing towards him in a sudden frenzied attack as Bobby's friend had described happening with them, the creature pulled back with a wail. It shifted its position slightly, glancing towards Sam and Bobby but he moved with it, not about to let the ra-ra attack them. Sensing weakness, he moved in and contrary to all expectations, the damn thing turned around and fled, voluntarily running straight for the crystal, screaming loudly.
"What the hell?" Dean demanded, dumbfounded, when the sudden flare of light from the crystal faded and the ra-ra was gone, trapped within it's depths once more.
"What did you do?" Sam questioned, staring at him in shock.
"Nothing!"
"That didn't look like nothing to me," Bobby stated.
"Yeah well it's true. You pretty much saw it all. The only thing you missed was me coming out from behind my cover and blinking to get a better look at it."
"You say that as if you could see it."
"Not at first, no, but after that initial daze, yeah, sure."
"Dean, we couldn't get a visual lock on it. It was just blur of light and movement to us," Sam informed him quietly, voice grave.
"What? Then why could I see it?"
"You don't have a clue?" Bobby asked.
"No!"
"You said that you blinked?"
"Yeah, just for a moment. It was like when you wake up and you're looking at a blank white wall, you know, when you can't quite judge how far away it is until you reach out and touch it? And then it just kinda snaps into place visually? It was just like that, only I blinked instead of reaching out towards it."
"I've never heard of anything like that happening to a hunter before. You either just see it or you don't unless something changes significantly."
Bobby didn't need to elaborate on that any further as Dean could quite easily remember how different everything had been when he and Sam had taken a walk on the wild side by going astral the other year.
"And even if you had, I doubt it would explain why it just turned and fled like that," Sam said. "I mean it voluntarily chose to lock itself back up in the crystal that had imprisoned it for millennia rather than face Dean. There's got to be more to that."
"Dude," Dean mock protested, turning to face his little brother. "I'm just that badass and he knew it."
"Yes, Dean, I'm sure the ancient warrior monster was totally cowed by your infantile presence."
"Hey! You're infantile."
"Compared to it you are nothing but a babe, ya idjit," Bobby snorted. "There's something we're missing here."
"Not an infant," Dean muttered under his breath before raising his voice. "And who said the ra-ra couldn't just tell skill when he saw it?"
"The ra-ra, Dean?" Sam questioned in disbelief and exasperation. "Really?"
"Bite me, Bitch."
"Jerk."
"I'd say Heaven help me, but I doubt even they could," Bobby sighed wearily.
"Hey!"
"Oh shut up, ya idjits. You made your beds, now lie in 'em."
/
Dean was still laughing when he came out of the shower at the Campbell place and walked through to the bedroom. He could honestly admit that he'd never seen what happened coming, it was definitely one for the books. They still had no clue why the thing had acted the way that it had, but he was endlessly amused by it nonetheless. He knew that he was badass, but even he didn't really think that he was badass enough to get that kind of reaction. Especially not on sight or considering the fact that the last time the creature had gotten trapped in the crystal, it hadn't gotten out for several millennia. Regardless, he'd take what he could get and use it to his fullest advantage. After all, it wasn't like either Bobby or Sam could claim that anything like this had ever happened to them, or at least not with something that was supposed to be extremely dangerous and deadly.
Still chuckling, Dean dropped his towel and started to pull on some clean clothes. The hunt had been a nice change of pace, but it was back to the books now, though at least there would be a few of them in the library so it wouldn't feel as lonely as it had when none of his archangels had been around to help him before. Plus it was always good to bounce ideas off of other humans as they were more apt to come up with unconventional or off the wall ideas. Angels in general tended to lack creativity, though not for lack of trying. Castiel in particular was getting better at thinking outside the box.
The flutter of wings had Dean looking up from his duffel, a smile of greeting already on his face before he realized that the young Hispanic man was not an angel that he'd ever seen before.
"Dean Winchester," the angel said, looking him over.
"Who are you?" Dean demanded, right hand slipping into the pocket that he'd just put the Jewel of Abel into.
"Do not be afraid, I am on your side, Righteous Man."
The angel approached him as he said it and Dean pulled his hand from his pocket as soon as the Jewel of Abel was securely wrapped around his wrist. He brought it up to bare and concentrated on it just enough to make the Jewel glow with power.
"You'll have to excuse me if I don't just take your word for it," Dean stated, shifting his weight so he'd be more stable if he needed to use the Jewel. "So how about a name to start with and we go from there, huh?"
The angel grinned. "You have fire in you, I can see why Father likes you so much and why you drove Zachariah nuts."
The mention of the angel he'd killed made Dean tense and he channeled more power to the Jewel even as the angel stepped closer still so that he was almost touching the angel's chest with his fingers.
"Who do you think I am?" the angel continued, twitching his wings.
Dean's eyes were automatically drawn to the movement and he snapped them back as soon as he realized that he'd done it. Then he got the significance of what he'd seen and he glanced back in shock.
Nine pairs of wings. Nine. But that meant-
Archangel.
"Mike!" Dean sent instantly. "Cas!"
He also took a few steps back. While Dean had no problem going face to face with Lucifer he wasn't stupid enough to confront an archangel alone when he had backup instantly available to him. Besides he didn't quite know where this one stood and any hesitation on his part could prove to be fatal.
"Raziel," Dean finally replied.
A.N.: I was beginning to think that this chapter was cursed because every time that I sat down to post it something came up. So I'm doing it now and I don't even want to think about what time it is, but it seems to have worked! So I hope you enjoy it and I know that the last line blows a few of your different theories out of the water, but hopefully in a good way for most.
Chapter 175