Marching Orders
In the immediate aftermath of the summoning of Samhain, Castiel had had only a short audience with Zachariah. With yet another Seal destroyed and more lined up to fall, there hadn’t been much time for an in-depth debriefing.
So when Castiel receives a summons from his superior, he assumes that Zachariah is now ready to discuss the events of October 31st in greater depth.
He finds his commanding officer on the steps of the Roman Coliseum, scratching the ears of a large, grey tabby cat - one of the scores of feral felines that have made the ancient structure their home. It’s always been a subject of mild amusement among angels - that God created these small creatures to not be overawed by much of anything.
“You wished to see me?”
“Castiel. Well, aren’t you Johnny-on-the-spot,” Zachariah says, brightly. He tickles the purring cat underneath the chin before turning his full attention to his subordinate. The cat blinks bored yellow eyes at Castiel before beginning to fastidiously wash its paws. “I like that. We have a lot to discuss.”
Castiel nods. “Of course. I know the events around the summoning of Samhain were chaotic.”
“Chaotic? Yes.” Zachariah sounds, if anything, disinterested. He idly paces to the the edge of the step, looking down over a cluster of tourists in the open arena below. “Pity the Winchester boys screwed the pooch on the Seal. But Dean’s call to save the town was more or less what we predicted.”
“His test.” Castiel hesitates a moment before venturing onward. “Did he pass?”
Because while Dean made the choice that Castiel had prayed he would make, he is still uncertain if that choice was indeed the right one.
“That remains to be seen,” Zachariah replies. He turns back around and regards Castiel with a pleasant smile that somehow manages to be not pleasant at all. “So. Let’s talk about your sister, Anna.”
What crashes through Castiel for a split second is so strong that the cat pauses its bath and aims a thin growl of disapproval at him.
“Anna ceased to be my sister the day she Fell,” Castiel says, evenly, looking at a point somewhere beyond Zachariah’s shoulder. “Maybe even before that.”
“Yes.” Zachariah’s smile hasn’t budged. “And yet the two of you were very close from what I hear.”
There’s little point in denying it. “Yes. We were.”
Zachariah steps closer, his smile shifting to something slightly less grim. “And have you seen her since?”
Castiel’s gaze drops to the ground as dozens of images flash through is mind. Anna in a nursery. Lost in a shopping mall. Sitting in church. Taking a test in school. On a date to the movies with a fidgety, awkward high school boy. Graduating from college.
Following him around in Milliways.
Sitting in a clean, white hospital room, eyes closed, listening.
A hand comes to rest on his shoulder, and Castiel looks up to see something he did not expect.
Sympathy.
“Of course you did,” Zachariah says. “To have your sister torn away like that, even if it was by her own hand? You’d have to go see whatever was left. Visit her grave, in a manner of speaking. I wouldn’t fault you for that.” He looks closely at Castiel. “Yes, Anna may be a traitor to Heaven, but it was you who she betrayed the worst, I think.” Zachariah drops his hand and begins to pace along the step again. “Left you to take the responsibility. To have your loyalty called into question. Oh, yes. You know, there were still a few die-hards who said I was crazy for taking you onto my team?”
Zachariah shakes his head as if to say, Can you believe it? He pauses on the edge of the step, watching the sun begin to sink into a bank of clouds.
“And now she’s set to betray us again.”
Castiel closes his eyes. He doesn’t ask.
He knows that Zachariah knows.
“It seems that our return to Earth woke something up in young Miss Milton. She’s been listening to us. And raising quite a commotion about it, let me tell you.” Zachariah turns back to look at Castiel. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the problem this creates. If the demons learn about this-and they will learn about it-they’ll know every move we intend to make.”
Castiel makes himself look up as Zachariah comes back to stand in front of him.
“I’ve made the report to the big bosses, and they’re in agreement with me. It was one thing that she went over the wall to go hide out and play human. But now? Now she’s putting all of us in danger. And our cause. And the world. We have no other choice. Anna Milton is to die. As expediently as possible.”
It takes Castiel a few seconds to put the pieces together. Why Zachariah had called him into a private meeting to tell him this.
“You want me to do it.”
Zachariah smiles, and a chill comes back into the air.
“It’s a privilege, Castiel. And your right. Like I said, she betrayed you the worst. This is your chance to put things right. Others might not trust you with this in light of your history with her. I do.” Zachariah takes that one extra step into Castiel’s space. “I certainly have no call to question your loyalty. Do I, Castiel?”
Castiel holds fast and shakes his head. “No. No, you do not.”
He doesn’t want to do it. God knows that, even if he’ll never say so to Zachariah. It’s like Meg had said - Anna has done plenty to hurt him, to make him angry. But underneath it all, he’s never stopped loving his sister.
But Zachariah is right. If the angels know about Anna, then it’s only a matter of time until the demons do, if they don’t already. And if they take her, they will use her to win this war.
That cannot happen.
“I will carry out the order.”
“Good.” Once again, Zachariah claps him on the shoulder. “Very good. And don’t worry. You’ll have assistance.”
As if on cue, there’s the sound of fluttering wings a few steps above them, and then the crunch of shoe leather on stone. The grey cat-who had worked its way down to the base of its tail-looks up, sneezes, apparently decides that this section of the steps is getting a little too crowded, and stalks off.
Uriel steps down to join them.
“Castiel,” he says. “Zachariah.”
Zachariah beams. “You and Uriel worked so well together recently that we’ve decided to extend your partnership. He’ll be assisting you in this little endeavor.”
Uriel’s lip curls a bit at the ‘assisting.’
Castiel works hard to keep any evidence of dismay off of his face. It had made sense to involve Uriel with the summoning of Samhain. As Castiel had told Dean, Uriel is a specialist, and had it come down to sacrificing the town he was the logical choice to do the job. But for this?
“I’m sure Uriel’s expertise could be put to better use, elsewhere. I can do this alone,” he says to Zachariah.
It’s treading close to questioning an order, but Zachariah just sighs and settles down on the stone block that the cat just vacated.
“Under ordinary circumstances, maybe. But there’s one small hitch you should know about.”
And he explains.
Just one small hitch.
To carry out his orders, Castiel is going to have to wrestle Anna out of the hands of the Winchesters.
So when Castiel receives a summons from his superior, he assumes that Zachariah is now ready to discuss the events of October 31st in greater depth.
He finds his commanding officer on the steps of the Roman Coliseum, scratching the ears of a large, grey tabby cat - one of the scores of feral felines that have made the ancient structure their home. It’s always been a subject of mild amusement among angels - that God created these small creatures to not be overawed by much of anything.
“You wished to see me?”
“Castiel. Well, aren’t you Johnny-on-the-spot,” Zachariah says, brightly. He tickles the purring cat underneath the chin before turning his full attention to his subordinate. The cat blinks bored yellow eyes at Castiel before beginning to fastidiously wash its paws. “I like that. We have a lot to discuss.”
Castiel nods. “Of course. I know the events around the summoning of Samhain were chaotic.”
“Chaotic? Yes.” Zachariah sounds, if anything, disinterested. He idly paces to the the edge of the step, looking down over a cluster of tourists in the open arena below. “Pity the Winchester boys screwed the pooch on the Seal. But Dean’s call to save the town was more or less what we predicted.”
“His test.” Castiel hesitates a moment before venturing onward. “Did he pass?”
Because while Dean made the choice that Castiel had prayed he would make, he is still uncertain if that choice was indeed the right one.
“That remains to be seen,” Zachariah replies. He turns back around and regards Castiel with a pleasant smile that somehow manages to be not pleasant at all. “So. Let’s talk about your sister, Anna.”
What crashes through Castiel for a split second is so strong that the cat pauses its bath and aims a thin growl of disapproval at him.
“Anna ceased to be my sister the day she Fell,” Castiel says, evenly, looking at a point somewhere beyond Zachariah’s shoulder. “Maybe even before that.”
“Yes.” Zachariah’s smile hasn’t budged. “And yet the two of you were very close from what I hear.”
There’s little point in denying it. “Yes. We were.”
Zachariah steps closer, his smile shifting to something slightly less grim. “And have you seen her since?”
Castiel’s gaze drops to the ground as dozens of images flash through is mind. Anna in a nursery. Lost in a shopping mall. Sitting in church. Taking a test in school. On a date to the movies with a fidgety, awkward high school boy. Graduating from college.
Following him around in Milliways.
Sitting in a clean, white hospital room, eyes closed, listening.
A hand comes to rest on his shoulder, and Castiel looks up to see something he did not expect.
Sympathy.
“Of course you did,” Zachariah says. “To have your sister torn away like that, even if it was by her own hand? You’d have to go see whatever was left. Visit her grave, in a manner of speaking. I wouldn’t fault you for that.” He looks closely at Castiel. “Yes, Anna may be a traitor to Heaven, but it was you who she betrayed the worst, I think.” Zachariah drops his hand and begins to pace along the step again. “Left you to take the responsibility. To have your loyalty called into question. Oh, yes. You know, there were still a few die-hards who said I was crazy for taking you onto my team?”
Zachariah shakes his head as if to say, Can you believe it? He pauses on the edge of the step, watching the sun begin to sink into a bank of clouds.
“And now she’s set to betray us again.”
Castiel closes his eyes. He doesn’t ask.
He knows that Zachariah knows.
“It seems that our return to Earth woke something up in young Miss Milton. She’s been listening to us. And raising quite a commotion about it, let me tell you.” Zachariah turns back to look at Castiel. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the problem this creates. If the demons learn about this-and they will learn about it-they’ll know every move we intend to make.”
Castiel makes himself look up as Zachariah comes back to stand in front of him.
“I’ve made the report to the big bosses, and they’re in agreement with me. It was one thing that she went over the wall to go hide out and play human. But now? Now she’s putting all of us in danger. And our cause. And the world. We have no other choice. Anna Milton is to die. As expediently as possible.”
It takes Castiel a few seconds to put the pieces together. Why Zachariah had called him into a private meeting to tell him this.
“You want me to do it.”
Zachariah smiles, and a chill comes back into the air.
“It’s a privilege, Castiel. And your right. Like I said, she betrayed you the worst. This is your chance to put things right. Others might not trust you with this in light of your history with her. I do.” Zachariah takes that one extra step into Castiel’s space. “I certainly have no call to question your loyalty. Do I, Castiel?”
Castiel holds fast and shakes his head. “No. No, you do not.”
He doesn’t want to do it. God knows that, even if he’ll never say so to Zachariah. It’s like Meg had said - Anna has done plenty to hurt him, to make him angry. But underneath it all, he’s never stopped loving his sister.
But Zachariah is right. If the angels know about Anna, then it’s only a matter of time until the demons do, if they don’t already. And if they take her, they will use her to win this war.
That cannot happen.
“I will carry out the order.”
“Good.” Once again, Zachariah claps him on the shoulder. “Very good. And don’t worry. You’ll have assistance.”
As if on cue, there’s the sound of fluttering wings a few steps above them, and then the crunch of shoe leather on stone. The grey cat-who had worked its way down to the base of its tail-looks up, sneezes, apparently decides that this section of the steps is getting a little too crowded, and stalks off.
Uriel steps down to join them.
“Castiel,” he says. “Zachariah.”
Zachariah beams. “You and Uriel worked so well together recently that we’ve decided to extend your partnership. He’ll be assisting you in this little endeavor.”
Uriel’s lip curls a bit at the ‘assisting.’
Castiel works hard to keep any evidence of dismay off of his face. It had made sense to involve Uriel with the summoning of Samhain. As Castiel had told Dean, Uriel is a specialist, and had it come down to sacrificing the town he was the logical choice to do the job. But for this?
“I’m sure Uriel’s expertise could be put to better use, elsewhere. I can do this alone,” he says to Zachariah.
It’s treading close to questioning an order, but Zachariah just sighs and settles down on the stone block that the cat just vacated.
“Under ordinary circumstances, maybe. But there’s one small hitch you should know about.”
And he explains.
Just one small hitch.
To carry out his orders, Castiel is going to have to wrestle Anna out of the hands of the Winchesters.