Living on a Prayer, BtVS/SPN, part 83
Living on a Prayer
nwhepcat
Supernatural/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Sam and Dean Winchester, Castiel, Faith Lehane
Follow up to
Like the White-Winged Dove and Waiting for the end of the World. Also, Vessel becomes relevant.
Faith has a slayer dream which sends her on a reluctant journey to her old territory, on a quest to save a new ally.
Spoilers through SPN 4.10 "Heaven and Hell," incorporates world-building details revealed since.
Previous parts are here.
Castiel's eyes have closed and he seems impossibly still. Faith lets the sword drop from nerveless fingers as she picks her way down the banks of keys, which are beginning to break apart and skitter along with her descent. She crouches beside him, touching two fingers to his neck the way she's seen people do on TV. How do they always know where to find a pulse? All she registers is the clamminess of his skin, when heat is what she associates with his touch.
"Castiel, can you hear me? Castiel."
Helplessly she glances upward and sees a hand clutching the edge of the organ. She recognizes the wide silver band on Dean's ring finger and hauls herself up the crumbling slope toward the edge.
Her heart nearly stops when she sees him, one hand to his brow, blinking in the dim light.
"Dean."
He looks up toward the sound of her voice, but his eyes don't register her presence.
"Oh god," Faith breathes. "You've been blinded." She remembers the psychic Dean told her about, blinded when she insisted on seeing Castiel in his true form.
"No. No. Just dazzled. What's happened?"
"It's Castiel. I -- I just don't know. He's hurt and I think it's bad."
"What about Uriel?"
"Dead. I killed him."
He blinks rapidly, and squints up at her as if he really is taking her in. "Give me a hand up."
She helps him clamber up into the organ, though her ribs protest. "Careful. It's starting to break apart."
"Whoa," he says, and Faith turns to see what prompted this, and finds Uriel sprawled where he fell, with the shadow of a pair of wings stretched out over the wreckage where he lies.
"Oh shit," Faith says. "D'you think this was a seal? I killed an angel with Lucifer's sword."
"If you'd let him live, he would have killed an angel with Lucifer's sword."
"Yeah, well, I'm more comfortable with him having an apocalypse on his conscience."
"Nothing you can do to change it," Dean says. "So let's help Cas."
They pick their way down the crumbling keyboards to where he lies, still motionless. Dean mutters a curse as he kneels beside him and does the two-finger thing exactly as they do on television.
Faith feels incompetent, she feels responsible. "We've gotta get him to a hospital."
"No," Castiel rasps. His eyes flutter open and fix on Faith's.
"Listen, this is no time for playing doctor. You need more help than we can give you."
He makes an effort to move under his own power, managing to raise himself on an elbow.
"Careful," Faith says. "This whole thing is crumbling."
"Take me," he begins, and suddenly goes pale and unfocused. "The Infinity Room. Quickly."
nwhepcat
Supernatural/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Sam and Dean Winchester, Castiel, Faith Lehane
Follow up to
Like the White-Winged Dove and Waiting for the end of the World. Also, Vessel becomes relevant.
Faith has a slayer dream which sends her on a reluctant journey to her old territory, on a quest to save a new ally.
Spoilers through SPN 4.10 "Heaven and Hell," incorporates world-building details revealed since.
Previous parts are here.
Castiel's eyes have closed and he seems impossibly still. Faith lets the sword drop from nerveless fingers as she picks her way down the banks of keys, which are beginning to break apart and skitter along with her descent. She crouches beside him, touching two fingers to his neck the way she's seen people do on TV. How do they always know where to find a pulse? All she registers is the clamminess of his skin, when heat is what she associates with his touch.
"Castiel, can you hear me? Castiel."
Helplessly she glances upward and sees a hand clutching the edge of the organ. She recognizes the wide silver band on Dean's ring finger and hauls herself up the crumbling slope toward the edge.
Her heart nearly stops when she sees him, one hand to his brow, blinking in the dim light.
"Dean."
He looks up toward the sound of her voice, but his eyes don't register her presence.
"Oh god," Faith breathes. "You've been blinded." She remembers the psychic Dean told her about, blinded when she insisted on seeing Castiel in his true form.
"No. No. Just dazzled. What's happened?"
"It's Castiel. I -- I just don't know. He's hurt and I think it's bad."
"What about Uriel?"
"Dead. I killed him."
He blinks rapidly, and squints up at her as if he really is taking her in. "Give me a hand up."
She helps him clamber up into the organ, though her ribs protest. "Careful. It's starting to break apart."
"Whoa," he says, and Faith turns to see what prompted this, and finds Uriel sprawled where he fell, with the shadow of a pair of wings stretched out over the wreckage where he lies.
"Oh shit," Faith says. "D'you think this was a seal? I killed an angel with Lucifer's sword."
"If you'd let him live, he would have killed an angel with Lucifer's sword."
"Yeah, well, I'm more comfortable with him having an apocalypse on his conscience."
"Nothing you can do to change it," Dean says. "So let's help Cas."
They pick their way down the crumbling keyboards to where he lies, still motionless. Dean mutters a curse as he kneels beside him and does the two-finger thing exactly as they do on television.
Faith feels incompetent, she feels responsible. "We've gotta get him to a hospital."
"No," Castiel rasps. His eyes flutter open and fix on Faith's.
"Listen, this is no time for playing doctor. You need more help than we can give you."
He makes an effort to move under his own power, managing to raise himself on an elbow.
"Careful," Faith says. "This whole thing is crumbling."
"Take me," he begins, and suddenly goes pale and unfocused. "The Infinity Room. Quickly."