10x00 - Brothers of the Road - Part Two: Howling at the Moon
Title: Howling at the Moon , Part Two of Brothers of the Road
Author: dracox-serdriel
Artist: wifihunters
Acknowledgements: Thanks to my beta readers, septembers_coda and novakev
Status: Completed as part of sastiel-bigbang 2013
A very long time ago, the Garrison was set to watch over the Earth with Anna as the Captain, and her first task was to organize the soldiers in her care. She appointed Castiel to Lieutenant and to be her second in command.
Before the first seal was broken, Castiel never understood Anna's choice. There were many angels in the Garrison just as powerful, or more so, than he. Uriel specialized in mass destruction. Hester possessed the fiercest, most passionate disposition. Anais was known for his sound judgment and loyalty. Matthon wielded cunning and strength beyond any other angel in the Garrison. Balthazar's unpredictable nature made him impossible to defeat. Rachel's persistence and patience was a formidable force. His brothers and sisters in the Garrison were all beautiful, powerful, magnificent. Only a handful had yet to make a name for themselves, and Castiel was among them.
Originally, Balthazar's camaraderie with Castiel set him apart but that was no reason for Anna to take such interest in him. Cas asked her more than once, "Why appoint me to your right hand?" She never answered him. For a long time he assumed she selected him to give him the opportunity to ascend like his siblings, so in his time as Lieutenant, Castiel transformed into a force to be reckoned with, beyond the powers of Uriel, Balthazar, Matthon, and Hester. By the time Anna fell, no angel dared to question Castiel's position as the new Captain.
Heaven ordered the Garrison to lay siege to the Gates of Hell, and Castiel lost not a single soldier. He didn't know at the time that Balthazar planned his escape soon after Dean Winchester was pulled from the pit, and it wasn't until the Civil War in Heaven that he learned of Balthazar's reasons.
"You gripped that man's soul tight and carried him out of Hell, and as you ascended, your entire essence was transfigured," Balthazar recounted. "Any other angel would have showered the universe in golden light for the pride of their achievement. But you, Castiel, you burned iridescent blue and fierce purple because you had felt agony while in Hell. Not from an injury, but from compassion. Of all things! I don't think you realize that you alone, among all the angels, take humanity that seriously. Some of us think of humans as amusing or interesting, but the majority of our brethren see them as sickly beings. But for some reason, to you and you alone Cas, each soul trapped in that fiery pit was once a beautiful human being, a crafted art from God's hand, and seeing so many tortured and lost in Hell became the definition of horror for you. Which is odd, seeing as how you witnessed the Ice Capades."
Balthazar smiled, but it faded quickly when he continued. "You went into Hell a Warrior of Heaven and a Leader of Angels, but you came out as the Guardian of the Earth, of Humanity. Shocking, I know. I suppose that it seemed like losing you as a friend and Captain. Your mission, your heart, no longer abided with mine. That little realization made me understand that my heart wasn't where I pretended it was. I was created a warrior, but I took after Gabriel, wily and restless and never good at following orders. So, I, uh, split."
After his rather uncharacteristically honest speech, Balthazar added, "I gather you didn't know back then that you changed so much on one mission. Took you a long time, I bet. That's all you, Cas. Self-awareness has never been your strong suit."
Anna never explained to Castiel why she chose him, but he discovered the reason during the Apocalypse. Anna was so curious about humanity that she fell just to experience what it was like to be human. The only other angel in the Garrison that loved humanity that much, that saw humanity as something worthy of protection, something beautiful, something to strive for, was Castiel. Anna planned her fall just as Balthazar planned his escape, and she needed to appoint someone who would continue in her work, in her love of the human race.
Everything felt so long ago. Balthazar and Anna were both dead, and Castiel mourned their absence. But the pain of losing one of his siblings from Heaven was nothing to the idea of losing Dean or Sam. Perhaps Balthazar was right, his mission to save Dean transfigured him forever, or maybe Anna just saw that guardian spirit in him before anyone else could.
Castiel returned to the wrecked site and used his angelic power to search for Dean. Usually this particular brand of sight honed in on angelic phenomena, or in some rare cases, Heavenly weapons, like Moses's Staff. But Cas had spent so much time with Dean Winchester that his true-form eyes could search a localized area for his presence.
Dean wasn't here.
Castiel carefully retraced his steps. Not too far from where he discovered Sam, he spotted small splashes of Dean's blood puddled around. He must've been injured. The angel took his time calculating the blood volume; less than a liter, so wherever Dean was, he was alive.
The angel walked every possible route Dean could have used, but all of them ended the same: the hunter didn't get up and leave of his own accord. Someone, or something, took him away. Resentment and anger pooled in the angel's inner eye. Someone saw Dean injured on the ground and carried him off, and whoever did it knew enough to cover their tracks from humans and angels.
In other words, whoever captured Dean was no friend to Castiel or the Winchesters.
Likely suspects? Cas's brain began to list names almost too quickly to keep up. Demonic forces seeking vengeance. Monsters seeking vengeance. Angels trying to lure Cas into a trap -
If something happened to Dean on Castiel's account, he'd never forgive himself.
Castiel? Cas... I'm not doing too well here.
It was Sam. The angel disappeared back to the Bunker.
"Not doing too well" was putting it gently. Infection was starting in on the younger Winchester, and his wounds were more severe than Castiel's original assessment had concluded. The angel clasped Sam's shoulder, and every malady vanished from his body.
"Thanks," Sam said as he sat up. "Whoa, you look terrible."
"Dean wasn't there," Cas replied. "I looked - everywhere. No trace. Nothing."
"What're you saying?"
"I'm saying something took him, and whatever it is - it's smart. It knew we would be looking."
Suddenly, Sam reached out and touched Cas's shoulder. It was strange for him to make physical contact, but in this moment, it alleviated the heavy guilt laying into the angel's chest.
"Cas, listen to me," Sam said. "We're going to find him, okay? The first thing we need to do is make some calls."
"Make some calls?" Cas echoed.
"Yeah, that's right. Aaron. Garth. Krissy. Get our feelers out there for anything on Dean, who might've taken him, and why."
"Sam, whoever took Dean is no friend to us. What if - what if we're too late?"
"We won't be," Sam replied, getting to his feet. "No sulking. No moping. Okay Cas? Because we're gonna find Dean and bring him home."
<<< Previous Part:
Part One: Five-Fifteen
Next Part: >>>
Part Three: Deuces are Wild
Primary Post: 10x00 Brothers of the Road
Author: dracox-serdriel
Artist: wifihunters
Acknowledgements: Thanks to my beta readers, septembers_coda and novakev
Status: Completed as part of sastiel-bigbang 2013
A very long time ago, the Garrison was set to watch over the Earth with Anna as the Captain, and her first task was to organize the soldiers in her care. She appointed Castiel to Lieutenant and to be her second in command.
Before the first seal was broken, Castiel never understood Anna's choice. There were many angels in the Garrison just as powerful, or more so, than he. Uriel specialized in mass destruction. Hester possessed the fiercest, most passionate disposition. Anais was known for his sound judgment and loyalty. Matthon wielded cunning and strength beyond any other angel in the Garrison. Balthazar's unpredictable nature made him impossible to defeat. Rachel's persistence and patience was a formidable force. His brothers and sisters in the Garrison were all beautiful, powerful, magnificent. Only a handful had yet to make a name for themselves, and Castiel was among them.
Originally, Balthazar's camaraderie with Castiel set him apart but that was no reason for Anna to take such interest in him. Cas asked her more than once, "Why appoint me to your right hand?" She never answered him. For a long time he assumed she selected him to give him the opportunity to ascend like his siblings, so in his time as Lieutenant, Castiel transformed into a force to be reckoned with, beyond the powers of Uriel, Balthazar, Matthon, and Hester. By the time Anna fell, no angel dared to question Castiel's position as the new Captain.
Heaven ordered the Garrison to lay siege to the Gates of Hell, and Castiel lost not a single soldier. He didn't know at the time that Balthazar planned his escape soon after Dean Winchester was pulled from the pit, and it wasn't until the Civil War in Heaven that he learned of Balthazar's reasons.
"You gripped that man's soul tight and carried him out of Hell, and as you ascended, your entire essence was transfigured," Balthazar recounted. "Any other angel would have showered the universe in golden light for the pride of their achievement. But you, Castiel, you burned iridescent blue and fierce purple because you had felt agony while in Hell. Not from an injury, but from compassion. Of all things! I don't think you realize that you alone, among all the angels, take humanity that seriously. Some of us think of humans as amusing or interesting, but the majority of our brethren see them as sickly beings. But for some reason, to you and you alone Cas, each soul trapped in that fiery pit was once a beautiful human being, a crafted art from God's hand, and seeing so many tortured and lost in Hell became the definition of horror for you. Which is odd, seeing as how you witnessed the Ice Capades."
Balthazar smiled, but it faded quickly when he continued. "You went into Hell a Warrior of Heaven and a Leader of Angels, but you came out as the Guardian of the Earth, of Humanity. Shocking, I know. I suppose that it seemed like losing you as a friend and Captain. Your mission, your heart, no longer abided with mine. That little realization made me understand that my heart wasn't where I pretended it was. I was created a warrior, but I took after Gabriel, wily and restless and never good at following orders. So, I, uh, split."
After his rather uncharacteristically honest speech, Balthazar added, "I gather you didn't know back then that you changed so much on one mission. Took you a long time, I bet. That's all you, Cas. Self-awareness has never been your strong suit."
Anna never explained to Castiel why she chose him, but he discovered the reason during the Apocalypse. Anna was so curious about humanity that she fell just to experience what it was like to be human. The only other angel in the Garrison that loved humanity that much, that saw humanity as something worthy of protection, something beautiful, something to strive for, was Castiel. Anna planned her fall just as Balthazar planned his escape, and she needed to appoint someone who would continue in her work, in her love of the human race.
Everything felt so long ago. Balthazar and Anna were both dead, and Castiel mourned their absence. But the pain of losing one of his siblings from Heaven was nothing to the idea of losing Dean or Sam. Perhaps Balthazar was right, his mission to save Dean transfigured him forever, or maybe Anna just saw that guardian spirit in him before anyone else could.
Castiel returned to the wrecked site and used his angelic power to search for Dean. Usually this particular brand of sight honed in on angelic phenomena, or in some rare cases, Heavenly weapons, like Moses's Staff. But Cas had spent so much time with Dean Winchester that his true-form eyes could search a localized area for his presence.
Dean wasn't here.
Castiel carefully retraced his steps. Not too far from where he discovered Sam, he spotted small splashes of Dean's blood puddled around. He must've been injured. The angel took his time calculating the blood volume; less than a liter, so wherever Dean was, he was alive.
The angel walked every possible route Dean could have used, but all of them ended the same: the hunter didn't get up and leave of his own accord. Someone, or something, took him away. Resentment and anger pooled in the angel's inner eye. Someone saw Dean injured on the ground and carried him off, and whoever did it knew enough to cover their tracks from humans and angels.
In other words, whoever captured Dean was no friend to Castiel or the Winchesters.
Likely suspects? Cas's brain began to list names almost too quickly to keep up. Demonic forces seeking vengeance. Monsters seeking vengeance. Angels trying to lure Cas into a trap -
If something happened to Dean on Castiel's account, he'd never forgive himself.
Castiel? Cas... I'm not doing too well here.
It was Sam. The angel disappeared back to the Bunker.
"Not doing too well" was putting it gently. Infection was starting in on the younger Winchester, and his wounds were more severe than Castiel's original assessment had concluded. The angel clasped Sam's shoulder, and every malady vanished from his body.
"Thanks," Sam said as he sat up. "Whoa, you look terrible."
"Dean wasn't there," Cas replied. "I looked - everywhere. No trace. Nothing."
"What're you saying?"
"I'm saying something took him, and whatever it is - it's smart. It knew we would be looking."
Suddenly, Sam reached out and touched Cas's shoulder. It was strange for him to make physical contact, but in this moment, it alleviated the heavy guilt laying into the angel's chest.
"Cas, listen to me," Sam said. "We're going to find him, okay? The first thing we need to do is make some calls."
"Make some calls?" Cas echoed.
"Yeah, that's right. Aaron. Garth. Krissy. Get our feelers out there for anything on Dean, who might've taken him, and why."
"Sam, whoever took Dean is no friend to us. What if - what if we're too late?"
"We won't be," Sam replied, getting to his feet. "No sulking. No moping. Okay Cas? Because we're gonna find Dean and bring him home."
<<< Previous Part:
Part One: Five-Fifteen
Next Part: >>>
Part Three: Deuces are Wild
Primary Post: 10x00 Brothers of the Road