Categories > TV > Supernatural > Comes Knocking
A/N: Note for future: Jarvis and Vision will both exist. Yes, it's a little weird having two different entities with the exact same voice, but I'm not a fan of Friday so Tony somehow managed to recreate Jarvis or he had a back up or whatever reason you need to float your boat.
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The explosion of noise that answered his tentative question was deafening. Obviously, Dean had expected a bit of an interrogation, but the insane chaos of the response had him letting out an overwhelmed whoosh of breath.
Beside him a wide-eyed Sam was leaning back in his chair, as if being physically pushed by the sheer volume.
Everyone was gesturing emphatically while talking: at them; at each other; to themselves (Tony). At the head of the table sat an unimpressed, yet unsurprised, Fury. This disorganized group of rowdy adult-children was a frequent sight to his poor eye.
A sharp whistle cut through the cacophony, leaving a stark silence in it's wake. The soothingly mild voice of Agent Coulson spoke up, "An orderly fashion might be the best way to proceed. Captain Rogers, if you'd like to go first?"
"Colour me shocked."
"He's still not going to sleep with you."
Ignoring Coulson's faintly pinking face and the inappropriate jeering from Tony and Clint, Steve asked the first question, hope coloring his voice, "So angels and God are really listening to our prayers?"
Dean had never been described as delicate.
"God is definitely not. He's wins 'Worst Parent of the Year!' every year by a landslide. Chuck's the dad that's too busy playing video games to care that his kids are biting each other and burning the house down. And the angels...a few of them might be listening and give a slight damn, but to a large portion of the heavenly host we're nothing more than 'useless mud-monkeys'."
Looking at the crushed expression on Cap's face, Dean maybe regretted his choice of wording, but he wasn't going to lie, though he did try to soften the blow. "A handful of them are alright...sometimes. Our best friend is actually an angel, but he's definitely an exception."
Sam stepped in before Dean actually made Captain America cry. "The thing about angels is that they're warriors. They're not guardians in the sense that they're caring and nurturing, they're guardians in that they're literally guarding the universe from evil. Much of their existence has been spent as soldiers following orders so they can be pretty militaristic."
Bucky, knowing that Steve had been praying to God and angels his entire life, laid a hand on his shoulder in commiseration and squeezed. Steve smiled wanly at him and remained silent, afraid to ask anymore questions in fear of the truth.
Sam really had no choice but to call on Tony next. He had seen the hand shoot up halfway through his angel explanation and watched as it started waving with a frenetic energy that only increased the closer Sam came to the end of his sentence.
"Mr. Stark?"
"Quick question - exactly how tall are you?"
Looking confused, Sam answered, "6'4"."
"Impressively taller than Captain America, but still not quite as tall as that tale."
"Excuse me?"
"Listen, not to call Bullshit!, but...Bull and Shit"
Tony wore an unapologetic look of disbelief as he eyed the brothers. Throughout their information dump his brain had been in overdrive, flashing theorems behind his eyes as to why almost everything God-related they were saying was impossible.
Tony's genius fetus brain basically spent it's stint in the womb disproving the existence of a God, so as a self-proclaimed atheist since birth, he just wouldn't accept the lark of a higher power. And if he was honest, he'd admit that he desperately didn't want one to exist. The idea of a creator who allowed all the shit that happened in this show...well, that was infinitely more terrifying than being greeted by an unending abyss when his diode finally blinked out.
"I could provide the jargon, but I have a feeling I'd be wasting my time and at $1000/hr, it's a terrible thing to waste". Tony ignored his teammates eyerolls and continued. "All I can say is that if angels and demons are real, then how is it possible they're not monopolizing the news. I'm having a difficult time believing something this monumental has been kept under such tight wraps. Especially after what happened today."
"They don't usually make such a public scene." Dean replied, "They generally operate one soul at a time."
"Also, subconsciously, people are incredibly selective. Whether it's their hearing, their sight, or their comprehension. If people don't want something to exist, then it just doesn't, no matter the evidence to the contrary." Sam had decided to bring up a common trait of the people and clients he and Dean interacted with in their line of work. "Why do you think any of you even know what a vampire is? What a ghost is? What a demon is? Because people have encountered them and told others. People who, instead of being thanked for their information, were laughed at and labeled crazy. Despite everyone's vehemence that it doesn't because it can't, the supernatural still exists. It's best to recognize and accept it so you can fight and survive it."
Bruce appreciated Sam's argument, but had a counter, "Yes, most people possess a cognitive selectiveness that renders them partially blind and deaf, but when backed by centuries of scientific data on our biology and universe, it's less of a subconscious selection and more of an active discard of the irrelevant or just plain non-existent." He tried to be as civil as possible as it was clear Sam and Dean truly bought into what they were saying. "I don't mean to insult everything you've just told us or your apparent 'life's work'."
Providing a concrete example, Sam detailed their most recent case. "The poltergeist that brought us here: an upper class family moved into an old brownstone. Full of bumps, creaks, and cold spots, the MacAllen's rationalized it as the settling of a drafty house. When items started falling off shelves, it was because they were uneven. When their daughter repeatedly woke up screaming with claw marks bleeding down her arms, she was doing it to herself while suffering from night terrors (of which she had no prior history). They had been normalizing all the abnormal happenings because they just couldn't believe in an abnormal alternative. Until one morning there simply was no other alternative - they were sitting down for breakfast and the cutlery started trying to cut them instead of their food."
"Unless you want to call us outright liars, what's your explanation?" Dean couldn't keep the aggression out of his voice.
After a beat of silence, Bruce looked to his science brother for assistance, "Please tell me you have something sufficiently science-ridden to explain that?"
"Acid."
Becoming fed up with the so-called geniuses, Dean presented the most empirical evidence he had.
"Dear Angel of the Lord, Castiel, wanna get your feathery ass down here? There's a Hulk and a Tinman starving for some crow."
Alarmed that the brother just summoned an unknown entity into SHIELD headquarters, Fury tried to issue a warning, but was interrupted by the sound of fluttering wings and the shocking appearance of a - Fury squinted his eye in confusion - a tax accountant?
Not one for personal space (unless it was Dean's it seemed), Castiel appeared immediately and almost on top of the eldest Winchester, with his back to the room.
"Hello, Dean. Sam." Castiel's deep voice greeted.
"Holy shit!" Clint was up halfway out of his chair, instinctively making for the vents.
Tony had his palm out, forgetting he didn't have any blasts left in his portable hand repulsor.
Aside from Coulson and Fury, no one actually had weapons or ammo, having depleted their supply against the demon.
Natasha discreetly ripped the corner of the bright blue folder on the table in front of her and began making a throwing star which, despite it's smurf-y appearance, would be every bit as lethal as a metallic one when she was finished.
Fury could see his team was about to erupt into a confused mass of fighting and fleeing. Taking in the smug look on Dean's face, he took out his gun and demanded an explanation, "You have 5 seconds before your guest is shot."
Feeling inordinately pleased with himself, Dean made the introductions, grandly gesturing between the two parties. "Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers, meet Angel of the Lord, Castiel."
A bemused Cas turned to the rest of the room's occupants with an awkward wave, "Hello", and listened to Dean's quick rundown of what was happening - that he and Sam were trying to convince everyone of Chuck, etc.
Everyone took a second to breathe and assess the arrival of what appeared to be a frumpy tax attorney (clearly pro-bono).
"That's an angel?!" Steve couldn't keep the disbelief and disappointment out of his voice.
"What is with the get-up?" Clint asked. "Cause I'm really not in the mood for a lecture on the fluctuations of the DOW."
"Isn't he supposed to have wings? I thought I heard flapping." Bucky could've sworn he heard fluttering or something bird-like the second before he appeared.
"Is the halo not an actual manifestation then?" Bruce added his two-cents.
"No harp?" Tony tossed in his own change.
Castiel blinked blankly at them in response before ignoring them completely and looking at Dean.
"I brought the crow you requested. You didn't specify a desired preparation so I simply retrieved it on my way here as it was flying home to it's nest."
To the horror of everyone present, he then proceeded to pull a live crow from out of the ether seemingly contained within his sleeve cuff.
Cawing madly while furiously flapping it's wings, the spazzing crow tried desperately to escape Cas' grasp. Not wanting to distress the animal more than necessary, the angel stroked a grace-laden finger down the bird's neck while calmly muttering in Enochian. The bird immediately settled, letting out a contented little squawk as Cas stroked another finger down it's feathers.
Satisfied the animal was sufficiently comforted, Cas looked back to Dean for direction, only to be met with the familiar sight of him - palm to forehead. The sound of laughter drew his attention to Sam who tried to explain.
"He didn't mean they were actually hungry and wanted to eat a crow as a meal. It's just a phrase meaning they needed to be proven wrong."
"I see. One of those idiom things again." Looking down at the crow, Castiel couldn't help feeling a sense of relief that they wouldn't be ending her life.
Reacting to Castiel's apparent idiocy, Steve, once again couldn't keep the disbelief and disappointment out of his voice as he repeated,
"That's an angel?!"
The Avengers began a barrage of trolling commentary.
"The halo was probably replaced with a dunce cap."
"It's nice that him and his bird have the same size brain."
"Is it just me or does that trench coat make it seem like he's about to 'show us his wares'?"
Listening with growing ire to the ignorant irreverence with which his celestial presence was being treated, Castiel allowed just a hint of his eardrum-bursting true voice to bleed into his tone as he spoke.
"As a celestial being, my true form, which I've had to cloak due to the fragility of your dull senses, is the size of your Chrysler building. My true voice would render you deaf. My true visage would render you blind. To truly appreciate my grace would render you dead."
Shivers and goosebumps broke out over everyone.
"I have seen the dawn of your time. The dawn of many times. Do not mistakenly believe that because I have not chosen to waste the magnitude of my cognizance on familiarizing myself with the colloquialisms of your trivial language, that I am unable. As a warrior of heaven, a Commander singled out by God Himself, it is absurdly beneath my capabilities; therefore, my time."
"I am here only because Dean Winchester has called for me. As is within his rights as both the Righteous Man and as my friend. If I deem you worthy enough of my attention, it will be only in the capacity of which you are of assistance to Dean and Sam Winchester." He paused to stare at each person who had dared to make a derogatory comment - Tony, Clint, Bruce, and Steve.
"The next time you choose to address me, the words will have been chosen wisely and delivered with respect."
Dean and Sam hadn't encountered this severe and defensive side of Cas in a while. Nowadays Cas was generally cucumber-like in his coolness and the jokes and jabs dealt by the Winchesters were received in good humor. It was so easy to forget what being an angel truly meant because Cas was so interested in delving into humanity and learning from the Winchesters. They tended to view him as a younger brother – the image of a slurpee-serving, 'scared of sex' Cas was usually at the forefront of their minds when they interacted with him. They were both humbled by the reaffirmation that Cas really did make an exception for them. Sure, he loved humanity and sought to protect it to the greatest of his ability, but he was also insanely higher up the food chain than all of them.
"Anybody else just pee a little?" Clint shifted a bit in his seat.
Tony's world view was pretty stagnant when it came to the existence of angels. That some uppity dude in a pervert trench was calling himself one, only served to prove his theory right - they didn't exist. But he also could not deny that he had felt very, very small, almost insignificant, as he and the team were being scolded. It almost felt like Castiel's voice and words got heavier the more he spoke; carrying the weight of eons of experience and knowledge. Tony shook his head, sounding crazy even to himself. He was getting a little too close to the kool-aid. He turned his attention back at the new guy only to be pierced by intense blue eyes and the same weighted voice.
"Your mind is strong, impressively so; however, it is a strength that doubles as your greatest weakness with it's ferocity to stand firm against a shifting paradigm.
In the blink of an eye Castiel disappeared from Sam and Dean's side and reappeared behind Tony. He placed his hands on either side of his head, touching his temples.
"I will remove that aspect of weakness for you."
The entire room watched with baited breath as Tony's eyes went from panicked, to shocked, to awe-filled, to joy-filled, and then serene as tears began trailing down his cheeks. The emotional slideshow lasted no longer than a minute.
Castiel removed his hands from Tony's temples and laid them on his shoulders, anchoring him back to his mind and body. Tony took a deep shuttering breath, closed his eyes, and let out a very quiet, but grateful, "Thank you."
With a gentle squeeze of his hands on Tony's shoulders, Cas let out an equally quiet, "You are very welcome, Tony Stark."
Stepping back, Castiel dropped his hands from Tony and surveyed the room, settling on Bruce for a second. Seeing as he was well on his way to fully believing the truth (if reluctantly), Castiel let him be and flew back to Sam and Dean's side to tend to the crow he left sitting on the table.
"What the hell did you just do?" Fury demanded. Turning to a roofied-looking Tony he barked out, "Stark report!"
"I merely eased his acceptance of the reality he had already known to exist, but would never accept on his own: that this existence is not as cold, small, and desolate as he had tried to convince himself." Castiel explained.
"Tony?" A worried Bruce looked over at his best friend.
Tony wiped his eyes and calmed down his spooked team.
"Guys, it's fine. I'm fine. Better than fine actually." Turning to Steve he said, "Its a good thing eating crow is just a phrase, because it looks like my plate is going to be full of 500 pages of Charles Darwin theory. Yum."
Turning to the rest of the room he stated, "It was amazing. I don't know what else to say except that he's legit holy shit."
Acting out of character, a skeptical and angry Bruce snarked, "So what, you're going to start attending Sunday service just because some random bad touched you?"
"Brucie, baby, I get it. You're brain is hardwired for science and sacrilege - that was literally me 2 minutes ago." He gestured to Sam and Dean, "But these two are telling the truth. The dude holding a crow is an actual Angel of the Lord because those are two things that actually, mind-blowingly, exist. When it came to religion, I know we thought everyone had opened their minds so much that their brains fell out, but it turns out some of them might actually not be mindless, kool-aid addicts."
It was true, he and Tony had poked sciencey-fun at religion and it's zealots; however, Bruce used believe in God. Throughout his abusive childhood, Bruce had sought solace in faith. If his life hadn't taken such a terrible turn, he knew he'd still believe; however, he was just too angry and hurt now. It was easier to believe God didn't exist rather than the idea that his life had been so horrific because God thought he deserved it.
So, Bruce listened to Tony's impassioned speech, but could only think of one thing to say in response that wouldn't obliterate his friend's feelings (of which, Tony had many, though he pretended otherwise).
"No comment."
Bruce turned to Natasha and Bucky, "You two are awfully quiet. Nothing to add?"
Glances were exchanged between the two in question before Natasha spoke up.
"What Sam said to us after killing the demon was right - we deal with so much insanity on a daily basis that one more insane thing isn't difficult to accommodate. I'm mostly just relieved we have two field experts who know what we're up against and how to fight and win."
Bucky nodded in agreement to Tasha's words and shrugged nonchalantly. "We've dealt with giant snakes, giant robots, and a giant snail - what's a giant dude in the sky?"
Fury and Coulson could tell just by looking at each other that they were on the same page. They were both so used to crazy shit that they agreed with Natasha - essentially, what was one more thing? As long as they had access to the Winchesters to prevent another Apocalypse, then they were confident the Avengers and Shield would succeed against this new enemy. Though, Fury had to take a mental moment when he learned just how many times the world had been terrifyingly close to ending.
"Thank you for your assistance today. We're going to have to ask you to stay close for a few more days. Just to ensure we have our information correctly documented and categorized before you leave the realm of arms reach." Fury requested.
Sam and Dean hesitated. Affording food and a motel in some middle America, podunk town wasn't a problem. Those small costs could be covered by fake credit cards or their healthy income from pool hustling. To afford those necessities in Manhattan was not an expense covered by petty theft.
"Uh, the thing is...we, uh..." Sam trailed off and threw Dean a "we're poor and it's awkward" face, so Dean picked up the slack.
"We're poor. It's awkward." Dean ignored Sam's exasperated 'Dean!', "You got a place we could crash? Cause I ain't sleeping in my car with Gigantor over here."
Looking pointedly at Tony, who threw up his hands (my tower's not a damn orphanage!), Coulson assured them, "I think you'll be more than happy with the accommodations we have in mind."
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A/N: I'd love to know what you think and am always open to constructive criticism! Thank you!
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The explosion of noise that answered his tentative question was deafening. Obviously, Dean had expected a bit of an interrogation, but the insane chaos of the response had him letting out an overwhelmed whoosh of breath.
Beside him a wide-eyed Sam was leaning back in his chair, as if being physically pushed by the sheer volume.
Everyone was gesturing emphatically while talking: at them; at each other; to themselves (Tony). At the head of the table sat an unimpressed, yet unsurprised, Fury. This disorganized group of rowdy adult-children was a frequent sight to his poor eye.
A sharp whistle cut through the cacophony, leaving a stark silence in it's wake. The soothingly mild voice of Agent Coulson spoke up, "An orderly fashion might be the best way to proceed. Captain Rogers, if you'd like to go first?"
"Colour me shocked."
"He's still not going to sleep with you."
Ignoring Coulson's faintly pinking face and the inappropriate jeering from Tony and Clint, Steve asked the first question, hope coloring his voice, "So angels and God are really listening to our prayers?"
Dean had never been described as delicate.
"God is definitely not. He's wins 'Worst Parent of the Year!' every year by a landslide. Chuck's the dad that's too busy playing video games to care that his kids are biting each other and burning the house down. And the angels...a few of them might be listening and give a slight damn, but to a large portion of the heavenly host we're nothing more than 'useless mud-monkeys'."
Looking at the crushed expression on Cap's face, Dean maybe regretted his choice of wording, but he wasn't going to lie, though he did try to soften the blow. "A handful of them are alright...sometimes. Our best friend is actually an angel, but he's definitely an exception."
Sam stepped in before Dean actually made Captain America cry. "The thing about angels is that they're warriors. They're not guardians in the sense that they're caring and nurturing, they're guardians in that they're literally guarding the universe from evil. Much of their existence has been spent as soldiers following orders so they can be pretty militaristic."
Bucky, knowing that Steve had been praying to God and angels his entire life, laid a hand on his shoulder in commiseration and squeezed. Steve smiled wanly at him and remained silent, afraid to ask anymore questions in fear of the truth.
Sam really had no choice but to call on Tony next. He had seen the hand shoot up halfway through his angel explanation and watched as it started waving with a frenetic energy that only increased the closer Sam came to the end of his sentence.
"Mr. Stark?"
"Quick question - exactly how tall are you?"
Looking confused, Sam answered, "6'4"."
"Impressively taller than Captain America, but still not quite as tall as that tale."
"Excuse me?"
"Listen, not to call Bullshit!, but...Bull and Shit"
Tony wore an unapologetic look of disbelief as he eyed the brothers. Throughout their information dump his brain had been in overdrive, flashing theorems behind his eyes as to why almost everything God-related they were saying was impossible.
Tony's genius fetus brain basically spent it's stint in the womb disproving the existence of a God, so as a self-proclaimed atheist since birth, he just wouldn't accept the lark of a higher power. And if he was honest, he'd admit that he desperately didn't want one to exist. The idea of a creator who allowed all the shit that happened in this show...well, that was infinitely more terrifying than being greeted by an unending abyss when his diode finally blinked out.
"I could provide the jargon, but I have a feeling I'd be wasting my time and at $1000/hr, it's a terrible thing to waste". Tony ignored his teammates eyerolls and continued. "All I can say is that if angels and demons are real, then how is it possible they're not monopolizing the news. I'm having a difficult time believing something this monumental has been kept under such tight wraps. Especially after what happened today."
"They don't usually make such a public scene." Dean replied, "They generally operate one soul at a time."
"Also, subconsciously, people are incredibly selective. Whether it's their hearing, their sight, or their comprehension. If people don't want something to exist, then it just doesn't, no matter the evidence to the contrary." Sam had decided to bring up a common trait of the people and clients he and Dean interacted with in their line of work. "Why do you think any of you even know what a vampire is? What a ghost is? What a demon is? Because people have encountered them and told others. People who, instead of being thanked for their information, were laughed at and labeled crazy. Despite everyone's vehemence that it doesn't because it can't, the supernatural still exists. It's best to recognize and accept it so you can fight and survive it."
Bruce appreciated Sam's argument, but had a counter, "Yes, most people possess a cognitive selectiveness that renders them partially blind and deaf, but when backed by centuries of scientific data on our biology and universe, it's less of a subconscious selection and more of an active discard of the irrelevant or just plain non-existent." He tried to be as civil as possible as it was clear Sam and Dean truly bought into what they were saying. "I don't mean to insult everything you've just told us or your apparent 'life's work'."
Providing a concrete example, Sam detailed their most recent case. "The poltergeist that brought us here: an upper class family moved into an old brownstone. Full of bumps, creaks, and cold spots, the MacAllen's rationalized it as the settling of a drafty house. When items started falling off shelves, it was because they were uneven. When their daughter repeatedly woke up screaming with claw marks bleeding down her arms, she was doing it to herself while suffering from night terrors (of which she had no prior history). They had been normalizing all the abnormal happenings because they just couldn't believe in an abnormal alternative. Until one morning there simply was no other alternative - they were sitting down for breakfast and the cutlery started trying to cut them instead of their food."
"Unless you want to call us outright liars, what's your explanation?" Dean couldn't keep the aggression out of his voice.
After a beat of silence, Bruce looked to his science brother for assistance, "Please tell me you have something sufficiently science-ridden to explain that?"
"Acid."
Becoming fed up with the so-called geniuses, Dean presented the most empirical evidence he had.
"Dear Angel of the Lord, Castiel, wanna get your feathery ass down here? There's a Hulk and a Tinman starving for some crow."
Alarmed that the brother just summoned an unknown entity into SHIELD headquarters, Fury tried to issue a warning, but was interrupted by the sound of fluttering wings and the shocking appearance of a - Fury squinted his eye in confusion - a tax accountant?
Not one for personal space (unless it was Dean's it seemed), Castiel appeared immediately and almost on top of the eldest Winchester, with his back to the room.
"Hello, Dean. Sam." Castiel's deep voice greeted.
"Holy shit!" Clint was up halfway out of his chair, instinctively making for the vents.
Tony had his palm out, forgetting he didn't have any blasts left in his portable hand repulsor.
Aside from Coulson and Fury, no one actually had weapons or ammo, having depleted their supply against the demon.
Natasha discreetly ripped the corner of the bright blue folder on the table in front of her and began making a throwing star which, despite it's smurf-y appearance, would be every bit as lethal as a metallic one when she was finished.
Fury could see his team was about to erupt into a confused mass of fighting and fleeing. Taking in the smug look on Dean's face, he took out his gun and demanded an explanation, "You have 5 seconds before your guest is shot."
Feeling inordinately pleased with himself, Dean made the introductions, grandly gesturing between the two parties. "Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers, meet Angel of the Lord, Castiel."
A bemused Cas turned to the rest of the room's occupants with an awkward wave, "Hello", and listened to Dean's quick rundown of what was happening - that he and Sam were trying to convince everyone of Chuck, etc.
Everyone took a second to breathe and assess the arrival of what appeared to be a frumpy tax attorney (clearly pro-bono).
"That's an angel?!" Steve couldn't keep the disbelief and disappointment out of his voice.
"What is with the get-up?" Clint asked. "Cause I'm really not in the mood for a lecture on the fluctuations of the DOW."
"Isn't he supposed to have wings? I thought I heard flapping." Bucky could've sworn he heard fluttering or something bird-like the second before he appeared.
"Is the halo not an actual manifestation then?" Bruce added his two-cents.
"No harp?" Tony tossed in his own change.
Castiel blinked blankly at them in response before ignoring them completely and looking at Dean.
"I brought the crow you requested. You didn't specify a desired preparation so I simply retrieved it on my way here as it was flying home to it's nest."
To the horror of everyone present, he then proceeded to pull a live crow from out of the ether seemingly contained within his sleeve cuff.
Cawing madly while furiously flapping it's wings, the spazzing crow tried desperately to escape Cas' grasp. Not wanting to distress the animal more than necessary, the angel stroked a grace-laden finger down the bird's neck while calmly muttering in Enochian. The bird immediately settled, letting out a contented little squawk as Cas stroked another finger down it's feathers.
Satisfied the animal was sufficiently comforted, Cas looked back to Dean for direction, only to be met with the familiar sight of him - palm to forehead. The sound of laughter drew his attention to Sam who tried to explain.
"He didn't mean they were actually hungry and wanted to eat a crow as a meal. It's just a phrase meaning they needed to be proven wrong."
"I see. One of those idiom things again." Looking down at the crow, Castiel couldn't help feeling a sense of relief that they wouldn't be ending her life.
Reacting to Castiel's apparent idiocy, Steve, once again couldn't keep the disbelief and disappointment out of his voice as he repeated,
"That's an angel?!"
The Avengers began a barrage of trolling commentary.
"The halo was probably replaced with a dunce cap."
"It's nice that him and his bird have the same size brain."
"Is it just me or does that trench coat make it seem like he's about to 'show us his wares'?"
Listening with growing ire to the ignorant irreverence with which his celestial presence was being treated, Castiel allowed just a hint of his eardrum-bursting true voice to bleed into his tone as he spoke.
"As a celestial being, my true form, which I've had to cloak due to the fragility of your dull senses, is the size of your Chrysler building. My true voice would render you deaf. My true visage would render you blind. To truly appreciate my grace would render you dead."
Shivers and goosebumps broke out over everyone.
"I have seen the dawn of your time. The dawn of many times. Do not mistakenly believe that because I have not chosen to waste the magnitude of my cognizance on familiarizing myself with the colloquialisms of your trivial language, that I am unable. As a warrior of heaven, a Commander singled out by God Himself, it is absurdly beneath my capabilities; therefore, my time."
"I am here only because Dean Winchester has called for me. As is within his rights as both the Righteous Man and as my friend. If I deem you worthy enough of my attention, it will be only in the capacity of which you are of assistance to Dean and Sam Winchester." He paused to stare at each person who had dared to make a derogatory comment - Tony, Clint, Bruce, and Steve.
"The next time you choose to address me, the words will have been chosen wisely and delivered with respect."
Dean and Sam hadn't encountered this severe and defensive side of Cas in a while. Nowadays Cas was generally cucumber-like in his coolness and the jokes and jabs dealt by the Winchesters were received in good humor. It was so easy to forget what being an angel truly meant because Cas was so interested in delving into humanity and learning from the Winchesters. They tended to view him as a younger brother – the image of a slurpee-serving, 'scared of sex' Cas was usually at the forefront of their minds when they interacted with him. They were both humbled by the reaffirmation that Cas really did make an exception for them. Sure, he loved humanity and sought to protect it to the greatest of his ability, but he was also insanely higher up the food chain than all of them.
"Anybody else just pee a little?" Clint shifted a bit in his seat.
Tony's world view was pretty stagnant when it came to the existence of angels. That some uppity dude in a pervert trench was calling himself one, only served to prove his theory right - they didn't exist. But he also could not deny that he had felt very, very small, almost insignificant, as he and the team were being scolded. It almost felt like Castiel's voice and words got heavier the more he spoke; carrying the weight of eons of experience and knowledge. Tony shook his head, sounding crazy even to himself. He was getting a little too close to the kool-aid. He turned his attention back at the new guy only to be pierced by intense blue eyes and the same weighted voice.
"Your mind is strong, impressively so; however, it is a strength that doubles as your greatest weakness with it's ferocity to stand firm against a shifting paradigm.
In the blink of an eye Castiel disappeared from Sam and Dean's side and reappeared behind Tony. He placed his hands on either side of his head, touching his temples.
"I will remove that aspect of weakness for you."
The entire room watched with baited breath as Tony's eyes went from panicked, to shocked, to awe-filled, to joy-filled, and then serene as tears began trailing down his cheeks. The emotional slideshow lasted no longer than a minute.
Castiel removed his hands from Tony's temples and laid them on his shoulders, anchoring him back to his mind and body. Tony took a deep shuttering breath, closed his eyes, and let out a very quiet, but grateful, "Thank you."
With a gentle squeeze of his hands on Tony's shoulders, Cas let out an equally quiet, "You are very welcome, Tony Stark."
Stepping back, Castiel dropped his hands from Tony and surveyed the room, settling on Bruce for a second. Seeing as he was well on his way to fully believing the truth (if reluctantly), Castiel let him be and flew back to Sam and Dean's side to tend to the crow he left sitting on the table.
"What the hell did you just do?" Fury demanded. Turning to a roofied-looking Tony he barked out, "Stark report!"
"I merely eased his acceptance of the reality he had already known to exist, but would never accept on his own: that this existence is not as cold, small, and desolate as he had tried to convince himself." Castiel explained.
"Tony?" A worried Bruce looked over at his best friend.
Tony wiped his eyes and calmed down his spooked team.
"Guys, it's fine. I'm fine. Better than fine actually." Turning to Steve he said, "Its a good thing eating crow is just a phrase, because it looks like my plate is going to be full of 500 pages of Charles Darwin theory. Yum."
Turning to the rest of the room he stated, "It was amazing. I don't know what else to say except that he's legit holy shit."
Acting out of character, a skeptical and angry Bruce snarked, "So what, you're going to start attending Sunday service just because some random bad touched you?"
"Brucie, baby, I get it. You're brain is hardwired for science and sacrilege - that was literally me 2 minutes ago." He gestured to Sam and Dean, "But these two are telling the truth. The dude holding a crow is an actual Angel of the Lord because those are two things that actually, mind-blowingly, exist. When it came to religion, I know we thought everyone had opened their minds so much that their brains fell out, but it turns out some of them might actually not be mindless, kool-aid addicts."
It was true, he and Tony had poked sciencey-fun at religion and it's zealots; however, Bruce used believe in God. Throughout his abusive childhood, Bruce had sought solace in faith. If his life hadn't taken such a terrible turn, he knew he'd still believe; however, he was just too angry and hurt now. It was easier to believe God didn't exist rather than the idea that his life had been so horrific because God thought he deserved it.
So, Bruce listened to Tony's impassioned speech, but could only think of one thing to say in response that wouldn't obliterate his friend's feelings (of which, Tony had many, though he pretended otherwise).
"No comment."
Bruce turned to Natasha and Bucky, "You two are awfully quiet. Nothing to add?"
Glances were exchanged between the two in question before Natasha spoke up.
"What Sam said to us after killing the demon was right - we deal with so much insanity on a daily basis that one more insane thing isn't difficult to accommodate. I'm mostly just relieved we have two field experts who know what we're up against and how to fight and win."
Bucky nodded in agreement to Tasha's words and shrugged nonchalantly. "We've dealt with giant snakes, giant robots, and a giant snail - what's a giant dude in the sky?"
Fury and Coulson could tell just by looking at each other that they were on the same page. They were both so used to crazy shit that they agreed with Natasha - essentially, what was one more thing? As long as they had access to the Winchesters to prevent another Apocalypse, then they were confident the Avengers and Shield would succeed against this new enemy. Though, Fury had to take a mental moment when he learned just how many times the world had been terrifyingly close to ending.
"Thank you for your assistance today. We're going to have to ask you to stay close for a few more days. Just to ensure we have our information correctly documented and categorized before you leave the realm of arms reach." Fury requested.
Sam and Dean hesitated. Affording food and a motel in some middle America, podunk town wasn't a problem. Those small costs could be covered by fake credit cards or their healthy income from pool hustling. To afford those necessities in Manhattan was not an expense covered by petty theft.
"Uh, the thing is...we, uh..." Sam trailed off and threw Dean a "we're poor and it's awkward" face, so Dean picked up the slack.
"We're poor. It's awkward." Dean ignored Sam's exasperated 'Dean!', "You got a place we could crash? Cause I ain't sleeping in my car with Gigantor over here."
Looking pointedly at Tony, who threw up his hands (my tower's not a damn orphanage!), Coulson assured them, "I think you'll be more than happy with the accommodations we have in mind."
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A/N: I'd love to know what you think and am always open to constructive criticism! Thank you!
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