I'll Come Back To You

Chapter 25: Happy

Nobody showed up while the gates of heaven were open.

So that left Jack alone, in a playground, unsupervised.

So he did what any child would do.

He ran for the slide.

*******

Lucifer was almost immediately locked into one of Heaven's prison cells. He was too dangerous for them to let out, but that didn't mean they couldn't stop him from helping keep the lights on in heaven.

Naomi was not pleased to see Gabriel and Balthazar back, to say the least. But she was happy to have someone as loyal as Anna back to help contribute to the cause.

"Who brought you back?" Naomi demanded. "Did God-"

"God didn't save us," Cas insisted. "We saved ourselves."

"And it took a hell of a lot of energy." Gabriel muttered.

"Pornstars make that worth it," Balthazar countered.

"How are you angels?" Anna said, facepalming as they shrugged.

"So your brothers and sister helped you escape the Empty," Naomi concluded.

"They did." Castiel agreed. "Even Lucifer was helpful, believe it or not."

"Then perhaps you have learned how valuable it is to be loyal to your brothers in Heaven, rather than the humans." Castiel paused.

"The world is not black and white, Naomi," He reminded her. "Why can't I remain loyal to both sides?"

"Because you always choose them over us at the end of the day."

"Well maybe if you stopped making the wrong decisions, I would take your side more often."

"We are only doing what God commanded."

"Is that so? Well, last time I checked, God was last seen with the Winchesters, not you."

"We have to have faith in him, Castiel."

"I do. But he is not giving out orders anymore, Naomi. You are. We get to choose what is right and wrong now, not God."

"And who gets to decide what is right? The Winchesters?" Castiel shrugged.

"They seem to be doing a pretty good job of it so far." He declared. "So until you start doing something better, my loyalty remains to them."

"We are your family, Castiel, you can't turn your back on us,"

"I'm not turning my back on you," Castiel announced. "And you are not my family, Naomi. We are not a family. The angels never were. We are an army. We are soldiers that fight side by side. The Winchesters are my family. I will help when you need me too because I know this is where I come from, but I will not take orders that I do not wish to follow. You cannot control me."

"You should have killed Dean Winchester when you had the chance."

"No," Cas shook his head. "I should've killed you when we still had angels to spare." He walked out, and Gabriel and Balthazar followed him.

"What now?" Gabriel asked.

"I'm going home," Cas offered. That's all he wanted. To go home to Dean, Jack, and Sam, and be happy with no consequences.

He didn't care about the rest anymore.

"Well then," Balthazar smiled. "I'll be in Monte Carlo, if anyone needs me." Gabriel looked at him, offended.

"But Monte Carlo was my thing!"

"Trust me brother, by the time you've sorted out your Winchester drama, everyone in that place will know my name." Gabriel scowled, and Cas grinned as they left heaven.

They appeared back in the playground just as Jack was about to go down the playground slide again. The Nephilim paused, looking guilty as the angels raised their eyebrows at him.

"I still don't believe somebody that innocent is Satan's child," Balthazar declared. Jack shrugged and went down the slide, smiling. Cas watched him, and a slow smile spread across his face.

Happy. Jack was happy.

And for once, so were Dean and Sam.

And so was Cas.

That's all he wanted.

And even the Empty couldn't take that from him.