[Supernatural Fic] Practically Human 4/18
Jul. 6th, 2010 03:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daylight_darknightSad chapter :(
Title: Practically Human 4/18
Characters: Castiel, Bobby, Dean
Rating: PG-13 for swearing and a little violence and disturbing stuff in later chapters
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Drama
Word Count: ~18,000 in 18 in little chapters
Spoilers: Up to the end of season 5
Summary: Some things are a lot easier to deal with when the world is ending.
AN: This takes place in a slight AU where season 5 ends almost the exact same way except Castiel's powers are never restored and Bobby is still in a wheelchair. While Dean goes off to keep his promise to his brother, Castiel ends up left behind at Bobby's as he tries to adjust to his new life as a human.
Chapter 4
“Are you ever going to shave?” Bobby asked one morning five days after the world hadn’t ended. “Or were you planning to compete with me for best facial hair?”
Raising a hand, Castiel slowly ran his fingers across his chin noting the stubble there was indeed getting long. “I’ve never shaved before.”
The old hunter sighed. “Guess I better teach you then.”
Castiel followed Bobby as he wheeled into the downstairs bathroom. Grumbling to himself, Bobby rummaged through a drawer full of old toothbrushes and pill bottles until he finally found a razor; then handed it along with an old rusty can of shaving cream to the former angel.
“Now it’s real simple. You just put the foam on then you scrape it, and the hair, off with the razor. Any idjit can do it. Just don’t rush and cut yourself.”
The can sputtered as it spat shaving cream onto Castiel’s hand. With careful precise movements, he covered the growing stubble and then with just as much care and concentration, went over it with the razor. The dark hair vanished, felled like hewed wheat, leaving fresh, bare skin behind. He was almost done when he suddenly caught the eyes of his reflection.
Jimmy was looking back at him.
The razor slipped.
Bobby cursed.
Castiel didn’t even notice the blood that was now pouring down his chin and along his neck. He was too focused on the reflection.
The face was not his own, not the flesh nor the eyes. It was unlikely he’d ever look upon his own true visage again. He’d never spent much time contemplating his borrowed face, not having much opportunity or vanity. As he looked at it now, all he saw was Jimmy Novak, eyes gazing almost accusingly, but there was no sign of a soul as if his withered grace was inhabiting an empty corpse.
When he finally became aware of his surroundings once more, he found Bobby yelling at him and trying to push a wad of toilet paper into his hand. Castiel took the toilet paper staring at it in confusion; then he noticed the blood. He pushed the paper to the cut wincing as he felt it sting.
Bobby let out a long breath. “Maybe I’ll just buy you an electric razor.”
Castiel nodded absently doing his best not to look at his reflection.
******
“Electric razors are better anyway,” Dean explained later. “You can set them to leave you with some stubble, and trust me, ladies love stubble.”
Holding the phone close to his ear, Castiel leaned back, his vivid blue eyes gazing into the distance. “Dean, do you think I should give Jimmy back his body?”
“What?!” Dean cried incredulously. “Is that even possible?”
“I’m not sure,” Castiel said his words slow and uncertain. “I don’t have the power to separate myself from my vessel anymore, but I might be able suppress my consciousness somehow, let him take over.”
“So, you’d be stuck inside him, just like he’s stuck in you now,” said Dean sounding like he very much disapproved of the idea. “And then he’d what? Go off back to his old life?”
“I no longer have a mission here on Earth and he deserves to live.”
“You deserve to live, you dumbass,” Dean berated. “Besides you’re human now. You don’t need a mission. Free will, remember?”
Castiel desperately wished that things were as simple as Dean made them seem. “The matter is merely speculative in any case. I’m not even sure that he is even alive anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
Grimacing, Castiel tried to find a way to explain the connection between an angel and its vessel using the human’s limited words. “I’ve been unable to reach his soul the way I used to.”
“So, he’s dead?”
“It is likely.”
“How?” Dean asked, his tone confused and concerned.
“It may have been when I died or when I used the banishing symbol on myself, I am uncertain.” It worried him that he couldn’t recall exactly when he’d lost track of Jimmy’s soul. Things had felt different after he’d died, but he’d believed it to be due to being cut off from heaven. After he’d ended up in the hospital with no powers, the change had been even greater, but there had been the apocalypse to deal with and little time to take stock.
“Well, I guess that means you’re off the hook then,” said Dean in an obvious attempt to be positive. “You don’t have to worry about it, if he’s safely up in heaven.”
“But though I am unable to reach him, there are occasions when I still feel his presence,” the former angel explained recalling the eyes he’d seen in the mirror that morning.
“Like he’s haunting you?”
Castiel had seen the spirits of the dead before, the ones who refused to go with the reapers, the fragments of their angry souls attached to objects and places. Was that what clung to him now?
“Yes,” he replied.
“Well, I’m sorry Cas,” Dean said regretfully, “but this is one ghost I don’t think I can get rid of.”
Chapter 5
Title: Practically Human 4/18
Characters: Castiel, Bobby, Dean
Rating: PG-13 for swearing and a little violence and disturbing stuff in later chapters
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Drama
Word Count: ~18,000 in 18 in little chapters
Spoilers: Up to the end of season 5
Summary: Some things are a lot easier to deal with when the world is ending.
AN: This takes place in a slight AU where season 5 ends almost the exact same way except Castiel's powers are never restored and Bobby is still in a wheelchair. While Dean goes off to keep his promise to his brother, Castiel ends up left behind at Bobby's as he tries to adjust to his new life as a human.
Chapter 4
“Are you ever going to shave?” Bobby asked one morning five days after the world hadn’t ended. “Or were you planning to compete with me for best facial hair?”
Raising a hand, Castiel slowly ran his fingers across his chin noting the stubble there was indeed getting long. “I’ve never shaved before.”
The old hunter sighed. “Guess I better teach you then.”
Castiel followed Bobby as he wheeled into the downstairs bathroom. Grumbling to himself, Bobby rummaged through a drawer full of old toothbrushes and pill bottles until he finally found a razor; then handed it along with an old rusty can of shaving cream to the former angel.
“Now it’s real simple. You just put the foam on then you scrape it, and the hair, off with the razor. Any idjit can do it. Just don’t rush and cut yourself.”
The can sputtered as it spat shaving cream onto Castiel’s hand. With careful precise movements, he covered the growing stubble and then with just as much care and concentration, went over it with the razor. The dark hair vanished, felled like hewed wheat, leaving fresh, bare skin behind. He was almost done when he suddenly caught the eyes of his reflection.
Jimmy was looking back at him.
The razor slipped.
Bobby cursed.
Castiel didn’t even notice the blood that was now pouring down his chin and along his neck. He was too focused on the reflection.
The face was not his own, not the flesh nor the eyes. It was unlikely he’d ever look upon his own true visage again. He’d never spent much time contemplating his borrowed face, not having much opportunity or vanity. As he looked at it now, all he saw was Jimmy Novak, eyes gazing almost accusingly, but there was no sign of a soul as if his withered grace was inhabiting an empty corpse.
When he finally became aware of his surroundings once more, he found Bobby yelling at him and trying to push a wad of toilet paper into his hand. Castiel took the toilet paper staring at it in confusion; then he noticed the blood. He pushed the paper to the cut wincing as he felt it sting.
Bobby let out a long breath. “Maybe I’ll just buy you an electric razor.”
Castiel nodded absently doing his best not to look at his reflection.
******
“Electric razors are better anyway,” Dean explained later. “You can set them to leave you with some stubble, and trust me, ladies love stubble.”
Holding the phone close to his ear, Castiel leaned back, his vivid blue eyes gazing into the distance. “Dean, do you think I should give Jimmy back his body?”
“What?!” Dean cried incredulously. “Is that even possible?”
“I’m not sure,” Castiel said his words slow and uncertain. “I don’t have the power to separate myself from my vessel anymore, but I might be able suppress my consciousness somehow, let him take over.”
“So, you’d be stuck inside him, just like he’s stuck in you now,” said Dean sounding like he very much disapproved of the idea. “And then he’d what? Go off back to his old life?”
“I no longer have a mission here on Earth and he deserves to live.”
“You deserve to live, you dumbass,” Dean berated. “Besides you’re human now. You don’t need a mission. Free will, remember?”
Castiel desperately wished that things were as simple as Dean made them seem. “The matter is merely speculative in any case. I’m not even sure that he is even alive anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
Grimacing, Castiel tried to find a way to explain the connection between an angel and its vessel using the human’s limited words. “I’ve been unable to reach his soul the way I used to.”
“So, he’s dead?”
“It is likely.”
“How?” Dean asked, his tone confused and concerned.
“It may have been when I died or when I used the banishing symbol on myself, I am uncertain.” It worried him that he couldn’t recall exactly when he’d lost track of Jimmy’s soul. Things had felt different after he’d died, but he’d believed it to be due to being cut off from heaven. After he’d ended up in the hospital with no powers, the change had been even greater, but there had been the apocalypse to deal with and little time to take stock.
“Well, I guess that means you’re off the hook then,” said Dean in an obvious attempt to be positive. “You don’t have to worry about it, if he’s safely up in heaven.”
“But though I am unable to reach him, there are occasions when I still feel his presence,” the former angel explained recalling the eyes he’d seen in the mirror that morning.
“Like he’s haunting you?”
Castiel had seen the spirits of the dead before, the ones who refused to go with the reapers, the fragments of their angry souls attached to objects and places. Was that what clung to him now?
“Yes,” he replied.
“Well, I’m sorry Cas,” Dean said regretfully, “but this is one ghost I don’t think I can get rid of.”
Chapter 5
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 12:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 09:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 01:51 am (UTC)Good writing, mind you, but it does tear me up inside.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 09:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-08 01:33 am (UTC)I just look forward to whatever he goes through because I know it will be OK on the other side.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 02:55 am (UTC)Oh, Cas. D: Like Dean says, "You deserve to live, you dumbass." Only chapter 4 and the urge to hug Cas is overwhelming. I eagerly await more.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 09:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 03:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 09:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 10:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 09:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 10:28 am (UTC)Lol Dean's comment about the stubble too. We ladies do like it.
As always, more, because Chuck commands it? lol
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 09:57 pm (UTC)As Chuck commands, there is more! :)