Fic: The Road To Heaven Bestrewed With Amaranth (3/??)
Title: The Road To Heaven Bestrewed With Amaranth;
Author: Rinienne;
Rating: NC-17 overall (PG for this chapter);
Genre: romance, adventure, time travel;
Pairing/Characters: Dean/Castiel, Bobby, Sam, OFC and many others;
Spoilers: Spoilers for 7x1;
Word Count: WIP;
Beta: All thanks for beta'ing to mozzarellaroses and eridanie
Summary: Sometimes life gives us a chance to turn around and see where you went wrong. Such opportunity was given to Dean and Castiel in a form of a young girl who appeared out of nowhere. Who is she? Where did she come from?
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2
Chapter 3
I’m more than you know.
March, 2011;
It had already been one week since Mary had been staying with the two brothers and Bobby. She still hadn't told them anything important about Purgatory or Raphael, explaining that the time had not yet come. With every passing day Dean felt more and more suspicious about the whole situation. He’d already started to think that maybe he shouldn’t have trusted the girl as much as he did, but he couldn't do anything about it yet. Of course, they could simply tie her up and start asking direct questions, but that didn’t exactly seem like a good way to deal with the situation.
The monsters were quiet during the week, but all hell broke loose again when dozens of supernatural killings all over the country, most of them so weird that even Bobby had to admit that he had never seen anything like them before, had popped up. That was the time that Mary actually started talking business. She explained that it was something only slightly mentioned in Castiel’s journal since he had never participated in the investigation, but the lines in the journal had made it clear that Eve herself was responsible for the murders.
Dean was pacing in the study, trying to figure out their next course of action while he was waiting for his brother to finish talking to Gwen. He’d found out the place Eve was trying to lure them to was nothing but another trap which would end in the death of several good hunters. To tell the truth, Dean didn’t give a shit about Samuel, after what he had done, but Gwen and Rufus were another story. It not like they were on good terms with those two, but they were good hunters. Rufus had once saved Bobby’s life and was his friend in the past, even if right now they barely talked to each-other and Gwen… well, it was Gwen, who had never done anything wrong, not to the Winchesters, not to anyone else.
“Well, she said that she’ll try to stay away from this thing, but she can’t promise,” Sam announced as he returned from the kitchen with a phone in his hand. “But I seriously doubt it, because Samuel will never listen to us, and he’s the only person she’s got. If he says let’s go, I don’t think she’ll be able to leave him behind,” Sam admitted.
“Yeah, maybe Samuel turned out to be a total dick, but I feel really sorry for the girl.” Dean sighed. “Hey Bobby, anything on your side?” he asked as he saw the older hunter appearing in the study from another exit.
“Rufus promised that he won’t show his nose anywhere near Sandusky,” Bobby replied.
“You don’t seem too sure?” Dean inquired.
“Knowing that son of a bitch …” The older hunter sighed. “I bet that even if he considered my words, he would rush over there changing his mind the last moment.”
“So, I guess we’ll have to go there anyway?” Sam inquired.
“Of course we do, even if we were sure that those idiots would listen to us.” Dean groaned. “Innocent people are dying!”
“But Dean, it’s a trap!” Mary protested. At least she’d started to call him by name.
“Yes, I know, but this time we’re going to be prepared!” Dean argued. “We know what kind of creature it is, we know that electricity is its weak point. We can actually change something!”
“Alright,” Mary nodded, “but I’m going with you.”
Dean glanced at his daughter with surprise. He knew she was a hunter, but how much experience could she have at her age? “Oh, hell no!” he protested. “You aren’t going anywhere!”
“And why are you deciding for me?” she asked, piercing the hunter with a hateful look.
“Maybe ‘cause I’m your father?” Dean sneered.
“I wasn’t even born in this time period,” she protested.
“All right, then maybe because it’s three of us and we can lock you in the panic room, then?” Dean suggested.
Mary looked at him with her mouth open then glanced at Sam and Bobby, but the two other hunters moved closer to Dean, demonstrating which side they were on. There wasn’t anything else for the girl to do but sigh in defeat. “All right,” she nodded, “do whatever you want.” With those words she got up from the couch and left the study, showing demonstratively how much she disagreed with every muscle on her face.
Dean knew that he was being a little bit harsh with Mary, but she wasn’t so stupid that she wouldn’t understand that he was doing it for her sake. “All right, guys, I think we need to get going to get to Sandusky in time. It’s not a short trip.” He clapped his hands as he said it and moved to the corridor, to the staircase leading to the basement.
“Why don’t I have a good feeling about this?” Sam sighed, addressing Bobby since they were the only two left in the study.
“Yeah, and you expected to feel great about going straight into a trap?”
***
The road to Sandusky took them the whole day. Dean decided not to stop for longer than ten minutes on the gas stations, just enough time to grab something to eat or visit a restroom. He knew that they were at a pace where they’d get to town in time, but he couldn’t stop himself. If there were any single chance to prevent more innocent people from dying, he really wanted to take it. The hunter decided to consider this situation the same way he did all other hunts he’s been on, even if this time it really was different. For the first time they didn’t need to talk to any witnesses because they already knew exactly where the creature was and what kind of danger it could present.
“What do you think our chances are?” Sam asked. He was leaning on the door and glancing in the window. The younger brother seemed very nervous but he was trying to hide it as much as he could.
“I think our chances are great!” Dean lied, smiling. He really wanted to believe it himself, but he wasn’t sure. One thing he was sure about was the fact that he didn’t want to make his brother feel any more nervous than he already was.
The three hunters arrived at the town in the middle of the night. The motel clerk glanced at them with annoyance, and it was pretty obvious that they had pulled him out of sleep, but the man gave them a tired smile anyway, giving them the keys to the two rooms they had ordered. The night, or what was left of it, went on without any incidents. They simply flopped on their beds as soon as they reached their rooms, not even bothering to take a shower.
***
Mary had been left on her own in the house. She was bored, wandering from one room to another the whole day. Once or twice she considered cleaning up, but then decided against it. She tried to turn Bobby’s computer on to play something, but then checked this idea off as well when she realized that she actually couldn’t understand how this prehistoric mechanism worked. Okay, so actually, it was more due to the fact that it ran so slowly.
She spent like five minutes just waiting for it to turn on. Mary really regretted the fact that she hadn’t brought her own computer with her, but even if she had, it was doubtful it would work without an appropriate network.
The phone in the kitchen rang, making Mary jump. She rushed to the kitchen helpfully. It was something, at least.
“Hello, you’ve reached agent…” she quickly glanced on a business card lying on the table,” …Willis, FBI.” She smiled as she lifted an old white receiver with a sign “FBI” on it. “No, the agent is currently at a meeting, he is not available… Who is it? It’s his secretary, of course… You can leave him a message, or you can ask me and I will check our database… Yes, hang on a second, I’m checking…” She made a pause as she started to tap her fingers on an old looking keyboard lying on the table. The keyboard wasn’t even connected to anything, but she sure knew that if the other side of the conversation would hear it, it would seem more realistic. “Yes, we have agent Andrew Madigan in our database. His file is showing that he is a very promising agent… you’re welcome.”
She ended the call smiling wide to herself. “Geez!” She exhaled. “Always wanted to do that.”
The second half of the day seemed even more boring. There weren’t any more calls to answer, any games to play, the battery on her player had died several hours ago. Mary tried to watch TV, but there wasn’t anything interesting in there. Mary got up from the couch to check movies Bobby could have around. She came closer to the TV-stand, glancing at the movie collection. “What the heck is this?” she wondered, surprised as she took out a box with a VHS in it. She opened the box, extracting a black tape from it, examining it. She turned it around, trying to understand how it could work, but quickly gave up, returning to the couch to stare some more at a shabby red wall.
“And how long are you going to stand there?” she asked, not turning her head from the wall. “Yeah, I’m talking to you,” she added as there wasn’t any response. “Maybe you’ll show up and talk?” This time she turned her head to an empty looking corner.
The air shifted and Castiel appeared right in the spot she had been looking at. “How did you know I was here?” he asked.
“We all have our secrets, right?” She smiled casually.
“Do not try to play with me, girl,” the angel warned frowning.
“I wasn’t, but the idea is pretty good, actually.” Mary smiled. “If you want we can play a game.”
The next eye blink Castiel was standing in front of the girl, looking her right in the eyes, but surprisingly Mary didn’t even flinch. “I’m not interested in it,” the angel stated.
“So why are you here then?”
“I don’t trust you,” Castiel admitted.
“It’s sad, because I trust you.” Mary smiled, looking back into his eyes without any note of fear. “Are you afraid that I might do something to Dean?” she asked.
“Perhaps.”
“But I’m his daughter.”
“I cannot look inside your mind or soul, therefore I don’t know it for sure.”
“And what can I do to him?” Mary sighed, raising her eyebrows. “Even if I decide to stab him to death with a knife or whatever, you’ll just bring him back.”
“I have my concerns,” the angel explained. “You don’t seem to be a normal human.”
At this sentence Mary started to laugh. “Seriously?” she inquired. “And what else could I be then?”
“I don’t know yet. I cannot read your soul, as I said.”
“Listen… Cas…” Mary got up from the couch, trying to be at a level with the angel, even if Castiel was more than half a head taller than her. “This may come as a surprise, but I know you well, better than you think, and I understand your concern about the person you care about more than anyone else.”
Castiel’s face suddenly changed to a surprised expression, and the angel took a step back, gazing at the floor now. It seemed like Mary found a sensitive spot.
“Also… Cas,” Mary continued. “Maybe it would seem weird for you, but I care about you as much as I care about Dean. I swear to our father, who maybe listening somewhere, that I will never harm Dean or anyone else. I’m not lying.”
“Then why are you here?” Castiel asked.
“To talk to you, Actually”
“About what?” The angel said, surprised.
Mary opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly changed her mind. “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you… not yet.”
Castiel frowned, the feel of his grace, changed to more concerned once again.
Mary wanted to tell Castiel everything she knew, but she realized that right now Castiel wouldn’t listen to her, even if she would be able to give him the proof of her words that he wanted. There was something bigger on the table right now.
“Listen, Cas,” she whispered, “I know it all seems weird right now, but please, believe me. I wouldn’t have come here without a really important reason.”
“Who sent you here?” Castiel asked.
“You did.”
The angel glanced at the girl like he was trying to gauge her, to understand if she was telling the truth or not. Suddenly the angel winced, touching his temple with the pads of his fingers.
“It’s someone summoning you, isn’t it?” The girl inquired.
“Yes,” Castiel admitted. “I will go now, but I want you to know that I will watch over you, because I still don’t trust you.”
“Ok, it’s a deal then.” Mary smiled. She watched how the angel spread his huge wings behind his back, preparing to take off. “One more thing Cas…” she stopped him before he had a chance to flap them. The angel turned his head. “Dean… he cares about you. More than you think.” Castiel frowned in confusion but didn’t reply as he disappeared from the room with the usual gust of wind in his wings.
Mary was left in the study alone, yet again. She sighed as she returned to the couch, settling herself. She felt miserable right now. It wasn’t like she’d had a specific plan when she’d crossed times and parallels to come here, but it sure hadn’t seemed as difficult as it was. She had no idea how she was going to talk to Castiel, to convince him not to do what he was doing. Castiel in this time was so different from the one she knew, and she had no idea how he would react to the truth.
Mary closed her eyes and relaxed. Two small wings appeared behind her back as she did so. The girl turned her head, trying to glance at them, and she sighed at the view of how terrible they looked: all burned with nearly no intact feathers left, it would be impossible to even tell what color they had been before. Right now the wings looked like the wings of a deplumed chicken someone had failed to cook. The skin was red, covered in burns, but at least it still seemed alive, way better than it had been a week ago. Right now she could already see small black rachis tubes starting to appear. It would take time, but sooner or later they’d heal, new feathers would grow back, allowing Mary to fly again, but for now she was tied to the ground, powerless.
Mary carefully reached the oil glands with her finger, wincing from pain as she started to spread the oil over the injured skin. It was painful, it was uncomfortable to do it herself, but no one else could help her with it. The only people who would be able to see her wings would be angels or Dean. Angels would probably try to smite her if they knew, and Dean… well she would have to face the problem of explaining to him where she’d gotten these wings and Dean wasn’t ready for that yet.
Dean. Her father. The thoughts in her head turned in the direction of the hunter. She retracted her wings back, hiding them, and laid down on the couch, thinking. She hoped Dean wouldn’t get himself into trouble, hoped everything would turn out well on the hunt. She was still pretty pissed they didn’t take her along, but she understood that she was no use without her power intact. The jump from one parallel to another had not only spent all the grace Castiel had, but drained her own grace to nearly zero, burning her wings.
“Please, father, save all those hunters, and be safe yourself,” she whispered closing her eyes. Mary didn’t notice herself falling asleep.
***
April, 2029;
A man with eyes once bright and green, now lifeless, was lying in the middle of a half destroyed house in a pool of blood. His hand was held in the smaller palm of a girl, her eyes filled with tears. “Dad…” she whispered, closing her eyes.
The rumble nearby made her heart leap in her chest; she turned her head and saw another man crawling on the ground, trying to reach closer to the dead body of his lover. His shirt was soaked in blood which was leaking down from his nose and ears, and somewhere under his black hair interspersed with gray locks. The girl rushed to the other man, grabbing him with her hands: “Father…” she cried out. “What happened here?”
“No time, my girl… you should…” He coughed the blood out his throat. “Should run… Take… my grace, use its power… run…” With those words Castiel reached to the small vial hanging around Dean's neck, took it off and placed into the girl's hand.
“Where should I run? I’m not leaving you here,” the girl whimpered.
“Too late for me… you should… to the beginning.”
Another figure appeared from the shadow. The girl raised her head and felt the blood freeze in her veins. Here, before her eyes, was a person, and the level of power he possessed made the girl’s eyes go wide. Like electricity, it was swirling around his body, dozens of black metal-like wings behind his back. His face held an unnatural smirk and his eyes were empty, emotionless, but the girl knew his face all too well.
It was Castiel, her father, only younger, different, but it was only the face, only the surface, a vessel. The creature inside it was different, not celestial: a dark, hungry, angry mass of beings. It Wasn’t even a whole being, but a combination of powerful monsters the girl had never seen before. “You have nowhere to run, Nephilim,” they announced with Castiel’s voice, deep and trembling but mixed with a low hiss at the same time. “We think you may be dangerous to us, Nephilim. We cannot let you leave. You will die, like everyone else. It is necessary, but it will be fun.”
Mary looked at the creatures, feeling cold sweat cover her whole body; her terror made her unable to move a single inch. At the back of her mind, she knew that she shouldn’t stay here, should run as far away as she could, but something was preventing her from it, like an invisible barrier.
The creatures raised one hand and a flash of bright light formed around it. Mary tried to spread her wings, but it was useless. The flash of light was becoming bigger and bigger and it seemed that it was about to tear itself from the hand of the creatures any moment, but suddenly everything stopped. The creatures hissed in a terrifying voice and the dark aura of them started to fade, replaced by a familiar shine of angel grace. The younger Castiel fell down on his knees, shaking and gasping, grabbing his head in his hands. “Run!” he commanded.
Mary felt the barrier disappear, and she was finally able to move.
“Run!” the angel yelled again. “I can’t hold them for long.”
“Go! To the beginning,” whispered another Castiel, who was lying in her lap, covered in blood. The girl moved her gaze from the angel to her father, feeling tears start to run down her face with a new force. She sobbed before disappearing from the room.
The angel from the past looked at his future self and smiled slightly. “I would give anything to have the life I destroyed with my own hands. I’m happy that you had at least this small time to live it,” he whispered before the souls of the Leviathans started to push his grace down, suppressing it totally. The face of his vessel pinched with indescribable anger and the light started to form around his whole body, destroying everything it was touching on its way.
The injured man crawled closer to the dead body beside him, pressing himself closer to the still warm corpse. “I don’t blame anyone but myself. I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect anyone, couldn’t protect you, Dean, my love,” he whispered before the room sank into the white light, leaving nothing but dust behind.
<
Next>>
Author: Rinienne;
Rating: NC-17 overall (PG for this chapter);
Genre: romance, adventure, time travel;
Pairing/Characters: Dean/Castiel, Bobby, Sam, OFC and many others;
Spoilers: Spoilers for 7x1;
Word Count: WIP;
Beta: All thanks for beta'ing to mozzarellaroses and eridanie
Summary: Sometimes life gives us a chance to turn around and see where you went wrong. Such opportunity was given to Dean and Castiel in a form of a young girl who appeared out of nowhere. Who is she? Where did she come from?
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2
Chapter 3
I’m more than you know.
March, 2011;
It had already been one week since Mary had been staying with the two brothers and Bobby. She still hadn't told them anything important about Purgatory or Raphael, explaining that the time had not yet come. With every passing day Dean felt more and more suspicious about the whole situation. He’d already started to think that maybe he shouldn’t have trusted the girl as much as he did, but he couldn't do anything about it yet. Of course, they could simply tie her up and start asking direct questions, but that didn’t exactly seem like a good way to deal with the situation.
The monsters were quiet during the week, but all hell broke loose again when dozens of supernatural killings all over the country, most of them so weird that even Bobby had to admit that he had never seen anything like them before, had popped up. That was the time that Mary actually started talking business. She explained that it was something only slightly mentioned in Castiel’s journal since he had never participated in the investigation, but the lines in the journal had made it clear that Eve herself was responsible for the murders.
Dean was pacing in the study, trying to figure out their next course of action while he was waiting for his brother to finish talking to Gwen. He’d found out the place Eve was trying to lure them to was nothing but another trap which would end in the death of several good hunters. To tell the truth, Dean didn’t give a shit about Samuel, after what he had done, but Gwen and Rufus were another story. It not like they were on good terms with those two, but they were good hunters. Rufus had once saved Bobby’s life and was his friend in the past, even if right now they barely talked to each-other and Gwen… well, it was Gwen, who had never done anything wrong, not to the Winchesters, not to anyone else.
“Well, she said that she’ll try to stay away from this thing, but she can’t promise,” Sam announced as he returned from the kitchen with a phone in his hand. “But I seriously doubt it, because Samuel will never listen to us, and he’s the only person she’s got. If he says let’s go, I don’t think she’ll be able to leave him behind,” Sam admitted.
“Yeah, maybe Samuel turned out to be a total dick, but I feel really sorry for the girl.” Dean sighed. “Hey Bobby, anything on your side?” he asked as he saw the older hunter appearing in the study from another exit.
“Rufus promised that he won’t show his nose anywhere near Sandusky,” Bobby replied.
“You don’t seem too sure?” Dean inquired.
“Knowing that son of a bitch …” The older hunter sighed. “I bet that even if he considered my words, he would rush over there changing his mind the last moment.”
“So, I guess we’ll have to go there anyway?” Sam inquired.
“Of course we do, even if we were sure that those idiots would listen to us.” Dean groaned. “Innocent people are dying!”
“But Dean, it’s a trap!” Mary protested. At least she’d started to call him by name.
“Yes, I know, but this time we’re going to be prepared!” Dean argued. “We know what kind of creature it is, we know that electricity is its weak point. We can actually change something!”
“Alright,” Mary nodded, “but I’m going with you.”
Dean glanced at his daughter with surprise. He knew she was a hunter, but how much experience could she have at her age? “Oh, hell no!” he protested. “You aren’t going anywhere!”
“And why are you deciding for me?” she asked, piercing the hunter with a hateful look.
“Maybe ‘cause I’m your father?” Dean sneered.
“I wasn’t even born in this time period,” she protested.
“All right, then maybe because it’s three of us and we can lock you in the panic room, then?” Dean suggested.
Mary looked at him with her mouth open then glanced at Sam and Bobby, but the two other hunters moved closer to Dean, demonstrating which side they were on. There wasn’t anything else for the girl to do but sigh in defeat. “All right,” she nodded, “do whatever you want.” With those words she got up from the couch and left the study, showing demonstratively how much she disagreed with every muscle on her face.
Dean knew that he was being a little bit harsh with Mary, but she wasn’t so stupid that she wouldn’t understand that he was doing it for her sake. “All right, guys, I think we need to get going to get to Sandusky in time. It’s not a short trip.” He clapped his hands as he said it and moved to the corridor, to the staircase leading to the basement.
“Why don’t I have a good feeling about this?” Sam sighed, addressing Bobby since they were the only two left in the study.
“Yeah, and you expected to feel great about going straight into a trap?”
***
The road to Sandusky took them the whole day. Dean decided not to stop for longer than ten minutes on the gas stations, just enough time to grab something to eat or visit a restroom. He knew that they were at a pace where they’d get to town in time, but he couldn’t stop himself. If there were any single chance to prevent more innocent people from dying, he really wanted to take it. The hunter decided to consider this situation the same way he did all other hunts he’s been on, even if this time it really was different. For the first time they didn’t need to talk to any witnesses because they already knew exactly where the creature was and what kind of danger it could present.
“What do you think our chances are?” Sam asked. He was leaning on the door and glancing in the window. The younger brother seemed very nervous but he was trying to hide it as much as he could.
“I think our chances are great!” Dean lied, smiling. He really wanted to believe it himself, but he wasn’t sure. One thing he was sure about was the fact that he didn’t want to make his brother feel any more nervous than he already was.
The three hunters arrived at the town in the middle of the night. The motel clerk glanced at them with annoyance, and it was pretty obvious that they had pulled him out of sleep, but the man gave them a tired smile anyway, giving them the keys to the two rooms they had ordered. The night, or what was left of it, went on without any incidents. They simply flopped on their beds as soon as they reached their rooms, not even bothering to take a shower.
***
Mary had been left on her own in the house. She was bored, wandering from one room to another the whole day. Once or twice she considered cleaning up, but then decided against it. She tried to turn Bobby’s computer on to play something, but then checked this idea off as well when she realized that she actually couldn’t understand how this prehistoric mechanism worked. Okay, so actually, it was more due to the fact that it ran so slowly.
She spent like five minutes just waiting for it to turn on. Mary really regretted the fact that she hadn’t brought her own computer with her, but even if she had, it was doubtful it would work without an appropriate network.
The phone in the kitchen rang, making Mary jump. She rushed to the kitchen helpfully. It was something, at least.
“Hello, you’ve reached agent…” she quickly glanced on a business card lying on the table,” …Willis, FBI.” She smiled as she lifted an old white receiver with a sign “FBI” on it. “No, the agent is currently at a meeting, he is not available… Who is it? It’s his secretary, of course… You can leave him a message, or you can ask me and I will check our database… Yes, hang on a second, I’m checking…” She made a pause as she started to tap her fingers on an old looking keyboard lying on the table. The keyboard wasn’t even connected to anything, but she sure knew that if the other side of the conversation would hear it, it would seem more realistic. “Yes, we have agent Andrew Madigan in our database. His file is showing that he is a very promising agent… you’re welcome.”
She ended the call smiling wide to herself. “Geez!” She exhaled. “Always wanted to do that.”
The second half of the day seemed even more boring. There weren’t any more calls to answer, any games to play, the battery on her player had died several hours ago. Mary tried to watch TV, but there wasn’t anything interesting in there. Mary got up from the couch to check movies Bobby could have around. She came closer to the TV-stand, glancing at the movie collection. “What the heck is this?” she wondered, surprised as she took out a box with a VHS in it. She opened the box, extracting a black tape from it, examining it. She turned it around, trying to understand how it could work, but quickly gave up, returning to the couch to stare some more at a shabby red wall.
“And how long are you going to stand there?” she asked, not turning her head from the wall. “Yeah, I’m talking to you,” she added as there wasn’t any response. “Maybe you’ll show up and talk?” This time she turned her head to an empty looking corner.
The air shifted and Castiel appeared right in the spot she had been looking at. “How did you know I was here?” he asked.
“We all have our secrets, right?” She smiled casually.
“Do not try to play with me, girl,” the angel warned frowning.
“I wasn’t, but the idea is pretty good, actually.” Mary smiled. “If you want we can play a game.”
The next eye blink Castiel was standing in front of the girl, looking her right in the eyes, but surprisingly Mary didn’t even flinch. “I’m not interested in it,” the angel stated.
“So why are you here then?”
“I don’t trust you,” Castiel admitted.
“It’s sad, because I trust you.” Mary smiled, looking back into his eyes without any note of fear. “Are you afraid that I might do something to Dean?” she asked.
“Perhaps.”
“But I’m his daughter.”
“I cannot look inside your mind or soul, therefore I don’t know it for sure.”
“And what can I do to him?” Mary sighed, raising her eyebrows. “Even if I decide to stab him to death with a knife or whatever, you’ll just bring him back.”
“I have my concerns,” the angel explained. “You don’t seem to be a normal human.”
At this sentence Mary started to laugh. “Seriously?” she inquired. “And what else could I be then?”
“I don’t know yet. I cannot read your soul, as I said.”
“Listen… Cas…” Mary got up from the couch, trying to be at a level with the angel, even if Castiel was more than half a head taller than her. “This may come as a surprise, but I know you well, better than you think, and I understand your concern about the person you care about more than anyone else.”
Castiel’s face suddenly changed to a surprised expression, and the angel took a step back, gazing at the floor now. It seemed like Mary found a sensitive spot.
“Also… Cas,” Mary continued. “Maybe it would seem weird for you, but I care about you as much as I care about Dean. I swear to our father, who maybe listening somewhere, that I will never harm Dean or anyone else. I’m not lying.”
“Then why are you here?” Castiel asked.
“To talk to you, Actually”
“About what?” The angel said, surprised.
Mary opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly changed her mind. “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you… not yet.”
Castiel frowned, the feel of his grace, changed to more concerned once again.
Mary wanted to tell Castiel everything she knew, but she realized that right now Castiel wouldn’t listen to her, even if she would be able to give him the proof of her words that he wanted. There was something bigger on the table right now.
“Listen, Cas,” she whispered, “I know it all seems weird right now, but please, believe me. I wouldn’t have come here without a really important reason.”
“Who sent you here?” Castiel asked.
“You did.”
The angel glanced at the girl like he was trying to gauge her, to understand if she was telling the truth or not. Suddenly the angel winced, touching his temple with the pads of his fingers.
“It’s someone summoning you, isn’t it?” The girl inquired.
“Yes,” Castiel admitted. “I will go now, but I want you to know that I will watch over you, because I still don’t trust you.”
“Ok, it’s a deal then.” Mary smiled. She watched how the angel spread his huge wings behind his back, preparing to take off. “One more thing Cas…” she stopped him before he had a chance to flap them. The angel turned his head. “Dean… he cares about you. More than you think.” Castiel frowned in confusion but didn’t reply as he disappeared from the room with the usual gust of wind in his wings.
Mary was left in the study alone, yet again. She sighed as she returned to the couch, settling herself. She felt miserable right now. It wasn’t like she’d had a specific plan when she’d crossed times and parallels to come here, but it sure hadn’t seemed as difficult as it was. She had no idea how she was going to talk to Castiel, to convince him not to do what he was doing. Castiel in this time was so different from the one she knew, and she had no idea how he would react to the truth.
Mary closed her eyes and relaxed. Two small wings appeared behind her back as she did so. The girl turned her head, trying to glance at them, and she sighed at the view of how terrible they looked: all burned with nearly no intact feathers left, it would be impossible to even tell what color they had been before. Right now the wings looked like the wings of a deplumed chicken someone had failed to cook. The skin was red, covered in burns, but at least it still seemed alive, way better than it had been a week ago. Right now she could already see small black rachis tubes starting to appear. It would take time, but sooner or later they’d heal, new feathers would grow back, allowing Mary to fly again, but for now she was tied to the ground, powerless.
Mary carefully reached the oil glands with her finger, wincing from pain as she started to spread the oil over the injured skin. It was painful, it was uncomfortable to do it herself, but no one else could help her with it. The only people who would be able to see her wings would be angels or Dean. Angels would probably try to smite her if they knew, and Dean… well she would have to face the problem of explaining to him where she’d gotten these wings and Dean wasn’t ready for that yet.
Dean. Her father. The thoughts in her head turned in the direction of the hunter. She retracted her wings back, hiding them, and laid down on the couch, thinking. She hoped Dean wouldn’t get himself into trouble, hoped everything would turn out well on the hunt. She was still pretty pissed they didn’t take her along, but she understood that she was no use without her power intact. The jump from one parallel to another had not only spent all the grace Castiel had, but drained her own grace to nearly zero, burning her wings.
“Please, father, save all those hunters, and be safe yourself,” she whispered closing her eyes. Mary didn’t notice herself falling asleep.
***
April, 2029;
A man with eyes once bright and green, now lifeless, was lying in the middle of a half destroyed house in a pool of blood. His hand was held in the smaller palm of a girl, her eyes filled with tears. “Dad…” she whispered, closing her eyes.
The rumble nearby made her heart leap in her chest; she turned her head and saw another man crawling on the ground, trying to reach closer to the dead body of his lover. His shirt was soaked in blood which was leaking down from his nose and ears, and somewhere under his black hair interspersed with gray locks. The girl rushed to the other man, grabbing him with her hands: “Father…” she cried out. “What happened here?”
“No time, my girl… you should…” He coughed the blood out his throat. “Should run… Take… my grace, use its power… run…” With those words Castiel reached to the small vial hanging around Dean's neck, took it off and placed into the girl's hand.
“Where should I run? I’m not leaving you here,” the girl whimpered.
“Too late for me… you should… to the beginning.”
Another figure appeared from the shadow. The girl raised her head and felt the blood freeze in her veins. Here, before her eyes, was a person, and the level of power he possessed made the girl’s eyes go wide. Like electricity, it was swirling around his body, dozens of black metal-like wings behind his back. His face held an unnatural smirk and his eyes were empty, emotionless, but the girl knew his face all too well.
It was Castiel, her father, only younger, different, but it was only the face, only the surface, a vessel. The creature inside it was different, not celestial: a dark, hungry, angry mass of beings. It Wasn’t even a whole being, but a combination of powerful monsters the girl had never seen before. “You have nowhere to run, Nephilim,” they announced with Castiel’s voice, deep and trembling but mixed with a low hiss at the same time. “We think you may be dangerous to us, Nephilim. We cannot let you leave. You will die, like everyone else. It is necessary, but it will be fun.”
Mary looked at the creatures, feeling cold sweat cover her whole body; her terror made her unable to move a single inch. At the back of her mind, she knew that she shouldn’t stay here, should run as far away as she could, but something was preventing her from it, like an invisible barrier.
The creatures raised one hand and a flash of bright light formed around it. Mary tried to spread her wings, but it was useless. The flash of light was becoming bigger and bigger and it seemed that it was about to tear itself from the hand of the creatures any moment, but suddenly everything stopped. The creatures hissed in a terrifying voice and the dark aura of them started to fade, replaced by a familiar shine of angel grace. The younger Castiel fell down on his knees, shaking and gasping, grabbing his head in his hands. “Run!” he commanded.
Mary felt the barrier disappear, and she was finally able to move.
“Run!” the angel yelled again. “I can’t hold them for long.”
“Go! To the beginning,” whispered another Castiel, who was lying in her lap, covered in blood. The girl moved her gaze from the angel to her father, feeling tears start to run down her face with a new force. She sobbed before disappearing from the room.
The angel from the past looked at his future self and smiled slightly. “I would give anything to have the life I destroyed with my own hands. I’m happy that you had at least this small time to live it,” he whispered before the souls of the Leviathans started to push his grace down, suppressing it totally. The face of his vessel pinched with indescribable anger and the light started to form around his whole body, destroying everything it was touching on its way.
The injured man crawled closer to the dead body beside him, pressing himself closer to the still warm corpse. “I don’t blame anyone but myself. I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect anyone, couldn’t protect you, Dean, my love,” he whispered before the room sank into the white light, leaving nothing but dust behind.
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