I'll Come Back To You

Chapter 8: Not What We Had In Mind

The rain stopped as quickly as it started. A whole world, from pouring rain to shining skies in a matter of seconds.

"What does that mean?" Dean whispered, staring at the sky. He was worried. Worried for Cas. He didn't think the angel could die in a place that was already the afterlife, but then again, it was possible. He himself had killed hundreds in Purgatory. He had no idea where any of those monsters had gone.

And Dean got the feeling that if Cas died in the Empty, wherever he went afterwards, there was no coming back from.

So Dean stared at the sky, almost willing the rain to return just because it would give him a sign that Cas was okay. Cas was out there.

Cas was keeping his promise.

Cas was trying to find a way back to him.

But the rain didn't return, and Dean was left to stare worriedly at the sky.

******

Castiel fell through the crack, and it closed immediately behind him.

"No," Cas insisted, staring at the spot where the crack had just been. "No, no NO!!" He couldn't leave his brothers in that place, not with the Empty after them. The Empty, who would undoubtedly punish all of them just because Castiel escaped.

At the same time, Cas was grateful. He had escaped. Gabriel had saved him, and doomed himself at the same time.

But Castiel refused to leave him there. Gabriel had saved him, so he would find a way to go back and save Gabriel. He owed that to the archangel. He owed it to Balthazar too. Killing his brother had been one of his biggest mistakes. He even owed it to Crowley, he thought. The King of Hell had died sacrificing himself for the Winchesters. He didn't deserve to rot in the Empty for a noble deed.

Lucifer Castiel didn't give a shit about. Whether the archangel came back or not, he didn't care. He preferred if he didn't, honestly, only because Lucifer caused chaos at every turn. But even Castiel had to admit that he'd rather see Luci back in the cage then in the hell of the Empty.

So Castiel had to get back to the Empty. Without killing himself again, that was. But then Cas finally decided to look around him, to try and figure out where he was.

It appeared to be a forest of some kind, and it looked vaguely familiar.....

No.

Not fair.

Of course, Cas insisted to himself. Of course a door out of the Empty would open to Purgatory. Where else would he have ended up?

The Leviathans would be here soon enough, he imagined, and Cas knew very well that they were still angry at Castiel. But he couldn't die in Purgatory and go right back to the Empty. Not when he'd gotten this far already. He needed to get out, back to Earth.

Back to Dean.

And Jack and Sam.

But Purgatory was unpredictable. Heaven and Hell, Cas could navigate. Heaven was easy. He knew it like the back of his hand. Hell was a bit trickier, but Cas had been there enough to save the Winchesters that he knew a way out. 

He knew there was a door to each somewhere in Purgatory, seeing as all three were linked. There was a gate straight to Earth as well, but Castiel would never be able to get through it without a human, and he doubted Sam or Dean would be ending up in Purgatory any time soon.

So, with no clues as to where he was going, and no weapon to defend himself, Castiel headed out in search for a door to Hell.