vanillafluffy: (Metallicar)
[personal profile] vanillafluffy
Title: Stand Me Up at the Gates of Hell
Authored by: [livejournal.com profile] vanillafluffy
Pairing/spoilers: Spoilers for "The Man Who Knew Too Much" 6.23
Rating/Work-safeness: PG for minor swearing
Approximate word count: 600
Disclaimer: All rights belong to Kripke/Gamble/CW, etc.
Summary: My speculations about the first five minutes of season 7 and how The Situation might be resolved. Title from the Tom Petty song, "Won't Back Down".


Stand Me Up at the Gates of Hell


"Kneel down--?" Dean stares at Castiel in disbelief. Beside him, Sam is still and silent. Bobby's eyes are closed, and his lips are moving. Maybe he's praying; there's a first time for everything. "Whatever happened to Team Freewill?"

A sneer crosses the former angel's face. "You have a choice: Worship me and live or reject me and die. There is your free will. Use it wisely."

"And if I say no, what, you'll bounce me back into hell? Been there, done that, shredded the tee shirt."

"If I were to return you to hell, it would not be to a simple rack with the possibility of promotion. I would hurl you into the cage where my brothers and yours could vent their rage upon you for all eternity."

At that, Sam makes a faint sound like a puppy whimpering, and Dean's heart twists. "And if I kneel down...?"

"You will live as long as you give me your allegiance."

"Think you could throw in a free repair on the Impala?" Dean asks. It's as much bravado as he can summon up right now, with his ex-friend looking at him like he's dirt.

"Such a small request," Castiel says, and snaps his fingers. "That's the charming thing about humans. You think on such a modest scale. You, especially, Dean. I could give you a palace and make you a king, but instead, you choose to roam aimlessly, a nobody."

"Yeah, that's me. Nobody." Dean takes a half-step forward, and his knee is starting to bend, when Sam screams.

"No! No! You're not nobody, you're my brother!" He's grabbed the collar of Dean's jacket and he's hanging on like Dean's a dog spoiling for a fight. "Screw you, Cas! That's not how free will works!"

"You enjoyed the cage so much, Sam?" There's a dangerous gentleness to Castiel's tone, and Dean feels the hand at the back of his neck tremble.

"It doesn't matter," Sam says, his voice flat. "Because if you're going to impose your will on heaven and earth, then it's all going to be hell, don't you see?"

"Sam's right," Dean agrees, because nowhere is hell as long as Sam is with him. "Come on, Cas---you know us. We’re the good guys! We help people, that's not going to change!"

"You're right," says Castiel thoughtfully. "I do know you. You've kept secrets from me, lied to me, plotted behind my back...even if you did kneel, I would have doubts about your sincerity." He takes a deep breath, and begins to shine with intense white light.

Dean clutches Sam tightly---if they're going to go, they'll go together---and the brightness increases, until closing his eyes isn't enough, and he buries his face against Sam's arm. The room hums like a speaker cranked to ‘defibrillate’. Then a sonic boom at close range shakes the building and the light dies away.

He opens his eyes a fraction. No sign of Cas. Sam's looking around, and even Bobby is squinting through one half-open peeper.

"What the hell?" Dean breathes. They’re not dead, but somehow he has a feeling it’s not because Cas backed down.

"A wild guess," says Bobby, his voice almost steady. "There's some kind of learning curve on his shiny new powers and he zapped himself into another time zone. I think we better get out of here while the getting's good."

They bolt from the building, and there by the back door is the Impala, right side up, unscathed.

Bobby dives into the backseat while Sam scrambles for shotgun.

Dean pauses for an instant, his hand on the driver's door handle and murmurs, "Thanks for that, anyway."

***


Comments are always appreciated.

.

Stand Me Up at the Gates of Hell

Date: 2011-05-29 09:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] catsintheattic.livejournal.com
Your fic maintained a nice balance between scary (one spiced-up angel), angst (the thought of our poor boys in hell once again) and fun moments (Dean's bravado and Bobby's speculation on Cas's learning curve). I like! :-)

Re: Stand Me Up at the Gates of Hell

Date: 2011-05-29 10:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
Thanks. I try to echo the tone of the show, and they're going to have some writing to do to resolve this one!

.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-05-29 09:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vasiliki.livejournal.com
OUCH, OUCH, OUCH! (except for the Impala)

Damn, he wasn't moved at the mention of TFW?! Although Dean's mention of the Team couldn't be very convincing at that point, after he had already closed the door on Cas' face the previous day... and now he wasn't anymore talking to Cas.

You've kept everyone (even the new God) in character. But damn, if that's how the premier goes, I won't be able to watch next season. :(

(no subject)

Date: 2011-05-29 10:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
Thanks---characterization is always important to me, so I'm glad you think I got it right.

.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-05-29 09:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] irismay42.livejournal.com
Yay! At least Cas used his God-Power to fix the Impala!

Hmm, interesting idea. I really hope the show goes in this direction, rather than skipping ahead a few months!

Nicely done.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-05-29 10:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
Thanks. So far, I've never predicted what the writers have eventually done, but we'll see!

.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-05-29 10:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] borgmama1of5.livejournal.com
YES! This is how they get out of there without having to kneel to Cas!

(I am hoping you stole the first page of episode 7.1 to write this!)

(no subject)

Date: 2011-05-29 10:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
I'm hoping they steal this to write the first page!

Thanks for stopping by to comment.

.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-05-30 06:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jdsgirlbev.livejournal.com
Now that Cas isn't Mr. Goody-two-wings anyore, I'd like season 7 to be much like season 1, fling under the radar and going about the family business- helping people, hunting things, and this would be the perfect setup for that!

Two thumbs up. :D

(no subject)

Date: 2011-05-30 06:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
It would be great if they went back to casefic individual cases instead of story-arc-of-the-season. This season completely soured me on that; between the Campbells and the Mother of All and Purgatory, I'm really for something with less angst.

On the other hand, bringing John back would be 57 varieties of awesome. (Unlikely, but awesome.) I still think John-as-God is a viable storyline. Which contradicts what I just said, but it would bring things full circle.

I'd also like to see them bring back the Trickster---um, I mean, Gabriel. That wouldn't be any harder than resurrecting John; heck, I can think of a couple different ways to do it.

Thanks for commenting!
.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-05-31 02:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ophite68.livejournal.com
God sighed. Another failure. And he had been so hopeful this time. There had been such a good chance that this time the lesson would be understood. Chuck bowed his head and stood back. Free will could flourish only if he did not interfere.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-05-31 03:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
Yeah, I kinda miss Chuck.

Thanks for stopping by!
.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-04 07:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] louisiane-fille.livejournal.com
You write the boys and their reactions so well. Enjoyed it! *added to memories*

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-05 01:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
I'm glad it worked for you. I had to find a coda just to put my brain to sleep for the summer....

.

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