fandomcorner | Fic: Under the Wing

Title: Under the Wing
Author:

hils
Pairing: Gen with implied Dean/Castiel
Rating: G
Wordcount: 600
Summary: Balthazar offers Castiel what little comfort he can. Spoilers for 6.17 My Hear Will Go On.
Thanks to

hsapiens and

sucksucksmile for the beta work

They meet on a hillside in the early hours of the morning, just as they do every day. It’s one
of those things they’ve never really discussed beyond Cas mentioning in passing once that
he found the dawn the most soothing part of the day. Now they take a few moments repose
every morning to observe it before submersing themselves once more in war and strategy.

Castiel has been quiet since the whole Titanic incident. This isn’t exactly abnormal for him
as he’s always been the stoic one, but there’s a heaviness to the way he carries himself that
Balthazar knows means something is wrong.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He knows what the answer will be before he even asks. He and Castiel have been friends
for millennia and Balthazar knows how his brother thinks probably even better than Castiel
does himself.

“I’m fine,” Castiel replies exactly as Balthazar knew he would. So he does what he does best
and he pushes.

“The decision you made was a sound one, Cas.”

Castiel doesn’t reply. Instead his eyes fix out over the horizon as they watch the sun slowly
creep over the hills, bathing them both in a soft pink light as a new day begins.

“That Winchester boy you’re so fond of,” Balthazar presses, “both of them actually.
They’re soldiers. Maybe not in the traditional sense but they were raised to fight and they
understand all too well the sacrifices that must be made for a greater cause. Don’t beat
yourself up just because you think they don’t understand.”

For a moment Castiel doesn’t answer and Balthazar wonders if this is one of those moments
that he should just leave it alone.

“You are wrong,” Castiel finally says though, his voice low and heavy with exhaustion. “Dean
may be a soldier, but he is also the righteous man. This, the reason we’re here now, was
because he wasn’t willing to sacrifice human lives for Heaven’s cause. Humans will always
come first with him, and I’m afraid. . .”

He trails off and Balthazar can hear the raw emotion in his voice. It’s as he’d suspected
then. Castiel’s feelings for Dean Winchester run deeper than either Castiel or Dean realize.
Well, that’s something Balthazar will have to add to his list of ‘Things to Right’ now that he’s
working with the two idiots.

“What are you afraid of, Cas?”

Castiel takes a deep breath. “I’m afraid that with the choices I have to make to win the war
in Heaven that I’m going to lose Dean forever. I believe in what we’re fighting for Balthazar,
but I don’t think the issues in Heaven concern Dean as they do us.”

“He may surprise you,” Balthazar replies. In fact he is determined to make sure it happens.

“Dean constantly surprises me,” Castiel agrees. “But he also frustrates me in equal measure.
We’re so very different and I’m not sure we will ever agree on anything.”
Balthazar can hear the defeat in Castiel’s voice. He’s given up on Dean, or at least on the
idea that he and Dean could have any sort of functional relationship.

There’s only one thing Balthazar can do at this moment, so he moves over to Castiel, unfurls
his wings and wraps them around his brother, drawing him close. For a moment Castiel is
rigid, taken by surprise no doubt, but he soon relaxes as the grace from Balthazar’s wings
bleeds into him and warms him.

“Never say never, Cassie,” Balthazar murmurs. They stay like that until the sun has risen.

A new dawn and a new day.