CASTIEL
"Gabriel, what are you doing here?" I asked still completely shocked at his presence. "Lucifer killed you in the other dimension. Sam saw you die."
"Wrong." Gabriel smirked. "Sam thinks he saw me die, he only saw another version of me. Seriously, I've died how many times in front of them? Have they not realized that I can't be killed that easily?"
"But why are you here?"
"Her." Gabriel pointed to Emilia.
"Her?"
"Cochran sent him." Emilia smiled
"She did?"
"Yeah, after I hurt you." My stomach suddenly lurched. She still remembered.
"The angels up top said it was the strongest surge of angelic grace they've seen since they tied to smite my aunt." Gabriel explained.
"I-I don't understand. Her memory, I—"
"She undid it."
"No, that isn't possible."
"Well then, why don't you just ask her?" I turned to Emilia and got down to eye level with her.
"Emilia, what do you remember about hurting me?"
"I don't know. I was going to bed and my head hurt really bad." Emilia explained.
"You had a headache?"
"Yeah, and then I had a dream. I was mad at you because you wouldn't save a dead baby birdie. I was very mad, my eyes turned yellow and I yelled at you and then you hit the house...but then I fell asleep in my dream."
"Then what happened?"
"I flew."
"You flew?"
"Yeah. I saw the house, the clouds, the stars and—"
"And?"
"And then I was somewhere else."
"Where?"
"Somewhere bright."
"What did you see?"
"I saw the bad lady. She was looking at something, a screen. A bright dot was on it and it made her happy. She then had Gabriel come and get me. She told him to kill you and Jack and he agreed."
"You agreed?" I growled at Gabriel.
"He didn't want to. The angels did something to his head. I didn't want him to hurt you or Jack, so I followed him out of the bright place and took it away." The room fell silent. "Is the bright place heaven?"
"Yes, Emilia." I let out a sigh. "Emilia, why don't you go back to your room and Jack will read you a bedtime story." Emilia slowly turned to Gabriel.
"Can I go home, Gabriel?"
"Sorry, kiddo, but it's still not safe." Gabriel answered.
"But you can make it safe, right? You can help Daddy and Uncle Dean find the funny man and the bad lady, right?" Gabriel crouched down in front of her.
"I'm gonna do everything in my power to keep you safe." Gabriel softly smiled. "Now, how about you and Jack go upstairs for that bedtime story? What's your favorite one?"
"Peter Pan." Emilia smiled. "I like Tinkerbell."
"She's a real spitfire, ain't she?" Gabriel chuckled. "I bet Jack would love to read it to you."
"Will he do the voices like Daddy does?"
"I'm sure he'll try his best. Now, go on and get upstairs."
"Okay." Emilia grabbed Jack's fingers and smiled. "Goodnight, Gabriel. Goodnight, Cass."
"Goodnight." Gabriel and I said in unison and watched as Emilia pulled Jack back to her bedroom. Gabriel slowly stood up and sighed with content.
"The little ones are always so cute and innocent looking." Gabriel smiled. "She's got the cutest, tiniest little wings, it makes me just want to pinch her cheeks."
"I don't understand." I mumbled. "She's nephilim, she's not supposed to be able to do those things."
"Jack saw the future about you and Dagon."
"Yeah, but his father is an archangel, Lauren was just a normal angel, like me, except she was a lower tier angel."
"So she can see the future, big deal."
"She made Jack juggle her Barbie dolls and sing and dance to this stupid song she loves off the inter web called Baby Shark by using mind control."
"Ugh, I hate that song."
"I'm serious, Gabriel, I don't know what's going on. It's like the older she gets, the stronger she becomes. There's something about her, it's different... she can't just be a nephilim, there has to be something more." I thought for a moment. "Maybe she's psychic."
"Ooh, so close." Gabriel smirked.
"You know?"
"Of course, I do. All the angels up top know. Hell, all the angels, besides you, know, even the demons know. Why do you think Crowley is after her?"
"What is it? What is she?"
"Now, see, if I told you, that would ruin the fun of letting you guess."
"Gabriel!"
"You know, you're not as fun anymore. You're so cranky." Gabriel paused. "Are you pregnant, Cass? I thought you said you were on the pill?"
"No, I have not been impregnated, I don't think it's even genetically possible."
"It was a joke, Cass."
"Oh."
"Seriously though, why so grumpy?"
"I blame the Barbie dolls."
"...What?"
"They're having a fight, they're going through marriage counseling. It's a very stressful time for all of us."
"Cass... they're dolls."
"I know. After what she showed me with Jack today, I now think she's been altering my emotions during playtime." The room fell silent. "Gabriel, what is she?"
"She's special."
"What?"
"Cass, had it ever occurred to you that she is Lauren and Sam's daughter, that she didn't just inherit things from Lauren, but Sam, as well?"
"Of course, it did. I know how propagation works."
"And you are aware that Sam is a special child?" I looked at Gabriel with shock.
"No, that isn't possible. Sam lost his powers after Azazel was killed."
"He stopped having visions, but he is still a special child, nonetheless."
"That was forced onto him by Azazel, not inherited. It can't be inherited."
"It can. Sam may not have visions anymore, but the fact still stands that he has demon blood in him, as does Emilia."
"So... what are you saying?"
"She's a nephilim hybrid. Half angel, half special child." I didn't want to believe it, but I had no choice, Gabriel had higher intel, and it made perfect sense, it explained everything. Her dreams, her mind control, her intense power, it was everything I had hoped that Emilia would avoid. I wanted to honor Lauren's wish, that she'd be able to have a normal childhood. I failed her.
"What do we do? If her power is this strong and she's barely just tapped into it, I fear she will be stronger than Jack."
"Well, first thing's first, we need to keep her safe. With Luci back in his cage, I'm not sure if he's even aware of the situation. She's a potential vessel and Sam's daughter, more the reason for him to try and find a way to escape the cage. Second of all, we've gotta erase her memory."
"What?"
"The more she knows, the more she will want to tap into her powers again."
"You want me to completely obliviate her memories?"
"Gilderoy Lockhart style."
"I don't— what does a children's book have to do with this?"
"For crying out—" Gabriel ribbed his temples with frustration. "Yes, Cass, you have to erase her memories."
"It didn't work last time, what makes you think that it'll work this time?"
"You took a chunk out of her memory, but left it empty. On humans, that would work, but she's not completely human. Angels have a hell of a good memory. You can't just leave a space in their memory blank because they will know something is up and they'll undo everything you did. You've gotta replace the memories, fill in the blanks. You can't read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and go straight to the Half Blood Prince, it won't make any sense."
"So... what— how do I—"
"I think you already know the answer, Cass." I let out a sigh and gently nodded before standing up and walking to her room, Gabriel followed. Emilia was fast asleep in her bed as Jack continued to read from the Peter of Pan book.
"Jack." I whispered. Jack looked over at me.
"I like this book, Castiel." Jack smiled.
"Jack, can Gabriel and I have a moment alone with Emilia?"
"But she's sleeping."
"We know."
"What are you going to do?"
"I gotta do what's necessary to keep her safe."
"Safe? From who?"
"Cochran, Crowley, even herself."
"But—"
"Jack, go start packing." Gabriel instructed.
"Why?"
"Because what we're about to do, it's gonna take a lot of energy to do, the angels upstairs will target this place and smite it because they'll think that I failed. I mean, technically, I did, but that's not the point. Just— go pack as fast as you can. Only take the essentials."
"Right, essentials... what are essentials?"
"I swear it's like talking to a three year old." Gabriel sighed. "It's essentials! Clothes, food, toiletries, anything that is necessary."
"Are books necessary?"
"Can you live without books?"
"I assume so."
"Then no, they're not essential."
"Are movies essential?"
"Only the porn, now go."
"Gabriel!" I hissed.
"Okay, fine, no movies. Just pack some clothes for you and Cass, food, and bathroom stuff like shampoo, soap, and toilet paper." Jack gave Gabriel a nod and exited the room.
"What about Emilia?"
"I'll pack her things while you get to work." Gabriel walked off to Emilia's closet and grabbed a couple of empty bags and began to pack her clothes, toys, and the Peter of Pan book. I slowly walked over to Emilia's bedside and let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry, Emilia. Just know I'm doing this to protect you." I gently placed my fingers to her forehead and erased everything, anything that could trigger her urges and filled them with memories of happiness, hours of playtime, years of memories completely wiped and replaced with fake ones. This was the only way to keep her safe. I felt dirty, completely unclean because of this.
"It's done." I sighed. "She won't remember a thing. She will have as normal of a childhood as possible."
"Good." Gabriel gently placed his hand on my shoulder. "When all of this is over, you can tell her the truth. She will forgive you." Gabriel softly smiled, but it faded as quiet thunder rumbled from outside. "Grab her, we've gotta go." I quickly picked up Emilia in my arms and followed Gabriel downstairs where Jack was packing the rest of the food.
"I don't know if I should bring the milk or not." Jack spoke up as he looked over the nearly empty gallon. "It's expiring in a few days."
"Forget the rest of the food, we need to go, now."
"Why?"
"They know we're here." We all hurried outside and looked to the sky as lightning illuminated the clouds. A large circle was beginning to form, the wind picked up and the thunder continued as tornado sirens roared all around us.
"What is that?"
"They're putting their powers together. They're gonna smite us." The hole in the sky began to fill with a bright light. Gabriel quickly grabbed mine and Jack's sleeves, and, within a blink of an eye, the light was gone, as was the house. Jack and I looked around with confusion.
"Where are we?" I asked. Gabriel didn't answer and turned to us.
"Keep her safe, stay hidden. Do this, and I'll do my best to protect you from anything that comes our way."
"Gabriel, What is going on? All this over her? They weren't even this determined when Jack was created. There's something you're not telling me."
"There's a war coming, Cass. A massive war and we have to be prepared for what's to come. Whether she lives or not, the war will happen, but if she lives, it will determine the outcome."
"The outcome?"
"Who lives... and who survives." The road fell silent. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some business to attend to."
"Business? What business? What war?" Gabriel didn't answer and flew away.
"Castiel, where are we?" Jack asked. I looked around for a moment before my eyes finally landed on a sign. Austin: 20 miles.
"It looks like we're in Austin, Texas."
"But what's in Austin?"
"Home."