Debunked

Chapter 17

"Okay, now that we're all together," Jody says, "what the hell going on with you and the Winchesters?"

Castiel lets out a long sigh. "We had a bit of a falling out, and I've come to realize I wasn't really welcome anymore."

Claire scoffs. "What are you talking about? Those guys would take a bullet for you."

"That would be rather counterproductive," Castiel says. "I would have a much better chance surviving a bullet than they would, assuming the bullet was not made of a melted angel blade."

"Well, they never were the smartest people," Claire says.

"But what happened?" Jody asks. "What could you possibly do to get Sam and Dean to turn on you?"

Castiel sighs. He'd rather not go over this again, but it's a small price to pay for a safehouse for Hannah, so he does it anyway.

"Do you remember Jack?" he asks, which earns nods from all three women. "Well, Jack had to burn off an unspecified amount of his soul to kill the archangel Michael from another dimension."

"I don't know what's worse," Claire says, "that you said that like it's normal, or that it's probably not the weirdest thing I've heard you say."

"At the point, anything abnormal is normal," Castiel says. "Jack adopted an evil demigod's snake, and the only complaint was that Dean doesn't like snakes."

"God, you guys are weird," Alex mutters.

"I know," Castiel says, because there's no sense in denying it. "But Jack's snake, Felix, missed his owner, so he wasn't doing much, and Jack killed him to put him out of his misery." Seeing their shocked faces, he adds quickly, "But he loved his snake. It was an act of mercy. Just... a misguided act of mercy, so it didn't seem worth mentioning to anyone.

"But, a few months later, he killed Mary Winchester — which was an accident. She was pestering him, and he's never had very good control over his powers."

Just because Jack is dead doesn't mean Castiel should slander his reputation. Even if these disclaimers seem to be a bit much, or even insensitive to Mary, he needs to add them. There aren't a lot of people on Jack's side anymore. He doesn't want to make the kid any new enemies, even in death.

"So Jack killed her," Claire says. "How's that your fault?"

"Because I never told anyone that he killed his snake, and Dean decided to hold that against me."

"Well, fuck Dean, then," Claire says. "I mean, I love the guy, but come on. How were you supposed to know that Jack was going to kill her?"

"That's not it, is it?" Jody asks. "There's got to be more to this story."

"There is," Castiel says. "Jack, he, uh..." He sighs. "Well, Jack died, and the gates of hell opened, and a demon possessed Jack's body and promised to help us close hell up. I went to hell with him, alone, and realized that he was trying to soak up the souls himself and become some type of all-powerful demon, so I killed him before he had the chance."

"Good," Claire says. "I've had enough of the big bads these last few years. Can we stick to small bads?"

"What's the catch?" Alex asks. "I'm guessing they didn't get mad at you for saving the world."

"With the demon dead, there was no one left to suck the souls back to hell," Castiel says. "So Rowena had to give her life for it."

Claire scoffs. "Like none of you would have died if you let the demon take over the world."

"Try telling that to Dean," Castiel says, then quickly amends, "Actually, don't tell it to Dean. I don't want him to know I was here."

"So that's it?" Jody asks. "You made two mistakes — which were barely even mistakes — and now the Winchesters hate you? Are you sure you don't want me to talk some sense into them? Because it definitely sounds like someone needs to do it."

"Well, Mary wasn't your mother," he says. "Rowena wasn't your friend. It's easier for you to forgive."

"I still think it's stupid," Claire says. "I mean, I know they're dramatic, but kicking you out because you messed up once or twice is low, even for them."

Castiel's mind flashes back to his last conversation with Dean.

"Something always goes wrong."

"And why is that something always you?"

This was more than one or two mistakes. It's been a consistent pattern of his for years, and Dean had finally had enough. But that's not something he can explain to them. He can't recap every mistake he's ever made. The list is too long.

So all he says is, "They didn't kick me out. I decided it was time to move on, and Dean agreed."

"So you guys agreed on it?" Jody asks. "Then why's Sam having a conniption because he can't find you?"

"Dean and I agreed," Castiel says. "I assumed he would tell Sam and he didn't, and that's not my problem. I'm assuming one day Dean will come clean, or Sam will give up and move on, and everyone wins."

"You guys have a really shitty idea of family," Alex says.

"I'm not family," he says. "I haven't been in a very long time. So if Dean wants to keep secrets, he can do that. It won't bother me anymore."

Jody lets out a long breath. "Well. That blows."

"I thought so, too, at first," Castiel says. "But I've since realized it's just a new opportunity for me."

"I gotta go to work," Alex says. "Or, you know, I had to go to work, like, five minutes ago. See you soon, Cas."

Castiel smiles slightly. "I hope so."