Unexpected Destinies Chapter 175
Title: Unexpected Destinies
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,240
Summary: Dean, Michael and Castiel confront the long-lost archangel Raziel.
PRESENT
Raziel was the only option. Dean already knew what five of the eight archangels looked like and of the original remaining two one was dead. Well there was always the possibility that one of them had gotten a new vessel, but it was highly unlikely given the way the archangel was acting. It wasn't nearly familiar enough for it to be Raphael and not even close to malicious enough for it to be either Lucifer or Simiel.
"Yep. Got it in one," Raziel confirmed with a large smile.
The unangelic behavior and language made Dean frown. He'd met plenty of angels and only a grand total of two of the lot had been this human, namely Anna and Gabriel and that was because both of them had spent significant amounts of time on Earth. What had Raziel been doing spending time down here when his brothers and sisters had all but torn Heaven and Earth apart?
Michael and Castiel suddenly appeared on either side of Dean with their blades already drawn and then proceeded to stare in shock at their brother. The lack of an instant attack on their part calmed him a little, though he didn't lower the Jewel of Abel even if he did tune down the amount of power that he was channeling into it.
"Michael," Raziel greeted warmly before turning to look at his other sibling. "And Castiel, I have heard much about you, Little Brother."
"And I you," Castiel replied, lowering his sword slightly.
"Yes, most of it about my mysterious disappearance and unexplained absence no doubt."
"Yeah, about that," Dean began. "What, you felt like a little extended Earth bound vacation?"
"You have been on Earth?" Michael demanded, voice thick with emotion for once. "What, like Gabriel?"
At first Dean was confused by his bond brother's unusual behavior, but then it hit him all at once and he winced in sympathy. Gabriel, for all that he'd come through for them in the end, had essentially ditched his family and run. While it might well be true that Gabriel couldn't have done anything about the situation, there was no real way that he could condone what the archangel had done even if he could sympathize with what it felt like to watch your own family tear each other apart all of the time. Still, it had never even occurred to him to just walk out on his father and brother, no matter how bad it had gotten. Even when Dad had all but kicked Sam out forever, he hadn't been able to turn his back on the man as he'd loved him far too much.
So, yeah, Dean could totally understand why Michael would be more than a little hurt at the revelation that another one of his brothers might have acted the way that Gabriel had. On some level he felt the need to take back every last bad thing that he'd said about his own family, they were the perfect picture of harmony in comparison to his new extended family.
"No," Raziel denied sharply, taking a step forwards, his entire attention focused on Michael. "No, Brother. It was not like Gabriel, but I have been on Earth for a significant portion of the time that I have been gone."
"Doing what, exactly?" Dean questioned, knowing how hard it would be for his friend to think just now.
The little smile that curved Raziel's lips upwards didn't reassure Dean and it was with reluctance that he lowered the Jewel of Abel and allowed it to fully power down. Given that both Michael and Castiel had not only lowered their blades, but vanished them back to wherever they normally kept them left him with little choice though. Besides, who was he to disagree with their judgment here and now given that this was one of their brothers? Well, Raziel was another brother-in-law of his own, true, but he'd never met the guy before and he couldn't say that he'd heard anything bad about him either.
"Various things," Raziel replied vaguely. "Tell me, Dean, what do you know about me? From human sources?"
Dean frowned before realization dawned and his eyes opened wide. "Son of a bitch!"
"Dean?" Castiel questioned, stepping closer to him.
"You mean that they're right? That's the truth?"
"This is one of only a limited number of cases where parts of human knowledge and legend about us are more accurate than Heaven's own knowledge," Raziel confirmed.
"What is it, Little One? What do you know?" Michael inquired urgently.
"Well, leaving aside all of the fictional stuff, in the Jewish tradition Raziel's supposed to be known as the Keeper of Secrets or the Angel of Mysteries, things like that. I also read something about him and the secrets of God and knowing them because he is supposed to be positioned close to your Father's throne. or something like that anyway. I don't quite remember all of the details as I looked it up a while back."
The silence after his revelation was deathly and Dean couldn't even imagine how his husband and bond brother felt about this. Though he was worried about the both of them, it was Castiel in particular that he was concerned about. His angel had spent more time than he cared to think about looking for his Father, a quest that had only ended when God had told them to leave Him alone. As if that wasn't bad enough on its own, his husband now had to learn that instead of completely abandoning all of his children, the Bastard might actually have kept in contact with one of them. That type of favoritism, especially when combined with the neglect and outright abandonment of all the others, had to hurt like a bitch.
"You were with Father?" Michael finally asked. "All of this time?"
"No, though we have spent time together since His departure from Heaven, I have not been with Him for the entirety of my absence," Raziel replied. "In fact there have been large spans of time where I have not seen Him. And before you ask, I have not seen Him recently."
Part of Dean was tempted to ask what recently meant, but he'd been around angels long enough to know that it would hardly equate with his idea of recent. If anything it would fall squarely under his concept of ancient, but that was actually a good thing. Because if God had pulled that kind of stunt then he didn't care if the Guy had created everything that he knew, he'd have clocked Him one even if it broke every single bone in his body and then some. He wisely decided to keep that particular thought to himself.
"So what was this task that He gave you?" Dean questioned.
"Excuse me?"
"God gave you a task, didn't he? That's what your brothers and sisters seem to think anyway."
"Yes," Castiel confirmed. "That is what we were told."
"Father gave me many tasks to perform while away," Raziel responded. "The first, though, did take me a long time to complete as it consisted of many different, smaller tasks."
"The library. You were the one who removed the prophecy books and all of that others."
"Yes."
The single word had the same effect as a bomb shell. The betrayal that poured off of Michael was so strong and all-consuming that Dean could practically feel it though the archangel was safely tucked away in his aunt Deirdre instead of alongside himself in his meatsuit. Castiel as well flinched even though his husband had been the one to put the pieces together. Now that it had been said, he couldn't understand why he hadn't seen it before himself, it just seemed so unbelievably obvious now. Of course Raziel had taken those books, and probably returned the ones that Belliel had found later on, after the events prophesized within had already transpired. It just seemed like too much of a risk to have left them in the wrong place deliberately instead of simply returning them once it was safe, there was just too much chance that someone would have found them and returned them to their rightful place in-between, especially considering the time span that they were talking about here.
It still made Dean's head hurt just to try and think about. That was why he generally didn't even try anymore. Simply the thought of how unbelievably ancient his husband truly was being far too much for him. Forget about cradle robbing, this was in an altogether different category and one that he was on the wrong end of too. Not that he'd have felt particularly comfortable being on the other end of it either.
"But, why?" Michael demanded, anguish in every line of his body.
"I am not at liberty to say," Raziel replied apologetically.
Those words themselves as well as their effect on his friend infuriated Dean and his first instinct was to tear Raziel a new one. This was that incomprehensible angelic blind obedience and devotion thing again which he'd fought tooth and nail against for so long. It was everything that he'd hated about angels before and what he'd been unable to stand about Michael, Raphael and yes, even Castiel, at first and only its departure was what had allowed their relationships to shift and change into what they were today.
So, yeah, by all rights Dean should be going right off at Raziel, taking him apart with words as he crowded close to the newest acquaintance of his unimaginably large extended family so that he could physically poke the archangel in the chest and perhaps even give him a zap from the Jewel of Abel. Instead he found himself frozen on that wave of anger, completely unable to follow through on any of it. At first he wasn't sure what it was that was holding him back as it definitely wasn't anything either physical or supernatural, but then it hit him and took the wind right out of his sails.
Despite the strong way that Raziel came across, there was something unbelievably fragile and vulnerable about the archangel. That realization had puzzled Dean for about a half second before something that Castiel had once told him came back to him. Raziel had been bonded himself once and to the only other of the original seven archangels that he had never met, namely Jophiel.
Jophiel who had been killed by Lucifer during the Rebellion.
Dean had a brief flash of nightmare memory that he'd somehow gotten from Michael during one of their joinings and he swallowed hard around the sudden lump in his throat. He didn't care how long ago the Rebellion had been, he totally got the fragility and vulnerability that he detected in Raziel now and he suddenly saw God's decision to keep this particular angel close by in a whole new light. He'd personally only experienced the sudden, brutal loss of his bond with Castiel for a short time- somewhere in the order of ten minutes or so from what he'd later been told by Sam- but it had been more than enough to haunt him for the rest of his existence and that had been without the added knowledge that his husband was also not only dead, but lost to him forever. For Raziel to have lived through the same thing, but without those two stipulations, was not only unimaginable to him, but horrifying as well.
Dean honestly couldn't comprehend how the archangel had survived that kind of loss. He sure as hell wouldn't have, that was for damn sure. Hell, he hadn't even been able to stand the loss of his brother without doing something so recklessly stupid as to start the freaking Apocalypse, what would the loss of his bond mate have done to him? He didn't even want to consider the mere possibility, let alone have to live with the reality of it for countless millennia.
Altogether, though, it suddenly made Raziel's blind faith in God a lot more understandable. Sure, he'd personally have turned around and blamed the goddamn Bastard for what had happened, given that He was supposed to be all knowing and all, but if he made allowances for the differences in how he and Raziel would have viewed God to begin with, then it all suddenly fell into place. The archangel had just lost the one thing that had most probably meant more to him than anything else in existence, he could see why Raziel had turned around and clung to the other major relationship that the archangel had. If anything for him, though, it just made him all the more angry at God. The Douche had chosen to resurrect Castiel not once, but twice, so why the hell hadn't He been able to do the same for a daughter who had showed such bravery and selflessness as to oppose Lucifer when she knew that she couldn't win and all just to protect her less powerful siblings? Why hadn't He done it for Jophiel and her actions, while also knowing what it would mean to Raziel?
Yeah, that totally didn't improve his opinion of The Man. Not at all.
"Then what can you say?" Dean finally demanded instead.
"Two things. First that you do not need to worry about your brother and his resurrection," Raziel responded with a slight frown. "Father seemed to think that there might be some concern over this."
"Did Father resurrect him?" Castiel inquired, surprised.
"No, I am the one who pulled him from the cage."
"You?" Dean demanded. "Why?"
"Because I was told to; that it was necessary."
"Thanks for that."
"You're welcome."
"What about Adam, did you pull him out as well and return his soul to Heaven?"
"Yes."
"What was the other thing that you could tell us, Brother?" Michael asked.
"That the Apocalypse will be over soon," Raziel replied evenly.
"And let me guess, you can't tell us who'll win, right? Or any other pertinent details?" Dean demanded, his previous frustration back instantly.
"There's nothing to tell because I simply don't know."
Dean eyebrows rose in surprise. "You don't know?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Raziel shrugged easily, once more clearly displaying the time that he'd spent on Earth. "Father didn't say."
"And, let me guess, it didn't occur to you to ask."
"Not at the time, no."
"Not at the time?" Castiel inquired, head tilting to one side as he regarded his brother.
Raziel smiled. "I hadn't yet spent as much time on Earth among modern humans back then. Now I believe that I would have thought of it and possibly even asked."
Well, now that really was interesting and Dean found his opinion of the archangel changing once more, even if it still irked him that Raziel obviously still clung to his old beliefs enough to not tell them what he'd been ordered to keep quiet. He'd just have to work on that, though, and see if he couldn't change his newest bond brother's mind on the matter. He was good at that after all when it came to angels. He would have to tread carefully, though, what with the fine line that Raziel seemed to already be walking when it came to the archangel's sanity. He didn't want to break him after all.
And speaking of breaking, it hadn't escaped Dean's notice how those last few revelations had affected Michael. His friend who'd never even stopped to question his Father or The Plan, was clearly shaken to his very core that Raziel had come to that kind of a decision on his own without requiring the extremely harsh lesson that God had been forced to provide his first created angel with. Just like with the bond situation with Raziel, he could more than understand Michael's current reaction as well. He himself had been like that once. The ever obedient eldest son, following his father with a blind kind of obedience and devotion that he could hardly even comprehend anymore. He'd just been luckier when all was said and done to not have to face the kind of lesson that Michael had at the end of it. Not that he'd seen it that way at the time.
Dean snorted at the thought before returning his attention back to the matter at hand. "So why are you here now?" Dean asked.
"I was told that I could return to my brothers and sisters today," Raziel explained simply.
"Why today?" Castiel asked.
"I do not know."
The desire to roll his eyes was great, but Dean suppressed it as this particular angel might actually know what that meant. "Okay, Clueless, why did you come to me then? I'm not one of your siblings, not really."
"You are a bond brother and thus family," Raziel replied before shrugging. "And you intrigued me. I've heard so much about you and wanted to meet you for myself."
"Heard so much about me? I thought that you were off on your lonesome for most of the time."
"Being away from my brothers and sisters isn't the same as being away from people. Besides, Father has spoken a great deal about you as well."
"He has?" Michael questioned. "What has He said?"
"No, I don't want to know!" Dean spat vehemently.
Not only was he always far too likely to say something that he'd regret (at least for the effect that it would have on his husband and friends) whenever God came up, but Dean also really didn't want to contemplate what the Douche might have to say about him. Besides, the more that God knew about him and what he'd been up to, the more that He had chosen not to prevent or interfere with and if anything was a sure fire way to set him off, then it was that. This entire mess could so easily have been prevented if God would have just manned up and dealt with the catastrophe that His children had caused. And He'd have been able to do so long before it had spilled over onto Earth and started claiming innocent human lives. Hell, there'd never even have been a Hell or demons to populate it and be created within its fiery depths if God had done so early enough.
So, yeah, God? Not a good topic for discussion. Not with him around anyway.
Raziel smiled at his reaction though and Dean narrowed his eyes at the archangel, not at all sure that he'd like what his newest bond brother would have to say next.
"Surely you don't think that such religious and important a family as yours would not be well known to Father?" Raziel inquired.
"Look, I- wait a minute, did you just say religious? Dude, you don't know my family at all, do you? The Winchesters are not really religious, well, not except for Sam anyway and I'm not so sure where he stands on the issue these days though I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."
"No, you're right that the last few generations of the American branch of the Winchester family has lost its faith in Father, but that's hardly enough to counter the centuries of faith that preceded it. Or the fact that the European branch of the Winchester family is still as religious and faithful as ever."
"Whoa, wait, the European branch?" Dean demanded incredulously. "What European branch?"
A.N.: For those of you who are interested, there is now a PDF copy of The Soul Puzzle available. PDF versions of all of my other long & finished fics will follow in the next day or so. Since that seems to have worked well, I'll definitely be making a PDF copy of this fic as well once it is complete.
Chapter 176
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,240
Summary: Dean, Michael and Castiel confront the long-lost archangel Raziel.
PRESENT
Raziel was the only option. Dean already knew what five of the eight archangels looked like and of the original remaining two one was dead. Well there was always the possibility that one of them had gotten a new vessel, but it was highly unlikely given the way the archangel was acting. It wasn't nearly familiar enough for it to be Raphael and not even close to malicious enough for it to be either Lucifer or Simiel.
"Yep. Got it in one," Raziel confirmed with a large smile.
The unangelic behavior and language made Dean frown. He'd met plenty of angels and only a grand total of two of the lot had been this human, namely Anna and Gabriel and that was because both of them had spent significant amounts of time on Earth. What had Raziel been doing spending time down here when his brothers and sisters had all but torn Heaven and Earth apart?
Michael and Castiel suddenly appeared on either side of Dean with their blades already drawn and then proceeded to stare in shock at their brother. The lack of an instant attack on their part calmed him a little, though he didn't lower the Jewel of Abel even if he did tune down the amount of power that he was channeling into it.
"Michael," Raziel greeted warmly before turning to look at his other sibling. "And Castiel, I have heard much about you, Little Brother."
"And I you," Castiel replied, lowering his sword slightly.
"Yes, most of it about my mysterious disappearance and unexplained absence no doubt."
"Yeah, about that," Dean began. "What, you felt like a little extended Earth bound vacation?"
"You have been on Earth?" Michael demanded, voice thick with emotion for once. "What, like Gabriel?"
At first Dean was confused by his bond brother's unusual behavior, but then it hit him all at once and he winced in sympathy. Gabriel, for all that he'd come through for them in the end, had essentially ditched his family and run. While it might well be true that Gabriel couldn't have done anything about the situation, there was no real way that he could condone what the archangel had done even if he could sympathize with what it felt like to watch your own family tear each other apart all of the time. Still, it had never even occurred to him to just walk out on his father and brother, no matter how bad it had gotten. Even when Dad had all but kicked Sam out forever, he hadn't been able to turn his back on the man as he'd loved him far too much.
So, yeah, Dean could totally understand why Michael would be more than a little hurt at the revelation that another one of his brothers might have acted the way that Gabriel had. On some level he felt the need to take back every last bad thing that he'd said about his own family, they were the perfect picture of harmony in comparison to his new extended family.
"No," Raziel denied sharply, taking a step forwards, his entire attention focused on Michael. "No, Brother. It was not like Gabriel, but I have been on Earth for a significant portion of the time that I have been gone."
"Doing what, exactly?" Dean questioned, knowing how hard it would be for his friend to think just now.
The little smile that curved Raziel's lips upwards didn't reassure Dean and it was with reluctance that he lowered the Jewel of Abel and allowed it to fully power down. Given that both Michael and Castiel had not only lowered their blades, but vanished them back to wherever they normally kept them left him with little choice though. Besides, who was he to disagree with their judgment here and now given that this was one of their brothers? Well, Raziel was another brother-in-law of his own, true, but he'd never met the guy before and he couldn't say that he'd heard anything bad about him either.
"Various things," Raziel replied vaguely. "Tell me, Dean, what do you know about me? From human sources?"
Dean frowned before realization dawned and his eyes opened wide. "Son of a bitch!"
"Dean?" Castiel questioned, stepping closer to him.
"You mean that they're right? That's the truth?"
"This is one of only a limited number of cases where parts of human knowledge and legend about us are more accurate than Heaven's own knowledge," Raziel confirmed.
"What is it, Little One? What do you know?" Michael inquired urgently.
"Well, leaving aside all of the fictional stuff, in the Jewish tradition Raziel's supposed to be known as the Keeper of Secrets or the Angel of Mysteries, things like that. I also read something about him and the secrets of God and knowing them because he is supposed to be positioned close to your Father's throne. or something like that anyway. I don't quite remember all of the details as I looked it up a while back."
The silence after his revelation was deathly and Dean couldn't even imagine how his husband and bond brother felt about this. Though he was worried about the both of them, it was Castiel in particular that he was concerned about. His angel had spent more time than he cared to think about looking for his Father, a quest that had only ended when God had told them to leave Him alone. As if that wasn't bad enough on its own, his husband now had to learn that instead of completely abandoning all of his children, the Bastard might actually have kept in contact with one of them. That type of favoritism, especially when combined with the neglect and outright abandonment of all the others, had to hurt like a bitch.
"You were with Father?" Michael finally asked. "All of this time?"
"No, though we have spent time together since His departure from Heaven, I have not been with Him for the entirety of my absence," Raziel replied. "In fact there have been large spans of time where I have not seen Him. And before you ask, I have not seen Him recently."
Part of Dean was tempted to ask what recently meant, but he'd been around angels long enough to know that it would hardly equate with his idea of recent. If anything it would fall squarely under his concept of ancient, but that was actually a good thing. Because if God had pulled that kind of stunt then he didn't care if the Guy had created everything that he knew, he'd have clocked Him one even if it broke every single bone in his body and then some. He wisely decided to keep that particular thought to himself.
"So what was this task that He gave you?" Dean questioned.
"Excuse me?"
"God gave you a task, didn't he? That's what your brothers and sisters seem to think anyway."
"Yes," Castiel confirmed. "That is what we were told."
"Father gave me many tasks to perform while away," Raziel responded. "The first, though, did take me a long time to complete as it consisted of many different, smaller tasks."
"The library. You were the one who removed the prophecy books and all of that others."
"Yes."
The single word had the same effect as a bomb shell. The betrayal that poured off of Michael was so strong and all-consuming that Dean could practically feel it though the archangel was safely tucked away in his aunt Deirdre instead of alongside himself in his meatsuit. Castiel as well flinched even though his husband had been the one to put the pieces together. Now that it had been said, he couldn't understand why he hadn't seen it before himself, it just seemed so unbelievably obvious now. Of course Raziel had taken those books, and probably returned the ones that Belliel had found later on, after the events prophesized within had already transpired. It just seemed like too much of a risk to have left them in the wrong place deliberately instead of simply returning them once it was safe, there was just too much chance that someone would have found them and returned them to their rightful place in-between, especially considering the time span that they were talking about here.
It still made Dean's head hurt just to try and think about. That was why he generally didn't even try anymore. Simply the thought of how unbelievably ancient his husband truly was being far too much for him. Forget about cradle robbing, this was in an altogether different category and one that he was on the wrong end of too. Not that he'd have felt particularly comfortable being on the other end of it either.
"But, why?" Michael demanded, anguish in every line of his body.
"I am not at liberty to say," Raziel replied apologetically.
Those words themselves as well as their effect on his friend infuriated Dean and his first instinct was to tear Raziel a new one. This was that incomprehensible angelic blind obedience and devotion thing again which he'd fought tooth and nail against for so long. It was everything that he'd hated about angels before and what he'd been unable to stand about Michael, Raphael and yes, even Castiel, at first and only its departure was what had allowed their relationships to shift and change into what they were today.
So, yeah, by all rights Dean should be going right off at Raziel, taking him apart with words as he crowded close to the newest acquaintance of his unimaginably large extended family so that he could physically poke the archangel in the chest and perhaps even give him a zap from the Jewel of Abel. Instead he found himself frozen on that wave of anger, completely unable to follow through on any of it. At first he wasn't sure what it was that was holding him back as it definitely wasn't anything either physical or supernatural, but then it hit him and took the wind right out of his sails.
Despite the strong way that Raziel came across, there was something unbelievably fragile and vulnerable about the archangel. That realization had puzzled Dean for about a half second before something that Castiel had once told him came back to him. Raziel had been bonded himself once and to the only other of the original seven archangels that he had never met, namely Jophiel.
Jophiel who had been killed by Lucifer during the Rebellion.
Dean had a brief flash of nightmare memory that he'd somehow gotten from Michael during one of their joinings and he swallowed hard around the sudden lump in his throat. He didn't care how long ago the Rebellion had been, he totally got the fragility and vulnerability that he detected in Raziel now and he suddenly saw God's decision to keep this particular angel close by in a whole new light. He'd personally only experienced the sudden, brutal loss of his bond with Castiel for a short time- somewhere in the order of ten minutes or so from what he'd later been told by Sam- but it had been more than enough to haunt him for the rest of his existence and that had been without the added knowledge that his husband was also not only dead, but lost to him forever. For Raziel to have lived through the same thing, but without those two stipulations, was not only unimaginable to him, but horrifying as well.
Dean honestly couldn't comprehend how the archangel had survived that kind of loss. He sure as hell wouldn't have, that was for damn sure. Hell, he hadn't even been able to stand the loss of his brother without doing something so recklessly stupid as to start the freaking Apocalypse, what would the loss of his bond mate have done to him? He didn't even want to consider the mere possibility, let alone have to live with the reality of it for countless millennia.
Altogether, though, it suddenly made Raziel's blind faith in God a lot more understandable. Sure, he'd personally have turned around and blamed the goddamn Bastard for what had happened, given that He was supposed to be all knowing and all, but if he made allowances for the differences in how he and Raziel would have viewed God to begin with, then it all suddenly fell into place. The archangel had just lost the one thing that had most probably meant more to him than anything else in existence, he could see why Raziel had turned around and clung to the other major relationship that the archangel had. If anything for him, though, it just made him all the more angry at God. The Douche had chosen to resurrect Castiel not once, but twice, so why the hell hadn't He been able to do the same for a daughter who had showed such bravery and selflessness as to oppose Lucifer when she knew that she couldn't win and all just to protect her less powerful siblings? Why hadn't He done it for Jophiel and her actions, while also knowing what it would mean to Raziel?
Yeah, that totally didn't improve his opinion of The Man. Not at all.
"Then what can you say?" Dean finally demanded instead.
"Two things. First that you do not need to worry about your brother and his resurrection," Raziel responded with a slight frown. "Father seemed to think that there might be some concern over this."
"Did Father resurrect him?" Castiel inquired, surprised.
"No, I am the one who pulled him from the cage."
"You?" Dean demanded. "Why?"
"Because I was told to; that it was necessary."
"Thanks for that."
"You're welcome."
"What about Adam, did you pull him out as well and return his soul to Heaven?"
"Yes."
"What was the other thing that you could tell us, Brother?" Michael asked.
"That the Apocalypse will be over soon," Raziel replied evenly.
"And let me guess, you can't tell us who'll win, right? Or any other pertinent details?" Dean demanded, his previous frustration back instantly.
"There's nothing to tell because I simply don't know."
Dean eyebrows rose in surprise. "You don't know?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Raziel shrugged easily, once more clearly displaying the time that he'd spent on Earth. "Father didn't say."
"And, let me guess, it didn't occur to you to ask."
"Not at the time, no."
"Not at the time?" Castiel inquired, head tilting to one side as he regarded his brother.
Raziel smiled. "I hadn't yet spent as much time on Earth among modern humans back then. Now I believe that I would have thought of it and possibly even asked."
Well, now that really was interesting and Dean found his opinion of the archangel changing once more, even if it still irked him that Raziel obviously still clung to his old beliefs enough to not tell them what he'd been ordered to keep quiet. He'd just have to work on that, though, and see if he couldn't change his newest bond brother's mind on the matter. He was good at that after all when it came to angels. He would have to tread carefully, though, what with the fine line that Raziel seemed to already be walking when it came to the archangel's sanity. He didn't want to break him after all.
And speaking of breaking, it hadn't escaped Dean's notice how those last few revelations had affected Michael. His friend who'd never even stopped to question his Father or The Plan, was clearly shaken to his very core that Raziel had come to that kind of a decision on his own without requiring the extremely harsh lesson that God had been forced to provide his first created angel with. Just like with the bond situation with Raziel, he could more than understand Michael's current reaction as well. He himself had been like that once. The ever obedient eldest son, following his father with a blind kind of obedience and devotion that he could hardly even comprehend anymore. He'd just been luckier when all was said and done to not have to face the kind of lesson that Michael had at the end of it. Not that he'd seen it that way at the time.
Dean snorted at the thought before returning his attention back to the matter at hand. "So why are you here now?" Dean asked.
"I was told that I could return to my brothers and sisters today," Raziel explained simply.
"Why today?" Castiel asked.
"I do not know."
The desire to roll his eyes was great, but Dean suppressed it as this particular angel might actually know what that meant. "Okay, Clueless, why did you come to me then? I'm not one of your siblings, not really."
"You are a bond brother and thus family," Raziel replied before shrugging. "And you intrigued me. I've heard so much about you and wanted to meet you for myself."
"Heard so much about me? I thought that you were off on your lonesome for most of the time."
"Being away from my brothers and sisters isn't the same as being away from people. Besides, Father has spoken a great deal about you as well."
"He has?" Michael questioned. "What has He said?"
"No, I don't want to know!" Dean spat vehemently.
Not only was he always far too likely to say something that he'd regret (at least for the effect that it would have on his husband and friends) whenever God came up, but Dean also really didn't want to contemplate what the Douche might have to say about him. Besides, the more that God knew about him and what he'd been up to, the more that He had chosen not to prevent or interfere with and if anything was a sure fire way to set him off, then it was that. This entire mess could so easily have been prevented if God would have just manned up and dealt with the catastrophe that His children had caused. And He'd have been able to do so long before it had spilled over onto Earth and started claiming innocent human lives. Hell, there'd never even have been a Hell or demons to populate it and be created within its fiery depths if God had done so early enough.
So, yeah, God? Not a good topic for discussion. Not with him around anyway.
Raziel smiled at his reaction though and Dean narrowed his eyes at the archangel, not at all sure that he'd like what his newest bond brother would have to say next.
"Surely you don't think that such religious and important a family as yours would not be well known to Father?" Raziel inquired.
"Look, I- wait a minute, did you just say religious? Dude, you don't know my family at all, do you? The Winchesters are not really religious, well, not except for Sam anyway and I'm not so sure where he stands on the issue these days though I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."
"No, you're right that the last few generations of the American branch of the Winchester family has lost its faith in Father, but that's hardly enough to counter the centuries of faith that preceded it. Or the fact that the European branch of the Winchester family is still as religious and faithful as ever."
"Whoa, wait, the European branch?" Dean demanded incredulously. "What European branch?"
A.N.: For those of you who are interested, there is now a PDF copy of The Soul Puzzle available. PDF versions of all of my other long & finished fics will follow in the next day or so. Since that seems to have worked well, I'll definitely be making a PDF copy of this fic as well once it is complete.
Chapter 176