Idk what to call this AU yet

Chapter 1

Castiel stumbled over the forest floor, his left wing broken and dragging across the ground behind him. He had his right wing pressed to his side, and both arms wrapped around his stomach. The hole in it glowed, as what was left of his grace tried its best to heal it. If he wasn't concentrating on the pain in his wing, he would have been surprised to notice that the hole didn't hurt. He hadn't really noticed his grace trying to fix him up yet, though, so his surprise could be forgiven.

He pushed through a final layer of trees, finding himself on a road. He continued forwards, limping across the road. Then there were lights on him. When he turned to look, there was a car speeding towards him. Instinctively, his right wing drew around him protectively, and he curled up as small as he could go. It wouldn't do much, but it was really just instinct more than anything. He was pretty sure that there was some species of animals that found a hole to curl up and die in. He didn't have a hole, unfortunately.

The hit he'd been waiting for never came, and he heard the screeching of tires as the driver swerved around him.

He looked up. He stared as the car stopped and a man stepped out of the car. Then there was a gun being pointed at his face. He'd fallen straight into the lap of a hunter. Despite his best efforts, his eyelids fell closed.

His last thoughts were probably something along the lines of, 'fuck' although, maybe with a few less curse words.

---

The Trickster wandered into the church, looking around. He hadn't been to a church of Gabriel in a very long time. He wandered down the centre of the church, towards the confessional as a human stepped out.

He stepped inside the empty booth, humming as he did.

"Hey father." He said, glancing to the side where the father stood on the other side of the booth. "I've done a lot of bad things in my lifetime."

After a brief silence, the father questioned, "Would you like to elaborate."

The Trickster hummed, as if considering it, "Not particularly." He replied at length, probably earning a frown from the father, "But, see... Before I ran from my family, I had this kid brother. He was just learning to fly. Didn't want him to get corrupted by my brothers ideals, y'know? Since I wouldn't be there to protect him? So I told him to watch the humans. And I told him it was okay to sympathise with them and their plights. And I told him to question any order from our brothers that he thought sounded wrong. And I told him that whatever they said, our father wasn't there anymore.

"And I left, and I thought he'd be okay. I didn't think he'd be willing to fall for the cause I left him to think about. But I guess that's how it's looking now." He paused, glancing towards the grate in the wood, "It feels weird letting out all my problems in a place created for me. What should I do, father? I've been hiding from my brothers so long. Do I come out of hiding to save my fledgling?" He tilted his head to the side, watching through the wall at the wide eyed look on the man's face.

The man let out a breath, probably quietly wondering if the short man in the booth beside him was insane, "I believe that you should do what you feel is the right course of action. And if you believe that... Your, um, fledgling falling was your fault, and you feel guilt... The best thing you could do is help him."

Gabriel hummed thoughtfully, and then snapped his fingers to the other side of the door, back into the church hall. He looked around with a grin, "I'll watch over him for just a little longer. And when I do return, Michael can go screw himself." He turned back to the booth to find the father, after opening the door, staring at him. "And... Thanks father. You were a big help."

And with that, the Trickster decided not to be Gabriel quite yet.

---

Castiel's eyes flickered open, but he felt groggy. His head hurt, and so did his stomach and his wings. Especially the left one. There was a demon trap on the ceiling above him.