Night 65: M31-M40 Hallway

[freewill]

[In M39.]

Honestly, Castiel hadn't expected there to be another clue offered. It made him wonder for a moment if he should call everything off to see what else they might be able to learn, but at this point he realized there was no turning back. He'd already asked the help of multiple people, and he wasn't going to waste their time by no going through with it. Besides, Landel had revealed that five patients would be changing tonight, which made it clear that they were even shorter on time than he'd imagined.

Kobayashi left quickly, and Castiel was glad that he didn't have to bring up that he might be undergoing surgery in their room. It wasn't as if he planned on involving his roommate's side of the small space in the first place, and there was also a chance that it would be taking place in Rapunzel's room instead.

For the moment, all Castiel could do was sit and wait. He didn't like the inactivity, but seeing how his stomach was still giving him grief, it wasn't the worst fate at the moment. No, at this point he was relieved that the night had already started and all that felt odd were the same symptoms he'd been suffering from all day.

It seemed possible he'd lucked out tonight, then, but he doubted that would last much longer. That was why he needed to take care of this now.

The first person who was set to show up here was the one who'd claimed to be Gabriel, and Castiel had to admit that he was uncertain about the entire encounter. He went through his possessions box and dug out his replica angel blade, wanting to have it on hand unless this all really did turn out to be a trap. He was hardly in the position to get in a fight with anyone now, but that wasn't going to stop him from being prepared.

[Waiting for Gabriel and Kratos.]

Comments

[impudentsongbird]

For a long time Gabriel remained silent, digesting that. In reality his mind was a turmoil with a thousand questions. Why would their Master need more than one version of themselves? Was Gabriel--were all his brothers--not enough? Had they failed in some way? The distress at the thought had started to show on his face before he checked himself, exhaling softly, lifting a hand to rub his forehead.

Stop this. He loves you. You know that. Focus.

What he needed were basic facts. How had Lucifer managed to breach that kind of barrier, to kidnap people from other worlds? Not as an important a question as it seemed, Gabriel decided after a moment. Here and now, what was important was Castiel. Either this was Castiel or it wasn’t; if it wasn’t, then he was an imposter trying to lead him astray. But there was no way for Gabriel to know, even if Castiel did, and the true thing to consider was whether Gabriel was willing to take the chance that Castiel wasn’t Castiel.

Which, Gabriel knew nearly as soon as the question was asked, he wasn’t. It didn’t matter if Castiel was the brother from his universe or not; he was still potentially Castiel, and that was enough.

“Alright,” he said at last, returning his gaze to his possibly-brother. “I--can accept that, I suppose.” Now that he wasn’t so preoccupied he saw the veneer of sweat on the other man’s face, the way he held himself, and mentally reprimanded himself for a fool. The Archangel dropped his guard and stepped forward quickly, putting a gentle hand on Castiel’s shoulder. “How are you feeling?” he asked with obvious concern. “Can I get you anything while we wait for the others you’ve asked for aid?”

[freewill]

Whether Gabriel (and it was still odd to think of this stranger as Gabriel, seeing how only one angel had ever possessed that name, and it was not the one before him) believed him or not, it was hard to say. Still, at this point it seemed like the tension between them had eased slightly, which meant that they could move on, if nothing else.

There was still a lot for them to discuss. They could compare all sorts of aspects of their garrisons and their siblings, but there wasn't any time for that now. Idle conversation, even if it was related to Heaven, wasn't an option when he could begin turning into something at any moment.

Thankfully, Gabriel grabbed for his good shoulder rather than the one that was still trying to heal. If he'd done that, Castiel wasn't sure he would have been able to stop himself from flinching, and he already was coming off as weak enough at this point.

Gabriel might understand, how difficult it was to be stripped of power, to be so close to human that it was almost unbearable. But now wasn't a time for baring feelings, either.

"No, I think I'll be fine for the moment. Kratos should be coming along soon, and then we can discuss what to do next. We might have to relocate for the surgery, if the healer I've recruited fails to show up." He could understand why Rapunzel might be unable to move after healing whoever else she was aiding tonight, but he had to hope that she wouldn't exhaust too many of her skills before she got to him.

[forsworn]

[from here]

As if on cue, Kratos knocked at the door to announce himself before entering. "Good evening." His eyes immediately found the stranger standing in the room, the one that Castiel had said could also help them. They lingered on him for a few seconds, swiftly sizing him up, before he looked away toward Castiel.

"Did you manage to conclude your business? If I'm interrupting anything, I'll step outside for a few more moments." Time was short, but he didn't want to be accidentally privy to anything that wasn't meant for him to hear.

[impudentsongbird]

Whatever Castiel said, he didn’t look ‘fine’, and Gabriel assessed him for another few moments, a crinkle in his brow. “Well,” he said at last with a gentle, reassuring smile, “at the least I can give you something. Call it for good luck, if nothing else.”

So saying, he slipped the rosary off his wrist and slid it onto Castiel’s. The fact was, he was prepared. It wasn’t only Murphy or the general residents he had made the rosaries for, but Castiel as well; and although this was the only one of his own he’d kept, he had stashed Skul’s in his pocket before he left his room. And if he needed to give that away, he would give it away too, even if the thought of having no defence gave him chills. Right here, right now, Castiel and his friends needed the hope more.

The Archangel was just straightening up when Kratos entered. He met the other man's gaze squarely, one hand resting lightly on Castiel's good shoulder, the other holding his torch loose at his side. "I think we're done for now," he assured Kratos, glancing down at Castiel. "If you are, Castiel?"

[freewill]

When Gabriel first mentioned that he'd be giving him something, Castiel had thought back to how he had said over the bulletin that he could be a help with the healing process. He'd been a bit unclear on the details, but in the end, this turned out to be something else.

He didn't realize what Gabriel was doing until the rosary had been looped around his wrist, and for a moment Castiel only stared. If anything, this was a sign of their different worlds. No angel where he came from would have taken much comfort from such an item. It was the sort of thing that humans relied on to bolster their faith and soothe their spirits. Angels had no business with them.

But at this point, there wasn't much to be said, and so he only nodded. It was for the best, since at that point Kratos appeared.

"No," Castiel said with a shake of his head, "I think we're finished for the moment. Is there anything we need to do to prepare for the surgery?" His tone seemed oddly calm considering he was the one who was going to be cut open, but Castiel strove to not function on things like panic or fear. They weren't even emotions he'd been that aware of for most of his long life, so it was easy enough to set them aside.

[forsworn]

It looked as if the two were indeed "brothers" of a sort, judging by that hand on Castiel's shoulder (or, at least one of them thought as much), but that was hardly the thing to be thinking about at the moment. "Nothing that I can think of."

He actually had several anesthetics in his pocket that were probably deserving of a peek at this point, but unfortunately, he wasn't aware of that fact, nor used to usual surgical procedure. Whenever he'd been called on to perform some kind of rough, makeshift operation in the field, it had always been sort of spur-of-the-moment.

"Are we going to wait for Rapunzel, or would it be better to move to her room instead?" Kratos had seen no word from Rapunzel on the board, but for all he knew, she had sent Castiel a note that had been removed upon reading.

[impudentsongbird]

Rapunzel? Gabriel's eyebrows lifted suddenly, because, naturally, he recognised the name. Who wouldn't? Her tale was very well known. It was just that most people didn't know the truth of it, just as they didn't quite know the whole truth behind Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot. The Archangel opened his mouth to ask if she was all right, then closed it again with a frown.

She was here; that was bad enough. But what, he wondered with a glance down at Castiel, were the odds that it was the Rapunzel of which he knew? She had lived a long time ago, and if what Castiel said was true ...

Again, irrelevant. There were other issues at hand, and Gabriel shunted those questions and his confusion to the back of his mind.

"How far are her quarters?" he asked instead with another glance down at Castiel, addressing his next question to the other angel. "And could you make it there? You don't look well at all, and you'll need your strength. It may be better to wait."

[freewill]

It was no surprise that his health came up when the idea of moving was set forth, but Castiel didn't want to let something like that get in the way. It wasn't as if he was an invalid, after all. "She'll need her strength as well," he pointed out. "If she's healing others before me, chances are she'll be weakened already. Seeing how we're all here and have nothing left to do, we might as well head that way. It isn't far."

Castiel stood up from the bed, moving away from Gabriel's touch to show that he was serious about the decision. Seeing how he was the one with the illness, he thought that he should be the one to get the final say. As for what to take with them -- the sword in Kratos' hand was the main thing that they needed, but Castiel made sure to grab his flashlight as well. There might be transformed patients prowling the hallways by now, and he wanted to make sure they saw them ahead of time at the least.

While he felt feverish, sore, and still had that stomach cramp that had persisted all day, Castiel managed to hold his footing. If he needed to lean on someone as they walked, he imagined that Kratos would allow it without causing him to sacrifice his pride.

He looked to the swordsman in question and nodded. "You can lead the way."

[forsworn]

Kratos watched as the two talked, waiting patiently for them to finish. Thankfully, it didn't take long for them to decide on their next course of action, which was to go to Rapunzel directly rather than wait for her to arrive. That sounded like the safer decision to him: there was no way of knowing whether Rapunzel had adequate protection when she ventured out, whereas he and presumably Castiel's friend as well could deal with anything that crossed their path.

(It was rather overambitious of him to assume that, but frankly, better them than Rapunzel.)

He nodded back to Castiel. "Very well. Follow me."

[to here]