33. War of the Angels

Unbelievable.

Cas, Sam, and myself are following Hannah to a room, where supposedly she's housing my other brother.

"And you saw him kill her?" I press Hannah on our way to the room.

"No, but she didn't have that blade on her. He did."

I grit my teeth. "There's no camera footage."

"Not in the room, no."

I roll my eyes. Okay, I'm not about ruling out that Dean possibly killed Tessa the reaper, but there's the off chance that he isn't responsible. But how can that be proven, that Tessa killed herself?

What infuriates me more is that, against Sam's request and mine, Dean brought the fucking First Blade along for the ride. He's definitely gonna get a punch to the face for that. Sure, he's not my kid, but he's my big brother. My pig-headed, stubborn-as-hell big brother.

Hannah has enough time to get the door open before the three of us burst into the room. Dean is handcuffed to the chair, duct tape over his mouth. Blood is coming out from his nose.

"He put up a fight," she says.

"Get out," says Cas.

Sam and I move to our brother. I fiercely rip off the tape. Dean moves his mouth, probably to lessen the stinging.

"You should have seen the other ten guys," he grunts.

"They said you killed Tessa?" says Cas.

"Not so much. She knifed herself."

Sam removes Dean's handcuffs. "Yeah? Why would she do that, Dean?"

"I don't know, Sam. She was saying all kinds of crap."

I frown. "So that's why you brought out the First Blade?"

"They told you about that, huh?"

"We had a deal." I cross my arms.

"Yeah, well, it was a stupid deal."

"Really?" Sam presses. "'Cause if you'd stuck to it, Tessa would still be alive. Without her, we ain't got jack."

"Yeah, you think I don't know that? You think I wanted that to happen?"

"I don't know, Dean," I say bluntly. "Did you?"

"All right, that's enough," Cas intervenes. "Stop it."

The door opens, and we all look to see Hannah.

"Commander, I'm sorry, but you have a call...From Metatron."

We all exit the room to head into the war room, where a bunch of angels have been waiting for our arrival. I seethe on the inside as we've got Metatron on a video call.

"Castiel," says Metatron. "Bet you're not happy to see me."

"Is anyone ever?" Dean growls.

"Dean, always with the B-grade eighties-action-movie wit."

"What do you want, Metatron?" I ask.

"Just to tell ass-tiel, there, that I'm still alive. His bomber failed."

"My bomber?" Cas questions.

"The crazy guy," says Metatron, like we're stupid. "Big knife. Kablooey. I'm fine, thanks for asking, but Gadreel is wounded, and Tyrus—rest in peace. His followers are not your biggest fans, by the way. They've all come over to my team."

"I didn't send anyone to kill you."

"Oh, stop lying, Castiel."

"Who are you to lecture me on lying? Your deception led to the fall."

"I did what I had to do. I have always done what I have to do, for God and for the angels."

"Sure," I scoff. "Yeah, you're Mother Teresa with neck beard."

"What I did was neither good nor bad. It was necessary—a small hardship to make us all stronger, to make us a family again."

"Yeah, except for the angels you had Gadreel kill," says Sam.

"Okay, yes. Maybe I got a little carried away at first, but those days are over. A near-death experience makes you re-evaluate. So, one time only, I'm offering amnesty. Every angel, no matter what their sin, may join me and return to Heaven. I will be their God, and they can be my heavenly host."

I roll my eyes. He's so full of himself. He sounds too confident too.

"Why would we follow you?" Hannah insists.

"Well, look around. You've seen Earth. You've had a taste of free will. I got to ask you—do you like it? I mean, the way you've flocked off to follow Castiel tells me you need to follow someone. It's in your DNA. But Cas—he's not what you think he is. He sends angels out to die. Have you told them about your stolen Grace, Castiel? How it's fading away, and when it burns out, so will you?"

I stiffen, holding the words down in my throat. I look at Cas, and I know he hasn't told his followers that little truth. Was he ever going to?

"So...No, then?" asks Metatron after being met with silence. "I'm not the best, but I'm the best you've got. You want to stay with Castiel, fine, but he's playing you, because at the end of the day, the only thing he cares about is himself and the Three Stooges there. You've got a choice to make. Make the right one." Metatron ends the video call, leaving a tense silence over all of us.

Cas turns to his followers. "He's lying."

"About the Grace?" Hannah inquires.

"It's complicated."

"So he wasn't lying."

"He was about everything else. He...You believe me, don't you?"

"I want to believe you, but I...We need proof."

"Name it."

Hannah points to Dean. "Punish him."

"What?" I hiss.

"He murdered Tessa. He broke our rules."

"Y'all can go to hell," Dean snaps. He tries to leave, but a few angels stop him.

"Dean," says Cas.

"Hey, wait a sec—" Sam tries to help out Dean, but he's restrained by angels too. I eye the nearest angels to me.

"Try, and I will beat your skulls in," I threaten darkly, fingering the batons. Surprisingly, they don't try to nab me.

"You gave us order, Castiel, and we gave you our trust," Hannah says quietly. "Don't lose it over one man." She hands Cas a blade. "This is justice."

"Cas..." I whisper. He holds the blade in his hand, and I see his internal battle. "Cas, you can't be considering it. Hey!" I'm suddenly pulled away. "Cas!" I try and bite the hand that covers my mouth. I stop struggling, but look at Cas with pleading brown eyes. Is Dean's life worth ending for them? He's your friend. These are merely followers. How many of them are truly your friends?

"No," Cas finally says. "I can't."

Hannah looks crestfallen. "Goodbye, Castiel."

I'm released as all of Cas's support files silently out of the war room. There's nothing for me to say. No matter what would come out of my mouth, they wouldn't want to hear it. Their leader betrayed them by choosing my brother over all of them.

"There's nothing left for us here," I say. "Let's just go."

Even as we leave the command center, the heavy, tense silence clings to our clothes. Cas opts to ride back with me. Sam goes back with Dean. I put on music to get some noise going other than the hum of my truck.

I lick my lips. "I'm sorry, Cas."

"What are you sorry for? You've done nothing wrong."

"You had numbers, and you lost them."

"I couldn't kill Dean, you know that."

"You considered it, though. For the smallest second, I saw it."

"Dean's my friend, and he has been for years. I wasn't sure I could live with myself if I killed him. I wasn't sure I could live with you and Sam turning your backs on me for it."

I suck in a breath. "You had a lot of thinking you were doing, huh?"

"A lot. So much that it almost hurt."

I rap my fingers against the steering wheel. "Well, thank you, for not staking my brother. Although, considering he snuck the First Blade into your command center, he deserves a little bit of a beat down."

"Then you do it, Josette."

"I might be too tired to once we get back. I'm guessing you're staying at the bunker now, since all your followers ditched you?"

"Where else do I have to go?" He snorts a laugh. "It's just like old times."

"What is?"

"You, taking me back to your place. Taking me in when no one will."

I dip my head down a bit. "Yeah, just like old times. We're so close, Cas, to finishing this. Metatron may have dealt you a serious blow, but you're not down for the count yet. We've still got time. We've still got a chance."

"Why are you so focused on wanting to go after Metatron, Josette?"

"Well, where I've been recently, Metatron's presence has been around. Since Abaddon's dead and Crowley's disappeared, he's our only big boss to face right now. I'd rather put my time and energy into ending him and this chaos he's made."

"I am glad for you standing by me."

"I just wish your followers were more loyal to you." I shake my head. "Metatron got through to them, the manipulative bastard." A temporary silence falls. "You know what? Let's just enjoy the ride home." I turn the music up a bit louder.

I start mouthing the words to the song on the radio as I follow the Impala back to the bunker. At times, I see Cas watching me, not carefully, but in a way that I haven't seen in a while. I shake off what his eyes mean. The last time I'd seen that look was when I was with Greg, and he ended up leaving me for some other woman.

I roll down the window a little bit to let some air circulate, help me cool off. I bounce in my seat a little, getting my body into the rhythm of the song. What an upbeat song to hear too in a time like this: "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison.

I shoot side-glances at Cas. "Not much of a singer?" I ask through the non-lyrical parts of the song. "Fine, more for you to hear my bad singing skills."

Through the mixture of my horrible singing and Van Morrison's, I notice Cas's lips silently moving, mouthing the words. I try to make it look as though I don't notice.

**So...some Cassette at the end of the chapter for you. Feel it growing, you guys? I sure do.**