Fic: The Death of Glory by Lara, Gabriel, Castiel, PG13
Title: The Death of Glory
Author: Lara
Rating: PG13
Genre and/or Pairing: Gabriel, Castiel, no pairing
Spoilers: through 5.18 big time
Warnings: angst, language
Disclaimer: Not mine, they belong to Kripke and the CW and probably lots of other people.
Word Count: 1127
Summary: Gabriel feels an instant of pain and th e death of glory and then an emptiness and follows that thread...
A/N: Gotta get this posted before it's Jossed. What I think should have happened to Cas, but probably won't.
He feels the Fall. An instant of pain and the death of glory and then an emptiness.
He's never felt one of his brothers Fall before. It's not like the first Fall, when Lucifer tumbled still full of grace, and it's not like those who choose to cut out their grace and Fall to become reborn as human.
The pain he senses is not the pain of being born.
But reborn.
And he follows it to its source.
*****
It's a field, muddy with the trampled shoots of winter wheat clinging to life. There is blood everywhere.
There are bodies surrounded by the charred remains of wings, sinking into the mud and crushing the struggling shoots of green. Four of his brothers are dead, burned and bloody holes in their vessels, their grace lost.
He didn't feel them die. He chose millennia ago not to feel his brothers die. He knows them, though. He names them as he passes, walking towards the survivor. A ball of shivering angel in the center of the dead.
No.
Not an angel.
As he approaches, the head jerks up, blue eyes flashing to him, full of fear. No, not something as weak as fear. There is cold terror there and resignation. Still, a shaking hand lifts the bloody dagger as he tries to rise, only to fall back in the mud, a plea on his lips.
"Make it quick."
Gabriel doesn't smirk. He doesn't snort. He doesn't cross his arms over his chest and tsk.
He drops to his knees beside Castiel, carefully takes away the dagger from numb fingers, and draws him into his arms. "Idiot," he says, and it's not harsh or affectionate. His voice is sad. "You were the only one worth a damn."
Castiel buries his face against Gabriel's shoulder, his arms dangling loosely at his sides as if he doesn't know how to hug. Gabriel feels the chill in the other, bone deep. He feels the blood moving sluggishly through his veins, his heart thumping loudly in his chest, his breath warm and stuttering on his neck. Pulling back slightly, wanting to wrap the coat around him, Gabriel sees the torn shirt and through the scraps the blood and wounds on his chest. His eyes widen and he pulls aside the fabric. "Did you know what would happen?"
"Yes."
"You burned out your grace!" Now he's angry. He thought the Fall accidental, by the design of the Host, or simply the end of his slow tumble, but he did this on purpose.
Shivering, Castiel drags the coat around himself and manages to rise to his feet. He stumbles at first, as if his feet and legs are new to him, but then he begins to walk across the field.
"Where are you going?" Gabriel demands, annoyed.
"If I'm to die today, I'd prefer to be warm."
"...Wait. What?" Gabriel catches up to him, grabs him and turns him too easily. His strength is simply that of a man and there's no longer weight to him.
There's a haunted, empty look on Castiel's face. "Michael will come for me."
"Mich..." Something freezes in Gabriel as the implications hit him. "Dean said yes?" He's stunned. All along he figured Sam would cave in first.
"He was planning to. I cleared out the angels so he could enter the trap. Sam believed he'd deny Zachariah in the end. I don't have that faith any more."
"You've lost faith in Dean Winchester? You?"
In the face of Gabriel's shock, Castiel closes down, hugs himself tighter and turns to continue to walk, saying only, "I Fell for nothing," before he's out of human earshot.
Gabriel watches him go, stunned by all that's happened so quickly, while he's been off admittedly sulking, then runs after him again. "Warmth I can do," he says as he touches Castiel's arm and snaps them away. As they fly, in a blink of an eye, but an eternity to an angel, Gabriel reaches out for his elder brother and senses Michael, but...
Not whole. Not in a vessel. Not yet.
And then he's gone again, and Gabriel withdraws back into himself and wonders if Winchester held out after all. The son of a bitch is one of the stubbornest men he's known in decades. Just maybe...
With those Enochian brands on their ribs he can't find either Winchester, but he knows where they'll show up, if they're both alive and not his brothers' bitches.
Shifting his flight, he lands them both in Singer's kitchen, startling the old man into cursing loudly and pulling a shotgun on him. As Gabriel turns it into a feather duster, Castiel crumples against him and his stomach growls.
"What is that?" both Singer and Castiel ask as the latter looks down at himself in bewilderment.
Gabriel flatly replies, "Hunger," and whips up a feast.
Singer stares at Castiel, then looks to Gabriel for answers. "Why is he hungry and shivering and why are his lips turning blue?"
"He's human." With a push, he forces Castiel into a chair and snaps up a warm blanket to wrap around him.
"Well, shit."
"No kidding. Where are those idiots you think of as sons?"
Singer's cell phone rings as Gabriel finishes the question and he pulls it out of a pocket and flips it open. "Sam?"
Gabriel can hear the conversation, hears Sam say with relief and joy that Dean refused Michael and killed Zachariah and that they lost Adam, whoever that is, and Cas. Singer interrupts to say that Cas is here, and then Dean is on the phone and Gabriel tunes him out. Sitting down next to Castiel he pushes a fork into his hand. "Eat."
"I...I don't know where to start."
"I'd go for the chocolate food group, but you probably need protein. Try the steak." He's relieved when Castiel uses knife and fork properly to cut a piece of meat. At least he won't have to teach him that. He's really hoping that Winchester gets here before there's the need for a bathroom break.
Singer hangs up. "They're on their way from Van Nuys. It'll take them two days to drive here." He glowers at Gabriel who smirks back. "You hanging around, Trickster?"
"Call me Gabriel, and I can't leave the newborn puppy to fend for himself,"
"I'm not a dog," Castiel growls, then forks in some mashed potatoes. "This is good." He turns his eyes on Singer and asks, a bit hesitantly, "Dean said no in the end?"
"Apparently."
He glances over at Gabriel and there's something new on that no longer stricken face. Just a tiny, tiny bit of hope.
Gabriel smiles and cuts himself a piece of chocolate cake.
And wonders if helping Castiel is choosing a side.
End
Author: Lara
Rating: PG13
Genre and/or Pairing: Gabriel, Castiel, no pairing
Spoilers: through 5.18 big time
Warnings: angst, language
Disclaimer: Not mine, they belong to Kripke and the CW and probably lots of other people.
Word Count: 1127
Summary: Gabriel feels an instant of pain and th e death of glory and then an emptiness and follows that thread...
A/N: Gotta get this posted before it's Jossed. What I think should have happened to Cas, but probably won't.
He feels the Fall. An instant of pain and the death of glory and then an emptiness.
He's never felt one of his brothers Fall before. It's not like the first Fall, when Lucifer tumbled still full of grace, and it's not like those who choose to cut out their grace and Fall to become reborn as human.
The pain he senses is not the pain of being born.
But reborn.
And he follows it to its source.
*****
It's a field, muddy with the trampled shoots of winter wheat clinging to life. There is blood everywhere.
There are bodies surrounded by the charred remains of wings, sinking into the mud and crushing the struggling shoots of green. Four of his brothers are dead, burned and bloody holes in their vessels, their grace lost.
He didn't feel them die. He chose millennia ago not to feel his brothers die. He knows them, though. He names them as he passes, walking towards the survivor. A ball of shivering angel in the center of the dead.
No.
Not an angel.
As he approaches, the head jerks up, blue eyes flashing to him, full of fear. No, not something as weak as fear. There is cold terror there and resignation. Still, a shaking hand lifts the bloody dagger as he tries to rise, only to fall back in the mud, a plea on his lips.
"Make it quick."
Gabriel doesn't smirk. He doesn't snort. He doesn't cross his arms over his chest and tsk.
He drops to his knees beside Castiel, carefully takes away the dagger from numb fingers, and draws him into his arms. "Idiot," he says, and it's not harsh or affectionate. His voice is sad. "You were the only one worth a damn."
Castiel buries his face against Gabriel's shoulder, his arms dangling loosely at his sides as if he doesn't know how to hug. Gabriel feels the chill in the other, bone deep. He feels the blood moving sluggishly through his veins, his heart thumping loudly in his chest, his breath warm and stuttering on his neck. Pulling back slightly, wanting to wrap the coat around him, Gabriel sees the torn shirt and through the scraps the blood and wounds on his chest. His eyes widen and he pulls aside the fabric. "Did you know what would happen?"
"Yes."
"You burned out your grace!" Now he's angry. He thought the Fall accidental, by the design of the Host, or simply the end of his slow tumble, but he did this on purpose.
Shivering, Castiel drags the coat around himself and manages to rise to his feet. He stumbles at first, as if his feet and legs are new to him, but then he begins to walk across the field.
"Where are you going?" Gabriel demands, annoyed.
"If I'm to die today, I'd prefer to be warm."
"...Wait. What?" Gabriel catches up to him, grabs him and turns him too easily. His strength is simply that of a man and there's no longer weight to him.
There's a haunted, empty look on Castiel's face. "Michael will come for me."
"Mich..." Something freezes in Gabriel as the implications hit him. "Dean said yes?" He's stunned. All along he figured Sam would cave in first.
"He was planning to. I cleared out the angels so he could enter the trap. Sam believed he'd deny Zachariah in the end. I don't have that faith any more."
"You've lost faith in Dean Winchester? You?"
In the face of Gabriel's shock, Castiel closes down, hugs himself tighter and turns to continue to walk, saying only, "I Fell for nothing," before he's out of human earshot.
Gabriel watches him go, stunned by all that's happened so quickly, while he's been off admittedly sulking, then runs after him again. "Warmth I can do," he says as he touches Castiel's arm and snaps them away. As they fly, in a blink of an eye, but an eternity to an angel, Gabriel reaches out for his elder brother and senses Michael, but...
Not whole. Not in a vessel. Not yet.
And then he's gone again, and Gabriel withdraws back into himself and wonders if Winchester held out after all. The son of a bitch is one of the stubbornest men he's known in decades. Just maybe...
With those Enochian brands on their ribs he can't find either Winchester, but he knows where they'll show up, if they're both alive and not his brothers' bitches.
Shifting his flight, he lands them both in Singer's kitchen, startling the old man into cursing loudly and pulling a shotgun on him. As Gabriel turns it into a feather duster, Castiel crumples against him and his stomach growls.
"What is that?" both Singer and Castiel ask as the latter looks down at himself in bewilderment.
Gabriel flatly replies, "Hunger," and whips up a feast.
Singer stares at Castiel, then looks to Gabriel for answers. "Why is he hungry and shivering and why are his lips turning blue?"
"He's human." With a push, he forces Castiel into a chair and snaps up a warm blanket to wrap around him.
"Well, shit."
"No kidding. Where are those idiots you think of as sons?"
Singer's cell phone rings as Gabriel finishes the question and he pulls it out of a pocket and flips it open. "Sam?"
Gabriel can hear the conversation, hears Sam say with relief and joy that Dean refused Michael and killed Zachariah and that they lost Adam, whoever that is, and Cas. Singer interrupts to say that Cas is here, and then Dean is on the phone and Gabriel tunes him out. Sitting down next to Castiel he pushes a fork into his hand. "Eat."
"I...I don't know where to start."
"I'd go for the chocolate food group, but you probably need protein. Try the steak." He's relieved when Castiel uses knife and fork properly to cut a piece of meat. At least he won't have to teach him that. He's really hoping that Winchester gets here before there's the need for a bathroom break.
Singer hangs up. "They're on their way from Van Nuys. It'll take them two days to drive here." He glowers at Gabriel who smirks back. "You hanging around, Trickster?"
"Call me Gabriel, and I can't leave the newborn puppy to fend for himself,"
"I'm not a dog," Castiel growls, then forks in some mashed potatoes. "This is good." He turns his eyes on Singer and asks, a bit hesitantly, "Dean said no in the end?"
"Apparently."
He glances over at Gabriel and there's something new on that no longer stricken face. Just a tiny, tiny bit of hope.
Gabriel smiles and cuts himself a piece of chocolate cake.
And wonders if helping Castiel is choosing a side.
End