Like To Stay In Heaven But The Rules Are Too Tough 22/? (FIC)
Title: Like To Stay In Heaven But The Rules Are Too Tough 22/?
Rating: PG
Pairing and Characters: Dean/Cas, Sam, Kevin, Hester, Inias, Gabriel
Spoilers: Everything through 7x21
Warnings: I followed the main plot of “Reading is Fundamental.” Don’t read if you don’t want spoilers.
Word Count: ~4,000 (this chapter)
Summary: Dean doesn't let Cas go, but someone else has a big change planned for Castiel. Can he handle what God has planned for him?
This Chapter: Follows through “Reading is Fundamental”
Notes: This is a monster that will follow the whole season and beyond.
Previous
Cas woke sometime early the next morning. The sky was just beginning to lighten with the sunrise. He was alone in the bed as his mind cleared from his sleepy haze. Eventually, he sat up and threw his legs over the side of the mattress and stood up. As he made his way to the kitchen, he heard Sam and Dean talking in hushed voices.
“He made a lot of fuss over a caveman lego.” Dean had the block of clay they had stolen from Dick on the table. Sam was standing beside him.
“Yeah. Are you sure you want to do this now?”
“Why not?”
Sam’s answer was cut off when he saw Cas shuffling into the room. “Hey, Cas.”
Dean looked up. “You’re just in time. We were about to bust open Dick’s block here and see what the fuss is about.”
Cas yawned and nodded. He should’ve know that by morning, Dean had meant 5 AM. It didn’t seem like either brother slept much at all anymore. Dean handed him a pair of safety glasses after he and Sam put on their own. Cas stood beside the table as Dean raised a hammer over the block.
Dean struck the corner of the clay square to no effect. A loud crash of thunder sounded above them. They all shared a look. Lightning flashed outside, lighting the room briefly. “Was it even cloudy earlier?” The others shrugged. Dean raised the hammer and struck again.
A clap of thunder sounded at the exact moment Dean hit the block. Lightning followed soon after. Dean looked around warily. “Does that sound like someone saying ‘no, don’t, stop’ to you?”
Sam shifted nervously. “Uh, yeah.” Cas nodded.
“Yeah,” Dean looked down at the clay, “oh well.” He lifted the hammer again. He hit the block repeatedly, thunder following every hit. The clay was beginning to chip apart and crumble.
Soon a black tablet was revealed from inside the clay. Dean picked it up and turned it over. There were markings covering it. Sam leaned in close and looked it over. “What the Hell?”
Cas took off his glasses and moved close to Dean’s side. One look at the tablet and his eyes widened in recognition. He grabbed the block from Dean’s hands. He ran a hand over the writing carefully.
“Cas, what? Do you know what that is?”
“Yes.” Cas’ heart thumped loudly in his chest. “It’s the Word.”
“The Word?” Sam’s eyes widened. “The Word of God?”
Cas nodded. “One of them, yes.”
“What the Hell does Dick want with the Word of God?”
Sam moved to stand on the other side of Cas. “Can you read what it says?”
Cas squinted his eyes before shaking his head in defeat. “No. This is the writing of Metatron. Only a select few can read it.”
“Metatron?” Sam had heard that name before.
“He’s an angel, the scribe of God. He took down dictation when Creation was being formed.”
“Okay,” Dean sat in the available chair to his right. “So, Dick started digging all over the earth to find this, why?” Cas looked at him. “What good is it if no one can even read it?”
“I said a select few could read it.” Cas handed the tablet to Sam and sat in the chair by Dean. “When the Word of God is revealed, a keeper of the Word with awaken.”
“A keeper?”
Cas nodded. “It was actually my garrison’s job to find the keeper if this ever happened. I would imagine the orders haven’t changed.”
Sam turned to them. “Meaning, we’re gonna have angels and a keeper to deal with on top of leviathans?”
“Yes.”
“Super.” Dean stood.
“Cas,” Sam put the tablet on the table, “how long will it take the keeper to get here?”
Cas shrugged. “It depends on how far away he lives. The angels won’t be far behind.”
“Alright,” Dean clapped his hands, “we need to angel proof the house now. We can deal with this keeper whenever he gets here.”
The three of them set to work on painting angel-proofing over the whole cabin. Once that was done, they got ready for the keeper to show himself as they waited.
Sam was on his computer in his room after a few hours of nothing. He was checking to see if anything strange that had happened could lead them to the keeper. Dean and Cas were watching the tablet as it sat on the table open and ready for someone to take it.
Dean had fallen asleep on Cas’ shoulder by the time it grew dark out. Sam and Cas were beginning to think this keeper wasn’t going to show tonight.
“Maybe we should just call it a night?” Sam rubbed his tired eyes and yawned.
Cas nodded in agreement and elbowed Dean. “We can keep the tablet hidden until tomorrow.” Cas stood, dragging Dean up with him.
Sam went to his room as Cas walked a half-asleep Dean to their room. As Cas pushed the now fully-asleep Dean onto the bed, he heard a soft thump from the other room. He peeked through the doorway, Sam doing the same from the other side of the room.
“Did you hear something?” Sam stepped into the room. Cas nodded and checked for the tablet. Sam had done the same and they shared confused looks when they found it was gone. “Dammit!” Sam ran to the front door and pulled it open. “I see him!” He took off into the night.
Cas ducked his head into his room long enough to wake Dean. “Dean, the keeper had the tablet.” He saw Dean shake his head and sit up before he followed Sam outside.
The young boy was fast as he darted in zig zag patterns through the woods surrounding the cabin. Sam did his best to keep the kid in sight, but he kept tripping as he tried to change directions quickly. He thought Cas had been right behind him but he didn’t see the man anywhere. Sam nearly landed face first in the grass when the boy made a sudden circle and turned back the way he came.
Thinking Sam was the only one after him was his mistake. Dean and Cas had been following Sam. When they saw the kid doubling back, they split up and waited behind a couple trees.
When the boy ran past them, Dean jumped forward, reaching out to grab the back of his jacket collar. Sam slowed to a stop when he saw Dean and Cas. The kid kept struggling to run. Cas moved to stand in front of him in case he did manage to escape.
“Please, let me go.” The boy, who couldn’t be more than 17, was holding the tablet against his chest tightly. “I’m sorry, please.”
“Sorry, can’t do that.” Dean secured his hold on the boy’s arm.
Sam stood next to Cas, catching his breath. “What’s your name?”
“Kevin Tran. Please don’t kill me.” He looked terrified.
“We’re not gonna kill you.” Sam stepped forward and tried to pull the tablet from Kevin’s arms. It didn’t budge. Sam pulled harder, Dean holding Kevin back, and they still couldn’t make Kevin let go.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why.” He looked close to tears. “I can’t let go of this.”
They all shared looks before heading back to the cabin with Kevin in tow. They sat him at the small kitchen table while they pulled up a couple chairs nearby. “Kevin,” Sam leaned forward in the chair, “how did you know to come here?”
Kevin shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is,” he looked at the item in his arms, “this is for me. I’m supposed to keep it.”
“But you don’t know what it is?” Kevin shook his head. “Look at it.”
Kevin hesitated, eyes shifting between the three of them. Finally, he loosened his hold on the tablet and looked at the ancient writing. He squinted and lifted the tablet closer. “It’s writing.”
“Yes.” Cas said. “What does it say?”
Kevin’s brows furrowed. “What’s leviathan?”
“What?” Sam stood up. “Is that what it says?”
“I think. It hurts to read. Like looking through someone else’s glasses.” His fingers traced the symbols as he read. “It says something about leviathan and how it came to be. God locked them up far away, like in jail, because they’re so...” Kevin looked up at Sam. “They’re real aren’t they?”
“Yeah, they are and they’re here.” Sam didn’t see the need to sugar coat anything for him, knowing that angels would be after him soon. “Does it say anything about how to kill them?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like reading reading. It’s hard to focus on it too long.”
“Just try. It’s really important.”
A loud crash made everyone in the room jump. The front door was blown off it’s hinges. A suited man and woman stepped through the doorway: angels. Sam moved in front of Kevin while Dean and Cas covered his back.
The blonde woman looked at Sam. “Step away from the prophet.”
Kevin was shaking. “What? Me?”
She looked at Kevin. “Soul keeper of the Word we are here to take you.”
“What do you mean, take?” Kevin stood from the chair and moved back closer to Dean and Cas.
She turned to the other angel. “Kill them.” As the man advanced on Sam, Cas pulled him back and slashed his old angel blade, cutting the angel’s palm.
White light shot from the wound as the man stepped back. Everything stilled when the angels finally looked at who had used the blade. The woman stood with wide eyed shock and the man smiled. “Castiel?” The light faded from his hand. “You’re alive.”
He nodded. The woman didn’t look as pleased to see him. “Hello, Hester.”
She moved in closer to him. “You smote thousands in Heaven, gave a big scary speech, and then you were gone.” She raised her voice. “What the Hell was that?!”
“I’m sorry.” There was hardly ever a day when the deaths of his brothers and sisters didn’t haunt him.
While the others were talking, Dean had pulled out his pocket knife. He didn’t know if this would work, but he had to try.
“Where have you been?” The man looked truly concerned.
“Inias, Hester, I wish I could make you understand. Nothing I could say would satisfy you.”
Hester shook her head. “You’ve fallen, Castiel. I don’t see any grace in you.”
He nodded. “I have.”
Dean had finished the banishing sigil on the table. It wasn’t big, but he hoped it still worked. He lowered his hand and in a flash of light Inias and Hester were gone. Sam and Cas looked back, not knowing what had happened.
“I’ll be damned.” He smiled at the other two. “Okay, we need better angel protection, angel warding so they can’t get in here again.” Cas nodded and started gathering the paint. Dean looked at Sam. “I’ll take the keeper here downstairs so he can read the Word.”
Kevin was clutching the tablet again and taking short, quick breaths. Dean could tell he was panicking. “Come on, Kevin.” He led the teenager downstairs. “We’ll get you something to eat a little later okay?”
Kevin stopped by the bottom of the stairs and took in the strange basement. “This looks like a sex torture dungeon.” Dean started clearing the table of their different monster weapons. “Is this a sex torture dungeon?”
“No,” Dean turned to him with a blade in hand, “this is not a sex…just, get over here and read.” Dean slid a chair over to the empty corner of the table.
Kevin sat down, placing the tablet on the dirty table. He took a few long breaths, trying to calm down. “So, these leviathans, monsters, are real?”
“Afraid so.” Dean dusted off another chair. He wasn’t going to let Kevin out of sight.
“And angels?”
“Yeah.” He put his feet up on the opposite end of the table. “So, on the God Rock.” He pointed to the black square. “Does it happen to say anything about how to kill Dick?”
“Uh,” he looked down, “I don’t know. It kinda seems like an In Case of Emergency note.” He looked back to Dean. “What did the angel mean by prophet?” Dean opened his mouth to answer. “I don’t want to be a prophet.”
Dean smiled. “No you don’t.”
Cas appeared down the stairs. “Angel proofing is up. They won’t be able to enter the house now.” He moved to stand beside Dean.
“Who were those two angels? You seemed to know them pretty well.”
“I told you. My garrison was given the orders to collect the keeper when he awoke. They were a part of my old garrison. Hester seems to have taken over. We were supposed to take the keeper to the desert to read the Word away from men.”
“I can’t go to the desert. I’m applying to Princeton.” Kevin was beginning to panic again.
“Calm down,” Dean tried to use a soothing voice, “no one is taking you to the desert.” He looked at Cas. “We need him to decipher the Word so we can kill Dick.”
Cas shrugged. “Until the orders are fulfilled in some way, the garrison won’t stop.”
“Awesome.”
After a while, Cas had gone back upstairs. Dean stayed with Kevin as he translated what was written on the tablet. Soon, Kevin began to panic again. He stood up and was taking quick breaths. “Kevin.” Dean had almost fallen asleep when the panicked noises snapped him up.
“This is all too much. What’s happened to my life? I’m just a kid from Michigan. I didn’t want to be a word-keeper.” As he hyperventilated, Dean stood up and dug out a paper bag from their supplies. “I’m not prepared to factor the supernatural into my world.”
Dean put the bag opening over Kevin’s mouth, wanting to prevent him from passing out. “Okay, there we go.” He patted his back lightly. “That’s it.” Kevin’s breaths evened out. “Just breathe, take it easy.”
Dean walked back to his chair as Kevin relaxed. He could sympathize with the kid. Almost everyone he had run across in his life had felt the same way. “I don’t know, man. What can I say? You’re chosen and it sucks, believe me.” Kevin took the bag away from his mouth. “There’s no use asking ‘why me?’, ‘cause the angels don’t care. I don’t think they have the equipment to care.”
Dean thought back to Anna, who had fallen because she cared or wanted to feel. Then later she had gone all psycho-Glenn Close on their parents and Sam. Now, Cas was human because he cared about Dean. He always defied everything he was supposed to be because he wanted to protect him and his brother. Look where he ended up. And of course now there was Gabriel. A freaking archangel that took on Sam’s Hell seemingly because he cared enough about Sam to not want him to keep suffering. Dean couldn’t imagine what he was like now.
“It seems like when they try it just breaks them apart.”
Kevin shook his head. “I just want to be the first Asian-American President of the United States.”
Dean nodded. “Then do your homework.”
Kevin swallowed the lump in his throat and picked up the pen he had been using to write the translation.
It had been quiet for a good twenty minutes when a couple loud bangs caught Dean’s attention. He ran upstairs after telling Kevin to stay put. He put his hands out when Sam and Cas turned to face him in the living room. “What’s going on? What is that?”
“The angels.”
“What?” He looked at Cas. A loud crash rocked the house.
Cas yelled over the assault. “They can’t enter the house, so they’ll destroy the house to get in.”
“Can they do that?” Cas gave a look that read ‘obviously.’ “What are we supposed to do?”
Sam shrugged. “Angel banishing again?”
“They’ll just be back in a couple hours. We need to stop them permanently.”
“Dean,” Cas grabbed his arm, “they are my garrison. Enough angels have been killed.”
“I’m sorry. They won’t stop until they have Kevin right?” Cas nodded. “What else can we do?”
“Maybe we can talk to them.”
Dean turned to his brother. “Really, Sam? These are angels we’re talking about.”
“I know, but maybe they’ll be willing to compromise. We can let them watch over Kevin somewhere safe after he’s told us what’s written.”
“You really think they’ll go for that?”
“You got a better idea?”
He didn’t. He just didn’t like this at all. “How are we supposed to talk to them right now? They’re on like full attack mode.” Another blast made the walls shake.
“Let me.” Cas walked over to a window and pushed it open. “Inias, Hester, we’re willing to talk, please.” The rumbling stopped. Cas opened the front door with Dean and Sam close behind him.
The angels were waiting, four of them now, faces set in anger. “Give us the prophet!” Hester was not in the mood to negotiate.
Cas raised his hands. “Hester, we are willing to compromise. You can take Kevin home and watch over him if you let him tell us what is written first.”
She moved closer to him. “You have no place to make such an offer. We could destroy you all.”
Inias stepped up behind her. “Please, Castiel help us do our work.”
Hester turned to Inias. “We don’t need his help or his permission.” She looked back to Cas. “The keeper goes to the desert tonight. Either you hand him over or we will level this house and pull him out.”
“Why don’t you guys just back off.” Dean was fed up with angels. “We’re trying to clean up the mess that Cas made.” He looked at Cas, who looked down at the ground, before turning to Hester. “We all had a hand in it actually, but we can fix this if you let us.”
“No, Dean,” Cas looked back to him. “I made this mess. You warned me, but I let the leviathans loose all on my own.” He pleaded to Hester. “This is my mistake. Let me make it right.”
“Just give us some time.” Dean stepped closer to Cas.
Hester’s eyes hardened and she shook her head at Dean. “Why should we give you anything? After everything you’ve taken from us? The very touch of you corrupts. When Castiel first laid a hand on you in Hell, he was lost.”
Dean felt like she had punched him. It was something he thought all the time. It was all his fault that Cas was were he was now. He had been an honorable soldier, and now he was just a human with the deaths of thousands of angels on his conscience.
Hester advanced on Dean. “For that, you’re going to pay.”
Cas intercepted her and turned her away from Dean. “Please, they were the ones we were sent to protect.”
Hester shook her head. “No, Castiel.” She pulled a fist back and punched Cas. He fell to the dirt with a grunt of pain. Dean and Sam jumped to help, but the others blocked their way and threatened to knock them out with a hand.
Blood poured from what felt like a broken nose. Hester grabbed Cas’ jacket and twisted him up to his knees. “No more promises.” She punched him again. “No more new gods.” Another hit. “No more.” She hit him a couple more times. Cas was an inch away from unconsciousness when she took out her angel blade.
“Hester,” Inias ran forward and grabbed her arm, “no, please. There are so few of us left.”
“He’s not one of us anymore.” She knocked Inias back with a hit of her arm. She bared her teeth to Cas. “You wanted free will. Now I’m making the choices.”
Cas held her wrist loosely as she raised the blade high. He heard Dean scream his name as she sliced down. Then, she screamed and lit up with white light. Cas closed his eyes tight against the painful light. Her grip released and she fell to the ground in death.
Angels and humans both stared in shock when they saw the small form of Gabriel standing next to the fallen Hester. “Gabriel?” Cas thought maybe he was hallucinating or really dead. Fingers touched his forehead, healing his wounds. Strong hands lifted him to stand. It took Cas a second to realize Dean was talking to him.
“…you okay, Cas?” He held his face as worried eyes looked him over.
“I healed him, Dean, relax.” Gabriel turned to look at the angels. “I suggest you do whatever it is they say.”
The angels seemed too shocked at seeing the archangel to answer. He turned to them again. “Gabriel, how…what?” Dean didn’t know what form he was looking at.
“Is it still me? How did I get here? Where’d I go? Blah, blah, blah, right?” He laughed. “It’s me. I needed a little time away to get control of myself. I’m good now. Well, not good, but I’m not wrestling with Lucifer anymore.”
“You’re really okay?” Sam sounded genuinely happy.
Gabriel shrugged. “More or less. I have my off moments, but I was crazy to begin with.”
“How did you find us?”
“My bro here.” He clapped Cas’ shoulder. “And I heard that bell go off when you smashed the Word open. I mean, who else would or could ever make so much trouble?”
With a little coaxing from Gabriel, the angels let Kevin finish his work before they took him home. He handed the notebook with the translation to Sam when he was done.
Cas was standing beside Inias. The angel shook his head as he watched Gabriel downing a bag of candy at the table. “These are strange times.”
“I think they’ve always been.”
“Take care of yourself, Castiel.”
“You too.” He smiled as Inias stepped over to join the other two angels as they stood by Kevin.
Sam looked over the notebook. “Thanks, Kevin.” He smiled at the boy. “Not a lot of people could have handled this.”
“You doin’ alright, Chosen One?”
Kevin smiled at Dean and nodded. The angels moved in, putting a hand on each of Kevin’s shoulders. Inias buttoned his jacket as he spoke. “Take the keeper to his home.” He glanced at Gabriel. “We can watch over him there.”
With the flap of wings, they were gone. Sam had the notebook open, reading the passages Kevin had written. “I got it.” He pointed and Cas and Dean leaned in to read with him. “The leviathan can not be slain but by a bone of a righteous mortal drenched in the three bloods of the fallen. It says we need to start with the blood of a fallen angel.”
Sam and Dean looked at Cas. “I would, but I’m not sure I qualify anymore. I’m human.”
“Yeah,” Gabriel leaned back in his chair, “you don’t have the little bit of grace to be called a fallen angel. Me on the other hand,” he stood up and held out a small vile of blood, “I might still count.”
They all eyed the bottle warily. “You’ve fallen?” Sam asked.
Gabriel shrugged. “As far as they’re concerned, yeah. I abandoned Heaven, played dead, went against the big plan trying to kill Lucifer, and I have no intention of ever going back. So, I think that qualifies as fallen.” He shook the vile.
Sam took it with a thanks. “What will you do now?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll find something to do.”
“Just,” Dean pointed a finger at him, “no Trickster crap. We’re a little busy to go around after you.”
He opened his mouth in mock shock. “Dean, I would never want to cause you trouble.” He laughed as Dean rolled his eyes. “Check ya later.” He disappeared in a flash.
Dean looked at the blood in Sam’s hand. “Alright, one down. Let’s get working on getting the rest.”
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