Lost And Found ✔︎

50- Castiel's Struggles

"What? Why do you look so worried?" Sam asks.

"Let's see. There's Cas, who I told to haul ass here. That was days ago. He's still out there. Um, there's the both of you."

"Me? I feel great." Sam admits.

"What do you mean?" I ask

"I'm sure you do, but, Sam, you went through the trials. Okay, that put a big strain on you. I just think it's better if you took it easy, you know, and didn't act like you were-" he stops as Sam-Ezekiel continues.

"Possessed by an angel. And he does feel better. A work in progress, of course, but I am slowly healing him."

"That's great. Um, but, Sam-"

"I have news. I've picked up chatter among the angels. Not all are wandering around in confusion."

"Yeah, some of 'em are after Cas."

"There is a faction that is rapidly organizing and finding human vessels to contain them." He reminds.

"Led by Naomi?" I ask.

"I have not heard that name, no. But it is this faction's leadership who want Castiel found. You see, Dean, I can be useful."

"So can my brother. So, why don't you go check your e-mail, and if I need your help, I'll let you know."

"Dean." Sam-Ezekiel counters.

"I said I'll let you know." He reminds as Ezekiel switched back to Sam.

"I mean, you know, Cas is human now. It's gonna take him a lot longer to travel." Sam continues.

"I'm gonna get whiplash." Dean muttered to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Um, all right, so, I was thinking that if the angels are organizing, then that makes them a lot more dangerous than we thought." Dean sighs.

"Why do you think they're organizing?

"It makes sense. My point is, is that the more of them that are after Cas, the worse it is, so... we gotta find him." I defend.

***

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I know this guy you're talking about. Sounds like Clarence." He chuckles.

"Clarence?" I ask.

"The church - it runs a shelter in town, and we work here. We earn our keep. Clarence spent a couple nights, and then had to move on."

"And he left the day the bodies were found?"

"Matter of fact. Oh, man, those poor guys were a mess. They must have suffered bad. But at least now they're with the angels."

"I sure as hell hope not. Clarence happen to mention where he was headed?"

"No. He just said he always had to keep going."

***

Dean and Sam are back in their suits and are walking and talking with the Police Chief. I, on the other hand, was in the morgue looking at the body.

"Damnedest thing I ever saw. Vic had a stab wound, but it's not what killed him. It's like his insides were-"

"Vaporized? It's been going around."

"So, this guy was a pharmacist from Ohio?"

"Apparently. Total family man, religious. One day, just hops in the SUV, takes off, dies under a bridge here from God knows what. This is his stuff. Help yourselves."

He hands them two plastic evidence bags and leaves.

They open the bags and go through the contents, which are pretty standard - wallet, keys, watch, pen, etc. Sam picks up a miniature Bible while Dean starts flicking through the man's smart phone.

"Anything?" I ask, walking out of the morgue.

"Nothing weird. Crappy music, a lot of podcasts, all the same one. Reverend Buddy Boyle's "Goin' for Glory Hour."

"Cop said he was religious." Sam admits.

Dsan plays one of Buddy's podcasts.

"Join me in a heapin' helpin' of glory, friends. When you're in the presence of the divine, you'll know it. And if you let yourself, you'll hear it. [Skip] So, remember, when angels come a-knocking, let 'em on in."

Dean and Sam look at each other knowingly.

"Angels can't possess a human without permission, right?"

"Yep." I reminds.

"So, what, they're using this guy to find vessels?"

"It's a willing audience. They're all religious types like our pharmacist here. Buddy Boyle was telling them to let the angels take them over."

"Like body snatchers."

"How big a reach does this Boyle guy have?"

Sam does a quick search on the computer and brings up the "Global Influence" page from Buddy's website. There are red dots over virtually all major cities in the entire world.

"Pretty much the entire planet."

***

Suddenly the door bursts open and Dean and Sam run in.

"Cas!"

Seeing the boys, April turns and swiftly stabs Castiel straight through the chest. Dean draws his own angel blade and the brothers run at April but she effortlessly uses her angel powers to fling Dean into the kitchen bench and Sam into the closet across the room. She kicks Dean's angel blade away as she makes her way over to Sam.

"This girl's popular with all the boys."

Dean eyes the angel blade still sticking out of Castiel's chest. Sam gets up to face April but before he can make a move she punches him across the face and sends him back to the floor. She turns around just in time for me to stab her in the chest, killing her in a flash of brilliant white light. Dean turns to Castiel.

"Cas. Cas. Cas!" Dean shouts as his voice breaks. "Cas! No. Sam, he's gone." He sighs as Sam wakes up.

I approach Castiel, quietly and solemnly. I kneel down and gently places his hand over Cass' chest. With another bright white light, all of his wounds quickly heal themselves.

"Dean." Castiel greets as I faint.

Third POV...........................

"What happened to Wanda?" Castiel asks.

"When the angels fell, she saved about half of them, but she overexerted herself."

"She just needs sleep?" Castiel asks.

"Yeah, probably." He sighs, picking her up. "Wow."

"What?" Sam asks as he gets up from the ground.

"She's light. 'Light as a feather' light."

"That's not good."