evergreen | destiel

IV

it all happened so fast that castiel was genuinely confused when the events occurred. one second he was on the battlefield in heaven, in the middle of getting ambushed by a couple of raphael's soldiers, and the next he was standing on earth outside of what looked to be an abandoned barn.

then he felt it.

he felt the pull of the soul that he knew belonged to dean. the man was around here somewhere, probably in that barn.

had dean summoned him? and if so, why?

he put his hands in the pockets of the trench coat that his vessel, jimmy, insisted on wearing as he slowly opened the barn doors and began walking inside. it was dark and he couldn't see very much, but he felt dean's presence. there was someone else there too, someone he didn't recognize.

out of nowhere, a shot rang out and it took castiel a few moments to realize that a bullet had hit him. what? was someone trying to kill him?

he kept walking as the rain and lightning picked up outside. now he could see a little better. dean was standing there, a shotgun in his hands and a terrified look on his face. there was an older man next to him in a similar position and castiel was utterly confused. more shots were fired, but castiel didn't even feel them. he guessed that they didn't know he was an angel.

he took in dean's appearance. green eyes, brown hair, bowed legs, and a light spattering of freckles. this confirmed his suspicion that this was the same dean as the one he met all those years ago, just older.

if this was the same dean, then that means... no, castiel wouldn't think about that right now. he had to focus on the issue at hand, which was that the human he cared the most about was currently trying to kill him.

"dean, please stop shooting." castiel spoke calmly. dean gave the angel a confused look before suddenly, the older man came forward and stabbed a knife right through castiel's chest.

castiel furrowed his brows before grabbing the knife and pulling it back out of his vessel and dropping it to barn floor. dean and the man shared a look before dean spoke up.

"how do you know my name?" his voice was stern; he demanded answers.

castiel didn't want to just lay down the truth that he'd known dean for a hundred years, so instead he opted for a more literal answer. "because i raised you from hell."

"yeah, and why'd you do that?" dean asked as his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. his shotgun was still pointed directly at castiel's chest but dean no longer shot it, realizing it was a waste of ammunition.

"because god commanded it." castiel answered honestly.

"bullshit, god doesn't exist." dean's answers were louder and it appeared he was angry. he gripped the gun tighter. the older man watched on with skepticism in his eyes as well.

castiel tilted his head in confusion at dean before responding. "dean, i'm an angel of the lord. my father spoke to me and commanded me to get your soul out of hell and replace it back in your body."

"well i don't believe a word your spewing right now pal, so you better tell me the truth." dean replied as he got close enough to touch the end of the gun to castiel's chest. he was trying to intimidate the angel and castiel found it entertaining to be honest. this dean acted just like the dean he met at the schoolhouse in 1904: charmingly rude. it softened something inside of the angel. he slowly reached out and took the gun from dean's hold, making eye contact with him and silently telling him he wasn't here to be a threat. dean's grip loosened and castiel tossed the gun to the side.

"dean, i promise you. look." castiel said as he made his wings appear behind him. he felt the familiar weight on his back and outstretched them. he watched dean's face as the man's eyes widened in shock.

"whoa." dean breathed out.

suddenly castiel had a strong urge to touch dean in some way because this was the real soul beneath dean's tough exterior. dean's walls were down in his state of surprise and castiel could feel that familiar pull of affection from deep within him, this need to be close to dean.

but he couldn't. he couldn't risk scaring the man away. he wanted to know more, like why dean went to hell, or how much he knew what was occurring in heaven. if he even believed in heaven. castiel knew that being with dean was where he was supposed to be.

castiel looked between the two humans before him and stepped back, making his wings disappear. dean seemed to snap out of some kind of trance and suddenly his walls were up once again. castiel sighed.

"please, let's just talk." the angel said.