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[thursdays_angel]

You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in.It’s not literal thunder and lightning that heralds Castiel’s arrival in Milliways this evening, but one can almost smell ozone and feel the quiver in the air as he passes. And there’s something in his expression that hints that one might be wise to stay out of his

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[changeinasnap]

The feeling that clobbers him on the back of the head is some weird, unidentifiable mix: like an itch on the back of his neck combined with a mosquito humming in his ear.

(Which, okay, is better than the other swarm of noise he's been hearing on a certain band lately. There's only so many times a guy can put up with a chorus of Dean Winchester is Saved before he wants to go out and either get smashed or smash a few faces in, you know?)

Still, it's enough to get the hairs on the back of his neck crested up, and enough to get him to turn around to throw a quick glance over his shoulder.

Oh.

Oh, hell no.

[changeinasnap]

This time, his laugh's deeply bitter.

"You still think that's what this is about?"

Poor, ignorant bastard. What a wake-up call this is gonna be, whenever it happens.

[thursdays_angel]

For an angry angel, Castiel suddenly bears a remarkable resemblance to Nipper the RCA dog.

"What else would it possibly be about?"

It's not as though they are imagining what Lilith is unleashing in the world.

[changeinasnap]

It's almost enough to get him to pull a stick out of thin air and go here boy, fetch!

Almost.

"Maybe," he says, strolling another couple of steps closer, "juuuust maybe, it's about the same thing it's always been about, Castiel: everybody gearing up for round two of what's just the biggest dick-measuring contest of all time. You think Dad is gonna give half a crap whether or not Earth makes it through? All of this -- "

He spreads his arms -- not indicating the bar, but the space beyond, the planet on the other side of the door, himself, Castiel, all of Heaven's soldiers.

"Is earmarked for collateral damage when the big one comes, bro. And it's coming whether we like it or not. You wanna waste your time trying to hold it off for a couple more breaths, fine. But I'm out. I've been out."

[thursdays_angel]

The joke would have been thoroughly wasted.

Castiel stands his ground this time, but can't help but lean backwards slightly when Gabriel closes in.

It takes him a moment or three to sort out the tangle of emotions (difficult things, emotions) enough to formulate a response.

"I suppose cowardice makes it easy to blaspheme."

Castiel says it with not a little fear, truth be told.

But casting aspersions on the love his Father has for his Creation? That is something that Castiel finds that he cannot swallow.

"If He did not care, we would not be fighting."

He would not have gone into Hell. He and the others wouldn't have been on the top of that mountain.

[changeinasnap]

Something truly dangerous flares in his eyes, like blinding light seen through a crack in a wall. It's gone in a blink.

(And whether or not that little leak of power was deliberate, it sends a clear message: watch your step, soldier boy.)

"If Dad cared," he says with a deadly quiet, "He would find a way to peace that didn't end in our brothers and sisters getting their guts sliced out. Or He would get off His ass and take up a sword alongside us."