stare decisis - SN fic - PG

[tigriswolf]

Title: stare decisis
Fandom: “Supernatural”
Disclaimer: not my characters; just for fun.
Warnings: spoilers for 4.7; AU; blasphemy
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 935
Point of view: third
Notes: the title means let the decision stand. Satan means adversary.
More notes: I’ve been reading Paradise Lost. I think it shows in this ficlet; so, spoilers for that?

 

 

The Adversary steps into the room and Uriel’s reaction is barely checked. Peace, brother, Castiel murmurs.

He must be stopped, Uriel hisses, all senses on the Adversary. He is yet vulnerable to us.

You know our orders, Castiel tells him, stepping up to the brother, to his special human. We must wait.

I think, Uriel begins, but Castiel cuts him off. Do not, Uriel. You will border on insurrection.

Uriel subsides, but the Adversary speaks and Uriel cannot hold his tongue. He had been the Angel of the Sun, powerful and majestic, and the Adversary caused his demotion. He had been among the first and the greatest. No human mudmonkey, no matter what lay chained within, would speak to him so and go unpunished.

Uriel! Castiel commands. Desist. You know what Our Father has ordered.

Uriel glares at the Adversary and the brother. This test is pointless, not to mention beneath him.

Castiel murmurs, Remember Sammael’s downfall; Uriel flinches.

Pride had led the Morningstar to fall. Uriel had fought in the war, but Michael had been the one to throw their sinful brother from Heaven.

The Adversary’s human sibling, Dean who Castiel carried from Hell, steps right up into Uriel’s face. Even after the demotion, none had been so daring. His eyes are bright and dangerous—and familiar.

Castiel? Uriel asks, unable to formulate the question, but his younger brother has always been intuitive.

There is a reason Our Father had him pulled from Perdition, he says softly. There is a bigger picture than even our brothers and sisters can See, Uriel.

Watching the mudmonkey brothers, Uriel cannot help but wonder, Do they?

No, Castiel answers. Azazel suspected, but until the end he remained unsure.

Uriel growls at the name. I felt his death, but am not aware of how he died. He shielded himself from my Sight.

Castiel’s amusement is a warm glow as the humans leave, determined to stop the witch. Dean killed him, Uriel. He turns to smile at his brother. He used what the hunters call the gun that kills anything.

Uriel scoffs, not acknowledging his approval of Azazel’s death. Killed by a frail human—a fitting end for the traitor. No such thing exists.

Again, Castiel smiles. The expression hints at knowledge he still has not shared. True, he says. The gun is merely a gun. But they do not know that.

Tell me what He has planned, Castiel. Uriel has not felt so out of the loop since Gabriel returned to Heaven chortling about wide-eyed shepherds.

No, Castiel says gently. All will be revealed. You will know when you must, and not a moment before.

He is more than a man, Uriel states, hoping for a hint. Like his brother, the Adversary’s shell.

Castiel rolls his form’s eyes. Dean is Dean, he says, gaze on Uriel. And Sam is Sam. They were raised together, taught to protect and care for each other. They are a unit, entwined so tightly as to never be undone.

Uriel whispers in dawning comprehension, Like Michael and Sammael before the Fall.

Castiel’s answering smile is sad. There is a plan, he says again. We can do nothing but follow His command.

Uriel is unsure if his brother means Their Father or Dean—or the presence he now believes to be within Dean.

And if the plan fails? he asks, uncaring how close to the line his question comes.

Should that happen, Castiel says, eyes sharp, the shadow of his wings spread behind him in anger, then all of us, from the mightiest Arch to the youngest cherub, will have a choice to make.

Should that happen, Castiel continues, voice gentling, I know where my allegiance shall be.

No matter what is in him, Uriel says, he is still just a man. They both are. And men can be wiped from Creation.

Castiel laughs. They have both Risen.

Not without aid, Uriel argues.

Sam was about to Rise on his own, Castiel tells him. And Dean had almost found a way Out. They are more powerful than their frail bodies let on, and they will stay together to whatever end.

He is the Adversary. Uriel cannot get past that.

Castiel lowers his gaze, wings flexing, jaw clenching. Yes, he admits reluctantly. He was the Morningstar, our most glorious brother, favored above all of Heaven save the Son. And now he is Samuel Winchester, a human boy only ever trying to do the right thing.

Uriel sighs. I do not know what to do, he confesses. I do not know humans but to punish them. And now that I learn—they are the final hope—and the final destruction.

Uriel, Castiel says slowly. I can take the knowledge from you, if you but wish it.

Uriel does not hesitate, does not second-guess.

Do, he says.

White light blinds him, so warm it burns. Castiel’s voice echoes, You will have a choice, Uriel. I pray you, like the rest of our brothers and sisters, make the right one.

The light fades and he is in a human park, watching mudmonkey offspring play.

This is a waste of time, he says. We should find that witch ourselves—and destroy both those humans. They know too much, and walk too proud.

Castiel’s disapproving glance makes Uriel feel all of twenty-thousand years old. You know our orders, Uriel.

Yes, he grumbles, settling back against the bench. I just think—

Castiel cuts him off with a curt, Don’t.

Uriel glares at him but holds his tongue. He has the feeling he’s missing something, but can’t find the words to ask.

Comments

[tigriswolf]

Thank you!