Stolen From Paradise: The Road So Far

Chapter 4

"You can't reach him, Dean. You're outside your coverage zone." Dean heard the angel's voice ring through the previously silent room.

Slowly lowering his phone to his side, Dean stared straight at the wall ahead of him.

"What are you gonna do to Sam?" Dean asked, keeping his tone calm and collected, despite the urge to tear Castiel a new one.

"Nothing." Castiel sighed. He began circling towards Dean's front, who had still yet to take his eyes off of the wall in front of him. "He's gonna do it to himself."

As Castiel reached a point where he felt Dean could easily turn his head to look at him if he wished, he stopped in his tracks and let his arms hang by his sides. Finally, Dean decided to look over at the angel.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, to which Castiel only looked down at his feet. Dean began taking slow steps towards the angel. "Oh, right, right. Got to toe the company line. Why are you here, Cas?"

"We've been through much together, you and I. And I just wanted to say, I'm sorry it ended like this." He answered, with as much sincerity as the angel knew how to muster.

Dean's eyebrows raised, slightly, in disbelief. Was he serious?

"'Sorry'?" Dean echoed. He then scoffed, softly, and, without much of a warning, threw a right hook directly into Castiel's face.

Much to Dean's dismay, the angel hardly flinched, whereas Dean's hand felt like he'd just punched his car. Using the momentum of his punch, Dean let himself face his back to Castiel, holding in a groan of pain as he took a moment to flex and soothe his hand. Discretely, of course.

Still facing away from the angel, as soon as Dean felt like he could speak without any pain being evident in his voice, he did just that. "It's Armageddon, Cas. You need a bigger word than 'sorry'."

Finally, Dean turned back towards Castiel.

"Try to understand - this is long foretold. This is your-" Castiel started to explain.

"Destiny? Don't give me that 'holy' crap. Destiny, God's plan... It's all a bunch of lies, you poor, stupid son of a bitch! It's just a way for your bosses to keep me and keep you in line! You know what's real? People, families - that's real. And you're gonna watch them all burn?" Dean tried to reason with him.

"What is so worth saving? I see nothing but pain here. I see inside you. I see your guilt, your anger, confusion. In paradise, all is forgiven. You'll be at peace. Even with Sam." Castiel said.

Despite what Dean could hear coming from Castiel's mouth, his eyes told a different story. One of confliction and doubt. Maybe... maybe he could use that to his advantage; show him that he was wrong. That whatever instinct it is he has against what the angels want from him, he should be following it.

Castiel's gaze having fallen elsewhere, Dean put his face close enough so that it made it obvious he was trying to meet his gaze. Taking the hint, the angel looked back up at Dean.

"You can take your peace... and shove it up your lily-white ass." He said. Okay, maybe he wasn't exactly going about it in the best way, but he was angry - no, pissed . And he had every right to be. "'Cause I'll take the pain and the guilt. I'll even take Sam as is. It's a lot better than being some  bitch in paradise. This is simple, Cas!" As soon as Dean began yelling, Castiel shook his head, slightly, and turned away. "No more crap about being a good soldier. There is a right and there is a wrong here, and you know it. Look at me!"

Dean grabbed Castiel's shoulder and forcefully turned him back to face him. "You know it!" Dean took a moment and lowered his voice. "You were gonna help me once, weren't you? You were gonna warn me about all this, before they dragged you back to Bible camp. Help me, now. Please."