Debriefing
“And that’s when you called for a retreat?”
Castiel would like nothing better than to be someplace quiet right now. The center of a forest. A deserted seaside cliff. The bottom row of bleachers at the Milliways baseball diamond. Even just to be with his brothers and sisters from the battle on the mountain.
The ones who are still alive.
Instead, when they’d gotten back to the Garrison, he had reported immediately to his next highest superior after Ecanus. Who had passed him to his superior. Who had passed him to her superior.
Who had passed him to Zachariah.
“Yes,” Castiel replies, looking slightly off to Zachariah’s left. He’s not sure whether to expect a dressing down for his actions or not. Angels generally don’t withdraw from battle, and certainly not on the say so of a random soldier.
But Castiel isn’t sure what other option he had. They were six soldiers down, their commander dead, and the Garrison needed to be informed of Lilith’s appearance as quickly as possible.
Zachariah seems more interested in the broken sword than in addressing Castiel’s little display of initiative. Blade in one hand, hilt in the other, he looks over the blackened metal with an expression that is half disgust, half fascination.
“Yes,” he says, holding the blade up and carefully turning it in his hand. “Yes, more than one of these went missing back in the day. Spoils of war, and all. ‘And it is written that the righteous blade shall know the fires of Hell, and be reforged. And She shall wield it under the moonless sky, and She shall strike the armies of Heaven. Twice three times She shall strike, and then break Her blade. And as it breaks, so shall the seal.’ We didn’t think Lilith would be foolish enough to try for that one so soon.”
How foolish was it when she succeeded? Castiel finds that he almost has to bite back the insubordinate comment. This night has left him more worse for wear than he cares to admit.
Zachariah finally tears his attention away from the sword.
“I guess we’re just lucky that she hit her quota before she opened you up like some sort of sacrificial farm animal.” Castiel is quietly baffled. Zachariah sounds…..cheerful. “But then, everyone knows about you. You’ve been to Hell and back. Literally. Clearly, you know something about surviving.”
He is clearly waiting for some kind of response, and after a moment of mental fumbling, Castiel falls back on the safest possible option. The facts of the battle.
“The Seal within the mountain is safe. As we did interrupt their ritual, they cannot attempt to break it again. Had we realized in time what Lilith was doing, I’m sure Ecanus would have ordered--”
But Zachariah is waving off his attempt to explain.
“No time for thoughts like that,” he says. “Lilith broke her Seal. Two of them, actually; this one and the Rising of the Witnesses. That mess has finally died down, thank goodness. They’re broken, we can’t undo that, we move on. We’re still standing, and the Winchesters have pulled through without losing any more skin than they normally do.”
For the first time, Castiel looks directly at Zachariah.
“The Winchesters?”
“Oh, yes,” Zachariah replies. “While she was breaking seals, Lilith decided to eliminate some human….well, competition is probably too strong a word. Left a bloody smear of hunters across half of the Midwest. Oh, don’t look so stricken,” he adds in response to whatever it is he sees in Castiel’s face. “I know that you’ve been made responsible for Dean Winchester, after a fashion, but you were needed elsewhere. And frankly, given what he’s destined for, if he couldn’t handle a few rabid spirits on his own, we’d have far bigger problems. You can check in on him when we’re done here.”
“Yes. Of course.”
Castiel can only imagine the sort of welcome he’s likely to get from Dean Winchester.
“And then you will report directly back to me.”
There is a part of Castiel that is beginning to wonder if Zachariah enjoys keeping his subordinates off balance.
“Of course.” What else can he do but agree? “I would like though, if I may…my unit….”
“Your unit no longer exists.” Zachariah’s tone has definitely dropped in warmth. “You and its other survivors are being disbanded and reassigned. “ The senior angel shakes his head. “It should have been done before this, I say, after Anna deserted. But others thought it better to keep you as intact as possible. Now that Ecanus has proved to be fatally incompetent, we have a unanimous vote. And I’ve requested you.”
“Requested?”
The smile is back, though Castiel thinks that it is somehow less reassuring than the cool efficiency.
“Why so surprised? You were hand-picked to walk into Hell. To babysit humanity’s golden-boy. Even, from what I hear, to go sit in on tutorials on some out of the way plane of existence.”
Zachariah is giving Castiel a calculating look, as if to see how he will respond. For his part, Castiel has no idea how to. None of the other angels have ever brought up Milliways with him before, nor he with them. He had never been certain if they were oblivious to his comings and goings, or if they were under orders not to discuss it with him.
The silence stretches out until it is within millimeters of ‘uncomfortable.’
“So,” Zachariah says, briskly, “I want you on my team. I expect great things of you, Castiel. I trust you won’t let me down.”
“Of course.” Castiel feels a surge of relief, sensing that this interview is winding down. “I do my best to serve. Always.”
“Now that’s what I like to hear.” This time the smile is practically lionish. “Go tend to your duties, Castiel. We’ll talk more later.”
Castiel does not need a second dismissal. Without quite knowing where he is going, he finds himself standing on a cold, flat prairie, dry brittle grass as high as his elbows, under a night sky crusted over with stars. For the first time in many hours he feels as if he can breathe again.
He steadfastly ignores the niggling feeling that he has just had a second brush with danger tonight, and this time he failed to escape.
Castiel would like nothing better than to be someplace quiet right now. The center of a forest. A deserted seaside cliff. The bottom row of bleachers at the Milliways baseball diamond. Even just to be with his brothers and sisters from the battle on the mountain.
The ones who are still alive.
Instead, when they’d gotten back to the Garrison, he had reported immediately to his next highest superior after Ecanus. Who had passed him to his superior. Who had passed him to her superior.
Who had passed him to Zachariah.
“Yes,” Castiel replies, looking slightly off to Zachariah’s left. He’s not sure whether to expect a dressing down for his actions or not. Angels generally don’t withdraw from battle, and certainly not on the say so of a random soldier.
But Castiel isn’t sure what other option he had. They were six soldiers down, their commander dead, and the Garrison needed to be informed of Lilith’s appearance as quickly as possible.
Zachariah seems more interested in the broken sword than in addressing Castiel’s little display of initiative. Blade in one hand, hilt in the other, he looks over the blackened metal with an expression that is half disgust, half fascination.
“Yes,” he says, holding the blade up and carefully turning it in his hand. “Yes, more than one of these went missing back in the day. Spoils of war, and all. ‘And it is written that the righteous blade shall know the fires of Hell, and be reforged. And She shall wield it under the moonless sky, and She shall strike the armies of Heaven. Twice three times She shall strike, and then break Her blade. And as it breaks, so shall the seal.’ We didn’t think Lilith would be foolish enough to try for that one so soon.”
How foolish was it when she succeeded? Castiel finds that he almost has to bite back the insubordinate comment. This night has left him more worse for wear than he cares to admit.
Zachariah finally tears his attention away from the sword.
“I guess we’re just lucky that she hit her quota before she opened you up like some sort of sacrificial farm animal.” Castiel is quietly baffled. Zachariah sounds…..cheerful. “But then, everyone knows about you. You’ve been to Hell and back. Literally. Clearly, you know something about surviving.”
He is clearly waiting for some kind of response, and after a moment of mental fumbling, Castiel falls back on the safest possible option. The facts of the battle.
“The Seal within the mountain is safe. As we did interrupt their ritual, they cannot attempt to break it again. Had we realized in time what Lilith was doing, I’m sure Ecanus would have ordered--”
But Zachariah is waving off his attempt to explain.
“No time for thoughts like that,” he says. “Lilith broke her Seal. Two of them, actually; this one and the Rising of the Witnesses. That mess has finally died down, thank goodness. They’re broken, we can’t undo that, we move on. We’re still standing, and the Winchesters have pulled through without losing any more skin than they normally do.”
For the first time, Castiel looks directly at Zachariah.
“The Winchesters?”
“Oh, yes,” Zachariah replies. “While she was breaking seals, Lilith decided to eliminate some human….well, competition is probably too strong a word. Left a bloody smear of hunters across half of the Midwest. Oh, don’t look so stricken,” he adds in response to whatever it is he sees in Castiel’s face. “I know that you’ve been made responsible for Dean Winchester, after a fashion, but you were needed elsewhere. And frankly, given what he’s destined for, if he couldn’t handle a few rabid spirits on his own, we’d have far bigger problems. You can check in on him when we’re done here.”
“Yes. Of course.”
Castiel can only imagine the sort of welcome he’s likely to get from Dean Winchester.
“And then you will report directly back to me.”
There is a part of Castiel that is beginning to wonder if Zachariah enjoys keeping his subordinates off balance.
“Of course.” What else can he do but agree? “I would like though, if I may…my unit….”
“Your unit no longer exists.” Zachariah’s tone has definitely dropped in warmth. “You and its other survivors are being disbanded and reassigned. “ The senior angel shakes his head. “It should have been done before this, I say, after Anna deserted. But others thought it better to keep you as intact as possible. Now that Ecanus has proved to be fatally incompetent, we have a unanimous vote. And I’ve requested you.”
“Requested?”
The smile is back, though Castiel thinks that it is somehow less reassuring than the cool efficiency.
“Why so surprised? You were hand-picked to walk into Hell. To babysit humanity’s golden-boy. Even, from what I hear, to go sit in on tutorials on some out of the way plane of existence.”
Zachariah is giving Castiel a calculating look, as if to see how he will respond. For his part, Castiel has no idea how to. None of the other angels have ever brought up Milliways with him before, nor he with them. He had never been certain if they were oblivious to his comings and goings, or if they were under orders not to discuss it with him.
The silence stretches out until it is within millimeters of ‘uncomfortable.’
“So,” Zachariah says, briskly, “I want you on my team. I expect great things of you, Castiel. I trust you won’t let me down.”
“Of course.” Castiel feels a surge of relief, sensing that this interview is winding down. “I do my best to serve. Always.”
“Now that’s what I like to hear.” This time the smile is practically lionish. “Go tend to your duties, Castiel. We’ll talk more later.”
Castiel does not need a second dismissal. Without quite knowing where he is going, he finds himself standing on a cold, flat prairie, dry brittle grass as high as his elbows, under a night sky crusted over with stars. For the first time in many hours he feels as if he can breathe again.
He steadfastly ignores the niggling feeling that he has just had a second brush with danger tonight, and this time he failed to escape.