Chapter Text
It was a Tuesday. After it all, after the confession, after the empty, the rescue from Jack and the rebuilding of heaven together. Castiel was finally heading back to the bunker. Home.
Jack had managed to help him escape The Empty, but only with mild success. Though they were technically God now, they were still only three. Cas had been slowly losing his angelic abilities over the years, and would have become fully human eventually. The only way for Jack to sneak his father out though was for Cas to lose them instantly, leaving the angelic parts of him behind so that The Empty could no longer claim him. It was hard, but to be free, and to reunite with his family again was a true gift.
Even after escaping, Jack would not be able to bestow Castiel with new heavenly powers. The Empty had a feel for Cas' grace, having been longing for the day that he came to rest so that The Empty may finally rest too. The risk was too high, and this way if Cas did die again, he would be directed towards heaven.
Jack had tasked him with the job of helping fix heaven. Heaven had been in shambles for years, with barely enough angels to keep the lights on. Now, Jack has made new angels and with his and Cas’ design, they’ve made a new heaven. It now functions more like Earth, with friends and family sharing together in one big group, rather than roped off to relive their own happiest memories.
“This was the way heaven always should’ve been.”
Castiel was currently fixing up a nice cabin in the woods, near Bobby and Ellen for Dean. Jack had already finished up on Sam’s house, which was less than a mile away.
“Do you think they’ll like it?” They asked, looking out the cabin’s kitchen window.
“We will just have to wait and see, I don’t expect for us to see Sam and Dean for a while.”
“I know, but I can’t wait to see their faces when they see what we’ve done with Heaven.”
Castiel sighed. He and Jack decided that once they’d fixed Heaven, he would return home to the Winchesters. From what Jack’s told him, he hasn’t been gone long. Hopefully, it’s been long enough for Dean to contemplate what he’d said to him.
Though Castiel was not at ‘full angel capacity’ and lost the ability to hear anyone's prayers at that point, he could still feel that Dean had prayed to him. Cas knew that his feelings were not reciprocated, but he still felt he owed Dean a bigger explanation. Optimism blossomed in his chest. “When I get to the Bunker, Dean will be ready to talk about what happened in the Armory.”
“ I love you.”
“Don’t do this Cas.”
But he did. He said goodbye, he successfully saved Dean from Billie’s wrath, his first and last sacrifice.
“For the Righteous Man,” He thought, as he continued to organize the kitchen in what will be Dean’s cabin. Cas had even managed to find that ‘precious’ half apron that Dean insisted on wearing every time he cooked.
“I believe we are finished here Jack.” Adjusting the apron draped over the bar on the stove one last time, Castiel began walking towards the door, Jack hot on his heels. “Heaven is looking much healthier these days, and it’s all because of you.”
“I couldn’t have done this without you Cas, you know that.”
“Yes, well my expertise in the area is built on years of floating through personal heavens, seeing the memories, and always wishing that these beautiful humans could live on making fresh memories here. And here, together, we’ve made that come true. I feel as if this is how Heaven always should’ve been. Togetherness. The warmness that you would expect from a place you are to spend your eternity.”
He looked over to see Jack smiling at him, that goofy smile, gapped teeth on full display. “I’ll miss having you up here with me. But I suppose from my point of view, it won’t be as long til the next time I see you.”
With that, Castiel wrapped his arms around his surrogate son, bid him a goodbye, and by Jack’s hand was tossed back to Earth.