SPN Fic: Noah's Ark Angel, PG
Title: Noah's Ark Angel
Author: yamapea
For: osmalic
Characters/Pairings: Castiel, Dean, Sam, Ruby, Alastair
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers through 410!
Word Count: 4,603
Summary: Picking up from Episode 410, Castiel enlists the help of Sam and Dean (and against his better judgment, Ruby) to help him stop a flood of biblical proportions.
Notes: Written for spn_j2_xmas! This was such a challenge. I enjoyed all of your prompts so much, and it was so hard to choose! I really hope you like this, osmalic. ♥ I had a lot of fun writing it. A million thanks to C for the beta and handholding and encouragement, and to unrequitedangst for the helpful obsessive fact-checking.
The rain has already started.
Castiel wonders how long he'll be here, like this. He thinks back to the argument with Uriel over Anna, and further… back to the god-fearing man who sacrificed his body to this fight. Castiel wonders now if he'd known what that entailed, if he'd known that an angel would be walking around in his skin, chasing after two rebellious boys and a demon, and asking for favors.
Because that was his duty now. He'd been given specific instructions, not that he'd needed them. This task consumed him; the need to track down the Winchester boys and their demon friend, to help them with the fight, to guide them whenever needed. He'd been given an objective, an objective he already had a passion for.
He wonders what task Uriel has been given now. It doesn't really matter.
He finds them in a little diner in Evansville, Indiana, plotting to take on the local demon population. Castiel watches from the parking lot for a while, listens to them as they bicker and scheme, marvels at the way Dean seems to be softening towards the demon. He wonders what Sam has told him. He wonders if Sam has any idea how dangerous she really is.
Castiel mimics humans as well as he's ever managed as he strolls into the diner, attempting a casual stride as he makes his way to their booth. They're so caught up in their argument about the best time to attack that they don't notice him standing in front of them. Castiel frowns.
"You should really be more careful," he says, evenly.
Just like that, the argument dissipates-three pairs of angry eyes are watching him, waiting for him to tell them he has to kill another new friend, perhaps, or expecting him to give them some new directive.
"What do you want, Cas?" Dean asks in a low grumble.
Castiel frowns, watching Dean carefully before he responds. He's hurt? Somehow Dean is… hurt? Castiel doesn't understand it, doesn't get why Dean is looking at him like he's the enemy instead of a friend. It mystifies Castiel more than it hurts him, but it still hurts just a little bit.
"I've been sent…" he begins, and he feels the hostility rolling off of them now, at his response.
"Tell your boss-" Dean starts, but Castiel raises a hand, cuts Dean off before he can say something Castiel will wish he hadn't said later.
"Please," Castiel says quietly, urgently, "we don't have much time."
"So, what," Sam interjects, "now you want us to help you out? After what happened with Anna? And here I thought we were easily replaced…"
Castiel frowns, both at the way that Dean flinches at her name and at the reminder of a familiar Uriel slogan-humans are easily replaced. It's not true, he doesn't think. He wouldn't have pulled Dean out of hell if it were true. He wouldn't have been asked to.
"Can we go somewhere to talk, please?" he tries again. People are starting to stare.
The demon is the only one of the trio who hasn't spoken yet, and Castiel almost expects her to chime in next, but she doesn't. It's Dean who answers him, after exchanging a look with the others.
"Fine," Dean says with a shrug. Castiel watches anxiously as Dean pulls his wallet out of his pocket and starts counting out bills for the waitress. He feels a 'but' coming, and he already dislikes it. Dean tosses a twenty and some ones on the table and juts his thumb towards the demon. "But she hears anything you've got to say to us."
Dean's gaze is so challenging, so focused on Castiel, that he doesn't notice the look that flickers across the demon's face. If only he could see.
"Well?" Sam chimes in, rubbing his hands together and looking smug. "That's the deal, take it or leave it."
"Fine," Castiel says, even though it is not. Uriel would rather slay the demon and cast the boys into perdition than chance letting any information get back to hell, and Castiel wonders if he should feel the same. "Let's go."
*
Sam is already pacing, and Castiel hasn't gotten to the worst part.
"Wait, wait wait, let me get this straight…"
"You're a regular poet," Dean grumbles distractedly, and Sam shoots him an annoyed look.
"So, in order to break another seal, Lilith has reunited these two… demon things, Leviathan and Behemoth, somewhere down in hell… and this is going to somehow cause an epic flood on earth?"
Castiel clears his throat and pulls back the curtain from the motel room window. The rain is coming down harder now, sheets of water pouring past the window. "It has already started. Behemoth is the cupbearer of hell, and he's letting it spill."
Dean groans. "Fanfreakingtastic."
"And you want us-" Sam gestures around the room, "to try to summon this… this demon creature, this creature that's supposedly the largest creature ever known to man, this thing that no one knows how to kill and also happens to be some sort of higher up in hell, and-"
"We won't ask you to slaughter the beast," Castiel says quietly, gaze wandering to the demon in the corner. Her face has gone pale, and Castiel wonders if she understands the gravity of the news he's just given them. "You needn't worry-"
"Like hell," Dean says darkly, fingering one of his more impressive blades. "Some world-ending flood has just started and an angel is asking us to summon a demon, and we shouldn't be worried?"
Castiel presses his hands together. "I won't ask you to put yourselves between us and the Behemoth," he says evenly. "That would be suicide. All I'm asking you to do is help us retrieve Behemoth from hell."
"Retrieve?" the demon says, dully. It's the first time she's spoken in Castiel's presence, and both Sam and Dean glance at her in surprise.
Castiel locks eyes with her, and there's a beat of silence before he responds. "Yes."
She understands. He sees it instantly.
"You're not going to kill it at all, are you?" she continues.
Castiel feels their focus shift back to him. He doesn't break his stare.
"It's really none of your concern."
"None of our concern?" Dean interjects. "Really, because it sounded a hell of a lot like you wanted us to go risk our lives finding this thing, and I feel like we deserve a little bit of an explanation about what will happen when we do."
The demon's watching Dean with a sick, proud spark in its eyes, and Castiel's stomach twists unpleasantly.
"Trust me," Castiel says, and he holds up a hand to stop Dean's sarcastic response before it leaves his mouth. "Even if it was possible, no good would come of killing it."
There's a clap of thunder outside, followed by a bright burst of lightning, and suddenly they're thrown into darkness.
"There's not much time," Castiel says, as calmly as he can. His eyes have never left the demon, and he can tell she's watching him just as carefully. "If we don't summon it soon-"
"We?" Sam asks.
"Please," Castiel says. "There's no time-"
"Why can't you just ask your buddy Uriel to help you out with it then?"
Castiel glances sidelong at Dean. There's something in his voice, something that sounds like it's about to crack, and it puzzles Castiel.
"Uriel has been given a new assignment. He won't be getting involved."
Dean laughs, but he's not smiling. Before he can say anything else, though, the demon speaks.
"Um, guys, something's moving and we'd better move, too."
Castiel watches as they look at her, consider her words, then the Winchester boys are doing exactly what she's asked. It's strange, Castiel thinks, that they'd spend fifteen minutes arguing with an angel's request, and a little under ten seconds considering a demon's.
In the next crack of lightning, Castiel sees the demon smiling at him from across the room, and he wonders if she's thinking the same thing.
*
Bobby won't stop staring at him. When the boys first picked him up, asked for his help in summoning the Behemoth, he'd accidentally spilled holy water on Castiel three times before he was satisfied. Somehow, the demon avoids close inspection. Castiel wonders if she's met Bobby before.
"It's not that I don't believe that he could be one," he hears Bobby explaining, later. "It's just that I want to be sure."
And now they're standing in the middle of a stretch of deserted Indiana landscape, getting steadily more soaked as Bobby stares at Castiel nervously and fingers a blade strapped to his hip. Castiel supposes he'll get stabbed, next.
Sam flips frustratedly though a book they took from Bobby's place, but Castiel knows he won't find what he needs there.
"I need you to repeat after me," Castiel says quietly. "I need you to concentrate, and I need you to repeat after me."
Sam and Dean squint at him through the rain. The demon watches him appraisingly, and Bobby starts to slide the knife from its sheath, casting Sam a warning look in the process.
Castiel opens his mouth, closes his eyes, and lets it happen. He lets the words fall from his mouth, ancient words unspoken by a human tongue, foreign to human ears, but he translates into whispered words, until Sam is stumbling through the Latin one step behind him, clumsy muttered phrases twisting up in the winds of the storm and falling away with the rain.
There's a crack of lightning somewhere overhead, and that's when someone stabs him in the arm.
Several things happen at once.
The carefully formed, carefully translated phrases break off, and Dean tries to wrestle the knife away from Bobby, swearing his and Sam's lives over that Castiel is actually an angel, in spite of what the lightning made him look like. Castiel glances down at his bleeding arm in bewilderment, wonders if it's so hard for humans to tell him apart from a demon, wonders why that is.
And then the demon girl screams.
Castiel feels him before he sees him, feels blood rushing to his head, fighting to come out in bloody tears. Castiel closes his eyes and grits his teeth, and then he hears Alastair's drawl.
"Funny meetin' you all out here… So sorry our last little visit was cut short, but it seems like you've decided to go poking around in my business again, and well, we just can't have that."
"Alastair," Dean hisses, and Castiel opens his eyes to find Alastair circling Dean, smiling appraisingly at him.
"Things just aren't the same below without you, you know," Alastair is saying.
Sam makes a move towards the demon circling his brother, and Alastair responds without even breaking stride. He shakes a finger at Sam and Sam flies a few feet away, crumpling on the ground and screaming out in pain. Alastair's eyes are still locked on Dean, his words still meant for Dean, and it's like Sam never even moved.
"I'm really rather sore about you getting taken from me, Dean. Just when we were starting to have some fun. I think I'd like to take you back."
Dean starts screaming then, falls to his knees as Alastair laughs, torturing him from the inside out, and Castiel reacts almost without pause.
Alastair chuckles as Castiel approaches, drawling about how Castiel hasn't yet learned his proper lesson, and then Castiel is dipping his fingers in the wound Bobby gave him, muttering ancient words, and the sky is crackling above them with lightning as Castiel banishes them all-demons and angels, so different but sometimes so alike. He's never banished himself before, and he's not sure it will work, but Alastair looks appropriately scared as the lightning crashes down around them.
And then they're gone. Dean, Sam and Bobby are gone. The clearing is gone. Alastair is gone, too, and Castiel prays desperately that he's been banished somewhere less pleasant than this rainy side street in Missouri, where he's now stuck with Ruby, the demon girl.
"Nice work," she says, squinting up at the rain. "Where the hell are we-oh, sorry-where the heaven are we?"
Castiel stares at her.
"What? I can't even crack a joke? Come on."
Castiel sighs. "We need to find them. This won't put Alastair off for long."
Ruby grimaces but she doesn't object, and as Castiel starts walking off, heading down the street, she follows.
*
"So," Bobby says, sliding back into the diner booth beside Dean. "Word on the street is, there are a bunch of demons looking for some cup… probably the same demons you were tracking here before you got all mixed up in this."
Bobby jerks his thumb vaguely towards the window, and it's obvious from his disdain that he's referring to Castiel and the Great Demon Flood.
"A… cup?" Sam says. "What kind of cup, exactly?"
Bobby shrugs. "Didn't say. I guess they've been torturing hunters for information, but not giving much away. Looks like the demons think you know about it, though... They think it's somewhere east."
"Christ," Dean says, "Just great. We're down two, Alastair's probably still out there, and now there's a bunch of demons hoping we can help them find the Holy Grail. Perfect."
"Well," Sam says, after a pause. "Do you think the cup has something to do with the Behemoth?"
Bobby takes a sip of his coffee and nods, not looking up from his mug. "I'd say definitely. This cup is something the demons are afraid we'll find."
"Well," Dean says, sitting up a little straighter. "I guess we'd better figure out how to get our hands on it, then."
*
"I can't believe you conned your way into this," Ruby says, sounding impressed.
Castiel ignores her, his grip tightening on the steering wheel as he drives straight on through the rain.
"Seriously," Ruby continues, sliding her fingers across the leather upholstery. "Sweet ride."
Castiel sighs. "It wasn't a con," he says quietly. "A true believer-"
"Yeah," Ruby interrupts. "Whatever. You just didn't want me to hotwire something, so you angel-magicked your way into a beamer. I'm not complaining!"
She throws her hands up, as if in surrender, and Castiel almost smiles. It's strange, being so friendly with a demon.
There's a lengthy pause, then. The radio's too fritzy with both of them here, and neither of them are eager to make conversation. They've been driving for at least thirteen miles in silence before Ruby breaks it, and when she does it's with a whisper.
"Do you think they're okay?"
Castiel glances at her briefly, out of the corner of his eye, and then he returns his focus to the road. "They're okay," he says with some authority, and then pauses. "Well," he amends, "they're alive."
Ruby is silent for another twenty miles.
*
"Well crap," Dean says, "this is bad."
The Winchester boys are holed up in a motel room in West Virginia with Bobby. Dean's bent over a map and a secondhand museum guidebook as they try to figure out which cup is The Cup, and where they might find it.
"What's that?" Sam asks, his attention still focused on his computer screen.
"I mean, sure, signs point to the thing being in Maryland, but do you know how many old cups there are in museums in Maryland?"
"Thing is," Bobby says, glancing up from the book on Behemoth lore he's studying, "we don't even really know that it's in a museum. That might just be misinformation."
"Thanks for the pep talk," Dean says, staring sullenly at his guidebook.
"Hey," Bobby says, holding up his hands, "I'm just saying, don't get too wrapped up in planning your last stand against a bunch of demons at some museum."
There's a sudden gust of wind against the shutters of the motel room window, and the lights flicker. The conversation drops off abruptly. Dean reaches for his bag, Sam shuts his computer, and Bobby nervously fingers the blade strapped to his hip.
A moment later, the door blows open.
*
"Pull over," Ruby says, for what feels like the hundredth time.
"We're not stopping for French fries," Castiel says flatly.
"Look, it'll only take a minute. Anyway, I haven't eaten all day."
"You're a demon."
Ruby gives him a sidelong glance. "You're observant."
Castiel sighs and tightens his grip on the steering wheel. "We need to reach them soon."
"Fine," Ruby says, annoyed. "But they call it fast food for a reason, you know. It's not like I'm asking for a five course meal."
Castiel sighs as he pulls off at the next exit, and into the parking lot of a McDonald's. He makes a point of not looking at her as he parks, but she's grinning so hard at him that it's hard to ignore.
"You're such an angel!" she says, as she bounds out of the car and into the rain, chuckling to herself all the way into the restaurant.
Castiel stares after her, wondering what Uriel-or anyone, for that matter-would have to say about this weird sort of friendship.
*
There's a girl standing in the doorway, clothes soaked through from the rain. Sam, Dean and Bobby all reach for the nearest weapon.
"Wait," the girl says, holding up her hand. "It's me… Ruby."
"How do we-"
"I don't have much time," she continues. "I have to get back to my body before it becomes maggot food. I just came to tell you something."
Sam makes a noise like he wants to say something, but after a moment he shrugs and flips open his computer again.
"Well," Dean says, scowling and sitting back. "Spit it out."
The demon girl fixes her eyes on him, and for a moment they flash to black. "I know where the cup is. I've been listening, and-"
"Listening?" Sam interrupts. "Where have you been, exactly?"
"Sam there's no time for that right now. You have to get to the cup. It's a new acquisition in the Walters museum in Baltimore. You have to get there before the demons find it. You have to get it, because it's the only way to summon the Behemoth."
"Ruby, I don't-" Sam starts, but she interrupts.
"I have to go!" she says, and then she's gone.
They stare after her for a moment, and then Dean clears his throat. "Well," he says. "Better get crackin' on that museum."
*
"So," Ruby says, between mouthfuls of French fries, "why did you decide we should drive? Can't you flap your wings or something?"
She pauses, dropping a handful of greasy fries to flap her fingers at him, mimicking a flying motion as if he needed the visual. He wonders at her use of the word "we", as if she'd been part of his plan all along, and hadn't just hitched a ride without asking.
He frowns at her before turning his attention back to the road in front of them. There's a sudden flash of lightning a few miles ahead. "I can't… use them right now."
Ruby raises an eyebrow. "You can't? What, did someone steal your grace or whatever?"
Castiel shifts uncomfortably and drives on in silence. The last thing he wants to do is tell a demon about the embarrassing punishment he's received, about losing the ability of his wings, about how he is weaker now, and all because of what happened with Anna.
"Not much of a talker, are you?"
He glances at her. "I don't think this is any of your concern."
She makes a face. "Fine," she says, shrugging, "just making conversation."
"We should reach them tonight," Castiel says, and they drive on in silence.
*
"This museum is like one of those Ocean's Eleven jobs," Dean says, frowning. "Impossible to steal from, it seems like."
It's just getting dark and they're squatting behind a parked car outside of the Walters museum in the rain, trying to figure out how to be "subtle" and "casual" about stealing an ancient artifact.
Sam glances over his shoulder at Dean. "Well, what are we supposed to do then?" he asks, sarcastically. "Wanna just blow the place up?"
"Give it a rest," Bobby says, quietly. "We don't even know what we're supposed to do with the thing, once we find it. And if the demons know where it is, why aren't there here to get it?"
He keeps glancing nervously over his shoulder, like he expects to find a demon army there at any moment, ready to confiscate a cup.
"Well boys," a familiar voice says, and the trio looks up to find Alastair smiling at them over the car they've ducked behind. "So glad you could make it."
"There you go," Dean whispers to Bobby, not tearing his eyes away from Alastair. "Happy now?"
"Not particularly," Bobby says, in an undertone.
Sam stands up, and Dean and Bobby follow suit, taking a shaky step back as they try to think of a way out of this.
"I see your little angel friend has flown the coop…" Alastair is saying, smiling a little wider. "And oh, the little bitch is gone, too."
"What do you want?" Dean says, evenly.
Alastair gives him a crooked smile. "Why, my dear boy, I want lots of things, you know that. But if we're talking today… well I'd like to take you and a special cup back home with me. What a fine prize that would be."
Sam steps forward, and Dean cringes. "You're not taking him anywhere."
Alastair chuckles, like Sam has just told a good joke, and then Sam's flying backwards, his body slamming into the building behind them. Alastair tilts his head a little and smiles, and Sam screams, writhing in agony against the brick.
*
When Castiel and Ruby arrive, Dean is about three seconds away from trying to peddle his soul to save his brother. Castiel wonders how he'll ever break Dean of the habit.
"You'll stop now," Castiel says smoothly, as he reaches them. "If you know what's good for you."
"Ooh," Ruby says, "very John Wayne, I like it."
Her words are light, teasing, but her tone and expression are twisted in agony as she watches Sam crumple to the ground.
Alastair turns, and his eyes darken at the sight of them. Castiel feels the familiar rush of blood to his eyes and he shuts them tight against the intrusion.
"Oh, pardon me, I didn't realize we had visitors. How very rude of me to ignore you all," Alastair says, and then Ruby's screaming, splashing down in a puddle on the street.
Castiel knows that this is much too high profile, that the police will get here soon, that Alastair will just torture more innocent humans until he gets what he wants. Castiel steps forward and Alastair laughs. He feels the blood rushing to his head as Alastair tries to force bloody tears from his eyes, and then he's slamming his hand against Alastair's forehead.
There's the same feeling as last time, the same nearly-ineffectual bumping sensation under his fingertips, as Castiel tries to cast him out. He nearly sighs in frustration and defeat and then, suddenly, it starts to work.
It catches them both off guard. Alastair's face goes from amused to angry in the space of a few seconds, and Castiel has to fight to maintain his hold on the demon, as he tries to figure out why it's working, how it's working.
It's not until Alastair's gone screaming back to hell and Sam is cursing, laying against the pavement with a bloody nose, that Castiel realizes what has happened.
Alastair's host collapses into the street, and as Bobby attends to him, Castiel eyes Sam warily.
"You shouldn't have done that."
Dean's by his brother's side now, holding him up as he wipes the blood from Sam's face. They both look up at him with angry eyes.
"Done what?" Dean asks, "Save your ass? Save all of us?"
"He shouldn't-"
"Hey," Ruby interrupts, and Castiel finds that she's beside him again, arms crossed over her midsection, and apparently in some amount of pain. "Shouldn't we get going?"
Bobby glances up. "I'll get him to the hospital. You boys be careful."
*
"Subtle," Dean says, frowning at the case. Beneath the ancient bronze cup is a tag that reads 'Hell's Cup'. "I'm glad we spent so much time researching this."
"Well supposedly Behemoth is the cupbearer of hell, right?" Sam says, as they carefully unscrew the back of the case. "…whatever that means."
Dean shakes his head. "I'll just be glad when we can summon this bad boy and put this to an end. I'm getting really freaking tired of the rain."
"Yeah," Sam says, as he starts to slide the cup from its case. "Do you think it'll work, now that we have the cup?"
Dean shrugs. "I guess we'll find out."
"No," a familiar voice chimes in. "You won't."
The boys look up in surprise, Sam clutching the cup to his chest, to find Uriel watching them, one of his hands outstretched towards Sam. Castiel and Ruby are standing awkwardly behind him.
"Give me the cup," Uriel says.
"Like hell," Dean says, stepping between Sam and Uriel. "What do you want it for?"
"I've come to destroy it," Uriel says. "Because, unlike you two, I don't want to invite death and destruction to waltz across the earth."
"Dean-" Castiel starts, but Dean ignores him.
"Oh, really? Like you weren't itching to obliterate an entire city just a few months ago? I'd say that inviting death and destruction is just about all you do."
Uriel scowls, but says nothing.
"Dean," Castiel says again, more softly, "we made a mistake."
"A mistake?"
Ruby clears her throat. "I heard you guys had a visitor…"
Sam and Dean exchange a look, and Sam cradles the cup a little closer to his chest. "Wait… you mean the girl?"
Ruby rolls her eyes. "Look, every cute girl possessed by a demon is not necessarily me."
"But she told us…"
Dean looks at Sam, Sam looks at Dean, and then they both look at Ruby. "This was a trap?"
"Take a look at that case," Ruby says quietly. "Someone who knew something about that cup designed it, because it's covered in devil's traps."
"So they wanted us to get the cup for them?"
"Actually," Uriel says, sighing. "They were hoping they also could convince a few stupid humans to summon something extremely dangerous."
"Or maybe," Sam says angrily, as he passes the cup to Uriel, "a stupid angel was the one who convinced a couple of humans that they should attempt to summon something dangerous."
"I'm sorry," Castiel says quietly. "I misunderstood."
Uriel vanishes with the cup nearly as soon as Sam hands it to him.
"So," Dean says, as they make their way down the darkened staircases, "this was all just a big waste of time, basically?"
"Well," Castiel says, "they would have convinced someone to get it for them sooner or later."
"Hey," Ruby says. "Check it out."
She's pushing open the employee exit door, gesturing towards the city beyond, and that's when Castiel notices that the rain has stopped.
"Beautiful," Sam says quietly, and no one disagrees. It's the first clear, starry night they've seen in almost a week, and suddenly everything seems like it will be okay.
Author: yamapea
For: osmalic
Characters/Pairings: Castiel, Dean, Sam, Ruby, Alastair
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers through 410!
Word Count: 4,603
Summary: Picking up from Episode 410, Castiel enlists the help of Sam and Dean (and against his better judgment, Ruby) to help him stop a flood of biblical proportions.
Notes: Written for spn_j2_xmas! This was such a challenge. I enjoyed all of your prompts so much, and it was so hard to choose! I really hope you like this, osmalic. ♥ I had a lot of fun writing it. A million thanks to C for the beta and handholding and encouragement, and to unrequitedangst for the helpful obsessive fact-checking.
The rain has already started.
Castiel wonders how long he'll be here, like this. He thinks back to the argument with Uriel over Anna, and further… back to the god-fearing man who sacrificed his body to this fight. Castiel wonders now if he'd known what that entailed, if he'd known that an angel would be walking around in his skin, chasing after two rebellious boys and a demon, and asking for favors.
Because that was his duty now. He'd been given specific instructions, not that he'd needed them. This task consumed him; the need to track down the Winchester boys and their demon friend, to help them with the fight, to guide them whenever needed. He'd been given an objective, an objective he already had a passion for.
He wonders what task Uriel has been given now. It doesn't really matter.
He finds them in a little diner in Evansville, Indiana, plotting to take on the local demon population. Castiel watches from the parking lot for a while, listens to them as they bicker and scheme, marvels at the way Dean seems to be softening towards the demon. He wonders what Sam has told him. He wonders if Sam has any idea how dangerous she really is.
Castiel mimics humans as well as he's ever managed as he strolls into the diner, attempting a casual stride as he makes his way to their booth. They're so caught up in their argument about the best time to attack that they don't notice him standing in front of them. Castiel frowns.
"You should really be more careful," he says, evenly.
Just like that, the argument dissipates-three pairs of angry eyes are watching him, waiting for him to tell them he has to kill another new friend, perhaps, or expecting him to give them some new directive.
"What do you want, Cas?" Dean asks in a low grumble.
Castiel frowns, watching Dean carefully before he responds. He's hurt? Somehow Dean is… hurt? Castiel doesn't understand it, doesn't get why Dean is looking at him like he's the enemy instead of a friend. It mystifies Castiel more than it hurts him, but it still hurts just a little bit.
"I've been sent…" he begins, and he feels the hostility rolling off of them now, at his response.
"Tell your boss-" Dean starts, but Castiel raises a hand, cuts Dean off before he can say something Castiel will wish he hadn't said later.
"Please," Castiel says quietly, urgently, "we don't have much time."
"So, what," Sam interjects, "now you want us to help you out? After what happened with Anna? And here I thought we were easily replaced…"
Castiel frowns, both at the way that Dean flinches at her name and at the reminder of a familiar Uriel slogan-humans are easily replaced. It's not true, he doesn't think. He wouldn't have pulled Dean out of hell if it were true. He wouldn't have been asked to.
"Can we go somewhere to talk, please?" he tries again. People are starting to stare.
The demon is the only one of the trio who hasn't spoken yet, and Castiel almost expects her to chime in next, but she doesn't. It's Dean who answers him, after exchanging a look with the others.
"Fine," Dean says with a shrug. Castiel watches anxiously as Dean pulls his wallet out of his pocket and starts counting out bills for the waitress. He feels a 'but' coming, and he already dislikes it. Dean tosses a twenty and some ones on the table and juts his thumb towards the demon. "But she hears anything you've got to say to us."
Dean's gaze is so challenging, so focused on Castiel, that he doesn't notice the look that flickers across the demon's face. If only he could see.
"Well?" Sam chimes in, rubbing his hands together and looking smug. "That's the deal, take it or leave it."
"Fine," Castiel says, even though it is not. Uriel would rather slay the demon and cast the boys into perdition than chance letting any information get back to hell, and Castiel wonders if he should feel the same. "Let's go."
*
Sam is already pacing, and Castiel hasn't gotten to the worst part.
"Wait, wait wait, let me get this straight…"
"You're a regular poet," Dean grumbles distractedly, and Sam shoots him an annoyed look.
"So, in order to break another seal, Lilith has reunited these two… demon things, Leviathan and Behemoth, somewhere down in hell… and this is going to somehow cause an epic flood on earth?"
Castiel clears his throat and pulls back the curtain from the motel room window. The rain is coming down harder now, sheets of water pouring past the window. "It has already started. Behemoth is the cupbearer of hell, and he's letting it spill."
Dean groans. "Fanfreakingtastic."
"And you want us-" Sam gestures around the room, "to try to summon this… this demon creature, this creature that's supposedly the largest creature ever known to man, this thing that no one knows how to kill and also happens to be some sort of higher up in hell, and-"
"We won't ask you to slaughter the beast," Castiel says quietly, gaze wandering to the demon in the corner. Her face has gone pale, and Castiel wonders if she understands the gravity of the news he's just given them. "You needn't worry-"
"Like hell," Dean says darkly, fingering one of his more impressive blades. "Some world-ending flood has just started and an angel is asking us to summon a demon, and we shouldn't be worried?"
Castiel presses his hands together. "I won't ask you to put yourselves between us and the Behemoth," he says evenly. "That would be suicide. All I'm asking you to do is help us retrieve Behemoth from hell."
"Retrieve?" the demon says, dully. It's the first time she's spoken in Castiel's presence, and both Sam and Dean glance at her in surprise.
Castiel locks eyes with her, and there's a beat of silence before he responds. "Yes."
She understands. He sees it instantly.
"You're not going to kill it at all, are you?" she continues.
Castiel feels their focus shift back to him. He doesn't break his stare.
"It's really none of your concern."
"None of our concern?" Dean interjects. "Really, because it sounded a hell of a lot like you wanted us to go risk our lives finding this thing, and I feel like we deserve a little bit of an explanation about what will happen when we do."
The demon's watching Dean with a sick, proud spark in its eyes, and Castiel's stomach twists unpleasantly.
"Trust me," Castiel says, and he holds up a hand to stop Dean's sarcastic response before it leaves his mouth. "Even if it was possible, no good would come of killing it."
There's a clap of thunder outside, followed by a bright burst of lightning, and suddenly they're thrown into darkness.
"There's not much time," Castiel says, as calmly as he can. His eyes have never left the demon, and he can tell she's watching him just as carefully. "If we don't summon it soon-"
"We?" Sam asks.
"Please," Castiel says. "There's no time-"
"Why can't you just ask your buddy Uriel to help you out with it then?"
Castiel glances sidelong at Dean. There's something in his voice, something that sounds like it's about to crack, and it puzzles Castiel.
"Uriel has been given a new assignment. He won't be getting involved."
Dean laughs, but he's not smiling. Before he can say anything else, though, the demon speaks.
"Um, guys, something's moving and we'd better move, too."
Castiel watches as they look at her, consider her words, then the Winchester boys are doing exactly what she's asked. It's strange, Castiel thinks, that they'd spend fifteen minutes arguing with an angel's request, and a little under ten seconds considering a demon's.
In the next crack of lightning, Castiel sees the demon smiling at him from across the room, and he wonders if she's thinking the same thing.
*
Bobby won't stop staring at him. When the boys first picked him up, asked for his help in summoning the Behemoth, he'd accidentally spilled holy water on Castiel three times before he was satisfied. Somehow, the demon avoids close inspection. Castiel wonders if she's met Bobby before.
"It's not that I don't believe that he could be one," he hears Bobby explaining, later. "It's just that I want to be sure."
And now they're standing in the middle of a stretch of deserted Indiana landscape, getting steadily more soaked as Bobby stares at Castiel nervously and fingers a blade strapped to his hip. Castiel supposes he'll get stabbed, next.
Sam flips frustratedly though a book they took from Bobby's place, but Castiel knows he won't find what he needs there.
"I need you to repeat after me," Castiel says quietly. "I need you to concentrate, and I need you to repeat after me."
Sam and Dean squint at him through the rain. The demon watches him appraisingly, and Bobby starts to slide the knife from its sheath, casting Sam a warning look in the process.
Castiel opens his mouth, closes his eyes, and lets it happen. He lets the words fall from his mouth, ancient words unspoken by a human tongue, foreign to human ears, but he translates into whispered words, until Sam is stumbling through the Latin one step behind him, clumsy muttered phrases twisting up in the winds of the storm and falling away with the rain.
There's a crack of lightning somewhere overhead, and that's when someone stabs him in the arm.
Several things happen at once.
The carefully formed, carefully translated phrases break off, and Dean tries to wrestle the knife away from Bobby, swearing his and Sam's lives over that Castiel is actually an angel, in spite of what the lightning made him look like. Castiel glances down at his bleeding arm in bewilderment, wonders if it's so hard for humans to tell him apart from a demon, wonders why that is.
And then the demon girl screams.
Castiel feels him before he sees him, feels blood rushing to his head, fighting to come out in bloody tears. Castiel closes his eyes and grits his teeth, and then he hears Alastair's drawl.
"Funny meetin' you all out here… So sorry our last little visit was cut short, but it seems like you've decided to go poking around in my business again, and well, we just can't have that."
"Alastair," Dean hisses, and Castiel opens his eyes to find Alastair circling Dean, smiling appraisingly at him.
"Things just aren't the same below without you, you know," Alastair is saying.
Sam makes a move towards the demon circling his brother, and Alastair responds without even breaking stride. He shakes a finger at Sam and Sam flies a few feet away, crumpling on the ground and screaming out in pain. Alastair's eyes are still locked on Dean, his words still meant for Dean, and it's like Sam never even moved.
"I'm really rather sore about you getting taken from me, Dean. Just when we were starting to have some fun. I think I'd like to take you back."
Dean starts screaming then, falls to his knees as Alastair laughs, torturing him from the inside out, and Castiel reacts almost without pause.
Alastair chuckles as Castiel approaches, drawling about how Castiel hasn't yet learned his proper lesson, and then Castiel is dipping his fingers in the wound Bobby gave him, muttering ancient words, and the sky is crackling above them with lightning as Castiel banishes them all-demons and angels, so different but sometimes so alike. He's never banished himself before, and he's not sure it will work, but Alastair looks appropriately scared as the lightning crashes down around them.
And then they're gone. Dean, Sam and Bobby are gone. The clearing is gone. Alastair is gone, too, and Castiel prays desperately that he's been banished somewhere less pleasant than this rainy side street in Missouri, where he's now stuck with Ruby, the demon girl.
"Nice work," she says, squinting up at the rain. "Where the hell are we-oh, sorry-where the heaven are we?"
Castiel stares at her.
"What? I can't even crack a joke? Come on."
Castiel sighs. "We need to find them. This won't put Alastair off for long."
Ruby grimaces but she doesn't object, and as Castiel starts walking off, heading down the street, she follows.
*
"So," Bobby says, sliding back into the diner booth beside Dean. "Word on the street is, there are a bunch of demons looking for some cup… probably the same demons you were tracking here before you got all mixed up in this."
Bobby jerks his thumb vaguely towards the window, and it's obvious from his disdain that he's referring to Castiel and the Great Demon Flood.
"A… cup?" Sam says. "What kind of cup, exactly?"
Bobby shrugs. "Didn't say. I guess they've been torturing hunters for information, but not giving much away. Looks like the demons think you know about it, though... They think it's somewhere east."
"Christ," Dean says, "Just great. We're down two, Alastair's probably still out there, and now there's a bunch of demons hoping we can help them find the Holy Grail. Perfect."
"Well," Sam says, after a pause. "Do you think the cup has something to do with the Behemoth?"
Bobby takes a sip of his coffee and nods, not looking up from his mug. "I'd say definitely. This cup is something the demons are afraid we'll find."
"Well," Dean says, sitting up a little straighter. "I guess we'd better figure out how to get our hands on it, then."
*
"I can't believe you conned your way into this," Ruby says, sounding impressed.
Castiel ignores her, his grip tightening on the steering wheel as he drives straight on through the rain.
"Seriously," Ruby continues, sliding her fingers across the leather upholstery. "Sweet ride."
Castiel sighs. "It wasn't a con," he says quietly. "A true believer-"
"Yeah," Ruby interrupts. "Whatever. You just didn't want me to hotwire something, so you angel-magicked your way into a beamer. I'm not complaining!"
She throws her hands up, as if in surrender, and Castiel almost smiles. It's strange, being so friendly with a demon.
There's a lengthy pause, then. The radio's too fritzy with both of them here, and neither of them are eager to make conversation. They've been driving for at least thirteen miles in silence before Ruby breaks it, and when she does it's with a whisper.
"Do you think they're okay?"
Castiel glances at her briefly, out of the corner of his eye, and then he returns his focus to the road. "They're okay," he says with some authority, and then pauses. "Well," he amends, "they're alive."
Ruby is silent for another twenty miles.
*
"Well crap," Dean says, "this is bad."
The Winchester boys are holed up in a motel room in West Virginia with Bobby. Dean's bent over a map and a secondhand museum guidebook as they try to figure out which cup is The Cup, and where they might find it.
"What's that?" Sam asks, his attention still focused on his computer screen.
"I mean, sure, signs point to the thing being in Maryland, but do you know how many old cups there are in museums in Maryland?"
"Thing is," Bobby says, glancing up from the book on Behemoth lore he's studying, "we don't even really know that it's in a museum. That might just be misinformation."
"Thanks for the pep talk," Dean says, staring sullenly at his guidebook.
"Hey," Bobby says, holding up his hands, "I'm just saying, don't get too wrapped up in planning your last stand against a bunch of demons at some museum."
There's a sudden gust of wind against the shutters of the motel room window, and the lights flicker. The conversation drops off abruptly. Dean reaches for his bag, Sam shuts his computer, and Bobby nervously fingers the blade strapped to his hip.
A moment later, the door blows open.
*
"Pull over," Ruby says, for what feels like the hundredth time.
"We're not stopping for French fries," Castiel says flatly.
"Look, it'll only take a minute. Anyway, I haven't eaten all day."
"You're a demon."
Ruby gives him a sidelong glance. "You're observant."
Castiel sighs and tightens his grip on the steering wheel. "We need to reach them soon."
"Fine," Ruby says, annoyed. "But they call it fast food for a reason, you know. It's not like I'm asking for a five course meal."
Castiel sighs as he pulls off at the next exit, and into the parking lot of a McDonald's. He makes a point of not looking at her as he parks, but she's grinning so hard at him that it's hard to ignore.
"You're such an angel!" she says, as she bounds out of the car and into the rain, chuckling to herself all the way into the restaurant.
Castiel stares after her, wondering what Uriel-or anyone, for that matter-would have to say about this weird sort of friendship.
*
There's a girl standing in the doorway, clothes soaked through from the rain. Sam, Dean and Bobby all reach for the nearest weapon.
"Wait," the girl says, holding up her hand. "It's me… Ruby."
"How do we-"
"I don't have much time," she continues. "I have to get back to my body before it becomes maggot food. I just came to tell you something."
Sam makes a noise like he wants to say something, but after a moment he shrugs and flips open his computer again.
"Well," Dean says, scowling and sitting back. "Spit it out."
The demon girl fixes her eyes on him, and for a moment they flash to black. "I know where the cup is. I've been listening, and-"
"Listening?" Sam interrupts. "Where have you been, exactly?"
"Sam there's no time for that right now. You have to get to the cup. It's a new acquisition in the Walters museum in Baltimore. You have to get there before the demons find it. You have to get it, because it's the only way to summon the Behemoth."
"Ruby, I don't-" Sam starts, but she interrupts.
"I have to go!" she says, and then she's gone.
They stare after her for a moment, and then Dean clears his throat. "Well," he says. "Better get crackin' on that museum."
*
"So," Ruby says, between mouthfuls of French fries, "why did you decide we should drive? Can't you flap your wings or something?"
She pauses, dropping a handful of greasy fries to flap her fingers at him, mimicking a flying motion as if he needed the visual. He wonders at her use of the word "we", as if she'd been part of his plan all along, and hadn't just hitched a ride without asking.
He frowns at her before turning his attention back to the road in front of them. There's a sudden flash of lightning a few miles ahead. "I can't… use them right now."
Ruby raises an eyebrow. "You can't? What, did someone steal your grace or whatever?"
Castiel shifts uncomfortably and drives on in silence. The last thing he wants to do is tell a demon about the embarrassing punishment he's received, about losing the ability of his wings, about how he is weaker now, and all because of what happened with Anna.
"Not much of a talker, are you?"
He glances at her. "I don't think this is any of your concern."
She makes a face. "Fine," she says, shrugging, "just making conversation."
"We should reach them tonight," Castiel says, and they drive on in silence.
*
"This museum is like one of those Ocean's Eleven jobs," Dean says, frowning. "Impossible to steal from, it seems like."
It's just getting dark and they're squatting behind a parked car outside of the Walters museum in the rain, trying to figure out how to be "subtle" and "casual" about stealing an ancient artifact.
Sam glances over his shoulder at Dean. "Well, what are we supposed to do then?" he asks, sarcastically. "Wanna just blow the place up?"
"Give it a rest," Bobby says, quietly. "We don't even know what we're supposed to do with the thing, once we find it. And if the demons know where it is, why aren't there here to get it?"
He keeps glancing nervously over his shoulder, like he expects to find a demon army there at any moment, ready to confiscate a cup.
"Well boys," a familiar voice says, and the trio looks up to find Alastair smiling at them over the car they've ducked behind. "So glad you could make it."
"There you go," Dean whispers to Bobby, not tearing his eyes away from Alastair. "Happy now?"
"Not particularly," Bobby says, in an undertone.
Sam stands up, and Dean and Bobby follow suit, taking a shaky step back as they try to think of a way out of this.
"I see your little angel friend has flown the coop…" Alastair is saying, smiling a little wider. "And oh, the little bitch is gone, too."
"What do you want?" Dean says, evenly.
Alastair gives him a crooked smile. "Why, my dear boy, I want lots of things, you know that. But if we're talking today… well I'd like to take you and a special cup back home with me. What a fine prize that would be."
Sam steps forward, and Dean cringes. "You're not taking him anywhere."
Alastair chuckles, like Sam has just told a good joke, and then Sam's flying backwards, his body slamming into the building behind them. Alastair tilts his head a little and smiles, and Sam screams, writhing in agony against the brick.
*
When Castiel and Ruby arrive, Dean is about three seconds away from trying to peddle his soul to save his brother. Castiel wonders how he'll ever break Dean of the habit.
"You'll stop now," Castiel says smoothly, as he reaches them. "If you know what's good for you."
"Ooh," Ruby says, "very John Wayne, I like it."
Her words are light, teasing, but her tone and expression are twisted in agony as she watches Sam crumple to the ground.
Alastair turns, and his eyes darken at the sight of them. Castiel feels the familiar rush of blood to his eyes and he shuts them tight against the intrusion.
"Oh, pardon me, I didn't realize we had visitors. How very rude of me to ignore you all," Alastair says, and then Ruby's screaming, splashing down in a puddle on the street.
Castiel knows that this is much too high profile, that the police will get here soon, that Alastair will just torture more innocent humans until he gets what he wants. Castiel steps forward and Alastair laughs. He feels the blood rushing to his head as Alastair tries to force bloody tears from his eyes, and then he's slamming his hand against Alastair's forehead.
There's the same feeling as last time, the same nearly-ineffectual bumping sensation under his fingertips, as Castiel tries to cast him out. He nearly sighs in frustration and defeat and then, suddenly, it starts to work.
It catches them both off guard. Alastair's face goes from amused to angry in the space of a few seconds, and Castiel has to fight to maintain his hold on the demon, as he tries to figure out why it's working, how it's working.
It's not until Alastair's gone screaming back to hell and Sam is cursing, laying against the pavement with a bloody nose, that Castiel realizes what has happened.
Alastair's host collapses into the street, and as Bobby attends to him, Castiel eyes Sam warily.
"You shouldn't have done that."
Dean's by his brother's side now, holding him up as he wipes the blood from Sam's face. They both look up at him with angry eyes.
"Done what?" Dean asks, "Save your ass? Save all of us?"
"He shouldn't-"
"Hey," Ruby interrupts, and Castiel finds that she's beside him again, arms crossed over her midsection, and apparently in some amount of pain. "Shouldn't we get going?"
Bobby glances up. "I'll get him to the hospital. You boys be careful."
*
"Subtle," Dean says, frowning at the case. Beneath the ancient bronze cup is a tag that reads 'Hell's Cup'. "I'm glad we spent so much time researching this."
"Well supposedly Behemoth is the cupbearer of hell, right?" Sam says, as they carefully unscrew the back of the case. "…whatever that means."
Dean shakes his head. "I'll just be glad when we can summon this bad boy and put this to an end. I'm getting really freaking tired of the rain."
"Yeah," Sam says, as he starts to slide the cup from its case. "Do you think it'll work, now that we have the cup?"
Dean shrugs. "I guess we'll find out."
"No," a familiar voice chimes in. "You won't."
The boys look up in surprise, Sam clutching the cup to his chest, to find Uriel watching them, one of his hands outstretched towards Sam. Castiel and Ruby are standing awkwardly behind him.
"Give me the cup," Uriel says.
"Like hell," Dean says, stepping between Sam and Uriel. "What do you want it for?"
"I've come to destroy it," Uriel says. "Because, unlike you two, I don't want to invite death and destruction to waltz across the earth."
"Dean-" Castiel starts, but Dean ignores him.
"Oh, really? Like you weren't itching to obliterate an entire city just a few months ago? I'd say that inviting death and destruction is just about all you do."
Uriel scowls, but says nothing.
"Dean," Castiel says again, more softly, "we made a mistake."
"A mistake?"
Ruby clears her throat. "I heard you guys had a visitor…"
Sam and Dean exchange a look, and Sam cradles the cup a little closer to his chest. "Wait… you mean the girl?"
Ruby rolls her eyes. "Look, every cute girl possessed by a demon is not necessarily me."
"But she told us…"
Dean looks at Sam, Sam looks at Dean, and then they both look at Ruby. "This was a trap?"
"Take a look at that case," Ruby says quietly. "Someone who knew something about that cup designed it, because it's covered in devil's traps."
"So they wanted us to get the cup for them?"
"Actually," Uriel says, sighing. "They were hoping they also could convince a few stupid humans to summon something extremely dangerous."
"Or maybe," Sam says angrily, as he passes the cup to Uriel, "a stupid angel was the one who convinced a couple of humans that they should attempt to summon something dangerous."
"I'm sorry," Castiel says quietly. "I misunderstood."
Uriel vanishes with the cup nearly as soon as Sam hands it to him.
"So," Dean says, as they make their way down the darkened staircases, "this was all just a big waste of time, basically?"
"Well," Castiel says, "they would have convinced someone to get it for them sooner or later."
"Hey," Ruby says. "Check it out."
She's pushing open the employee exit door, gesturing towards the city beyond, and that's when Castiel notices that the rain has stopped.
"Beautiful," Sam says quietly, and no one disagrees. It's the first clear, starry night they've seen in almost a week, and suddenly everything seems like it will be okay.