Son of Hades (Redo)

Babysitting Duty

I help Castiel to his room after helping him clean up the blood on the library carpet.

Castiel could hardly walk. He was bruised and battered, and whined about his arsehole friends not being here for him. Through this whole thing, I felt horrible. Castiel's right eye was black and blue. His nose was broken, and he had to wear gauze over it. His lip was bloody, and that blood dripped down his chin and onto his dress clothes and onto mine. The Infirm Nurse didn't seem so surprised he'd gotten into a fight. Her gaze lingered on the marks near his swollen neck, and she called it evil. Evil had done this.

Castiel's room was honestly pretty wicked. The walls were dark, and splattered with paint. There was a black-light that lit everything up, and gave the room an otherworldly feel to it. World landmarks are tacked up around the room, and a bulletin board is hung over his bed. More paraphernalia litters his dresser. A bong among clothes on the floor. The bed was unmade when we walked in, and he liked it like that.

I stay with Castiel for over two hours, and beg him not to tell his parents.

"What were you doing in the library with him anyway, Ariel? It was dark. There aren't cameras in every aisle where they could have seen you... "

"I kissed him, Cas." I murmured. I wasn't even brave enough to look him in the eye.

"I should have hit him harder." Castiel grits through his teeth. Narrows his eyes.

His head is in my lap, and various travel books were scattered among the piles of clothes. He runs his finger along a picture of Bora Bora. I remember Xavier's taunt in the library, and it echoes back to me like a slap in the face. "Threatening me with a baseball bat when you've never been Above-Ground to use it. Even those friends of yours won't take you." I wonder what it must have been like for him to grow up so alone in this palace; he must have gone crazy never being able to see the stars or the sun. No wonder why he's so angry. So jealous. "You had no right to do what you did to him, Castiel. That was wrong, and you know it."

"I did what I did because I had to, sweetheart. My friends wanted to see me beat him an inch from unconsciousness, and then some. They're bloodthirsty twats without a soul. Their tempers are worse than mine, and for once, I let mine get the better of me. I was jealous of a god-damn servant. Those friends liked my arrogance; they liked that I used my situation to my advantage. I'm Hades son. What belongs to my father belongs to me; and they've always thought it was a little funny. Now I know why."

"I'm sorry about your friends, Castiel." I bit my lip; running my fingers through his soft hair. "But you'll see them at the bash tomorrow. Won't you?"

"I'll be lucky if they come tomorrow." He puts an arm around me.

I chance a glance at the bat stained with Xavier's blood. It's propped up in a cranny near the dresser. "You've never really seen a world outside this palace, have you? That's why you wanted Harley and I to steal those watches for you." He was quiet. "What happened?"

"She got caught. He wasn't nearly as drunk as she thought, and he threatened to cut a finger off if she ever did it again."

"I'm sorry." I murmur. "They won't take you?"

"It's 'against the rules'."

"Why couldn't your parents have taken you?"

"What is this, 1000 questions?" He asks, irritated. He sits up.

"Sorry." I glance towards the door. "I should go."

When I made a move for the door, Castiel caught my arm. "Wait," he said. "Stay with me, please." There was desperation in his eyes, and his voice. "I don't want to be alone right now." His grasp softens and he lets me go if that's what I want. The look in his eyes reminds me of the one that I gave Xavier the first night I met him. I was mocked for that look. But something about the way Castiel looked at me made me feel sorry for him.