#him & anna both they are such good narrative foils for castiel and without them he really does just. flounder.

[quietwingsinthesky]

uriel deserved better :(

[saywhatjessie]

SPNMBB 2019: “Bold Defiance” by JessJessthebest, art by deli (deliciousirony)

You, Bold Defiance?” Dean rolled his eyes. “You are so predictable.” 

Castiel had been operating as ‘Bold Defiance,’ evil super-villain, for most of his life. It was the same thing, day after day: scheming, magicking, and getting inevitably foiled by The Guardian: the city’s acting superhero and Castiel’s childhood rival, Anna. It was a comfortable if not altogether productive routine. The periodic kidnapping of journalist, Dean Winchester, didn’t hurt. But what happens when one side actually wins? What does a person do when the person who opposed them, the person who defined them, is gone?

Castiel’s prison cell wasn’t very interesting.

He guessed it was more interesting than the usual cement cell. His, at least, had children’s paintings on the wall and a large comfortable chair.

But when you spent most of your life in a small room with very little enrichment, it didn’t matter how pretty the pictures on the wall were. It was boring. So boring it became exhausting just to be there.

Castiel wasn’t going to be there much longer. His latest escape plan was already underway. But still, sitting in that chair, looking at the television with the news of The Guardian’s latest victory was sucking the life right out of him. He sat on the floor against the wall, just for a change of pace.

He wasn’t expecting his cell door to bang open, the warden bolting in, but he wasn’t altogether surprised either.

“Where’s the fire, Warden?” he asked her, mouth quirked in amusement.

Her eyes landed on him, her face souring even while her shoulders slumped in relief. “You shouldn’t be out of the eyes of the guards, inmate.”

Castiel scoffed. “You’re no fun.”

The warden sighed, coming into the room to stand in front of him, her arms crossed.

Castiel remembered when she’d first been appointed warden. He’d been here longer than almost everyone else in the prison, landing here when he was only a toddler. One might question why anyone would allow a child to live at a prison, even if that’s where his escape pod happened to land. Castiel had never questioned this, as he’d never known anything else, but he’d met some other inmates who seemed horrified at this information.

Castiel guessed they might have kept him here because they had no idea what else to do with him. Where the hell do you put a toddler who landed on earth with a pair of huge black wings?

“I’ve got a present for you from The Guardian,” the warden said, shaking the small box in her hand. She opened it in front of him, pulling out a watch that had been nestled inside. She read the tag that hung off the end. “‘To count every second of your 85 Iife sentences.’ Hmm.” The warden’s face creased in disapproval. “Didn’t think she was much for gloating.”

“How rude that Guardian is,” Castiel commented, idly. His wings traced circles in the dust on the floor. “I don’t even want that gift. You should keep it, Warden.”

The warden went from examining the watch to eying him suspiciously.

Castiel shrugged, his wings slumping in his evident boredom. “I don’t need a watch to keep track of how long I’m in here. It takes away from my constant dissociation.” He leaned his head against the wall, looking pitifully at the tv screen mounted at the top of his cell. “It’s only the thought of this Guardian Day ceremony that’s even getting me through.”

The warden hummed, still suspicious, but she put on the watch. “I can’t help but feel like you’re taking everything about this far too well. You’re up to something.”

Castiel slumped farther against the wall, making himself into the absolute picture of pathetic boredom. “Come on, Jody. You know me! Would I ever be up to something?”

The warden snorted before schooling her expression. “That’s Warden to you, inmate.”

Castiel rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah yeah, and I’m ‘Bold Defiance’.” Castiel actually did the air quotes to express to the warden the depth of his contempt. When he looked up at her, only half of the imploring innocence in his eyes was feigned. “But remember when we weren’t?”

Jody shook her head, her eyes sad. “You can’t be both Bold Defiance and Castiel at the same time. You have to choose which one you want to be.” She held up her wrist. “Thanks for the watch.”

He watched her leave his cell, the door slamming behind her, feeling more than a little bit guilty over her part in his escape plan.

She had more faith in him to be a good guy than anyone else ever had.

He hated disappointing her.

But a villain’s gotta villain.

It all started when Castiel was born.

Well, not really. He had a good couple solar cycles with his parents on his home planet. He’d learned to walk and talk and fly from the comfort of Garrison 401. The details of that time for Castiel were hazy: the only kind of memory coming through a warm fuzziness that hit him square between his wings.

Of course, then the collapse happened. Castiel was far too young to understand at the time, but his planet and, in fact, every planet in their solar system was being sucked into a black hole. Nothing was explained to him. He was just wrapped in his wings, given an egg, and dropped into an escape pod that went careening through the cosmos only to land on his new home planet of earth.

Of course, he wasn’t alone. Other children from other planets were saved and sent away. Why, the planet right next door to Garrison 401 had a representative on earth, same as Castiel. In the very same country. In the very same city .

It was difficult for Castiel not to resent Anna: prodigy of IKWYDLS 49. They were refugees of the same disaster. They were a similar age, size, allienness. Sure, Anna didn’t have wings, but she could still fly. And yet, everyone loved her. They loved her and they hated Castiel.

Part of that could be due to the fact that Castiel had grown up in a prison and, by chance or fate or whatever machinations worked to make Castiel’s life the way it was, Anna had landed on the property of one of the richest families in the country. She was well cared for – adored. Castiel was tolerated.

Castiel did have some things Anna did not, however. For one: he had his intellect. Anna had super strength and laser vision and speed and accelerated healing but she didn’t have the strategic mind of a Garrisonian.

Nor did she have Jack, the former egg that Castiel had been given upon his evacuation. Everyone on Castiel’s planet was given a fledgeling companion to help take care of them as they developed. A “minion” in villain terms. Castiel disliked referring to Jack as his minion – regardless that he performed all of the duties of a minion, it seemed kinder to call him a companion. He was a Garrisonian, same as Castiel, but without wings and with the power to heal. They were the nursemaids of the planet. Castiel was forever grateful for him.

Although, having a smaller person follow him around everywhere – even when, as a gesture of good will, he was released from the prison and sent to school –  wasn’t a super great way to make friends. It just helped to further isolate him.

Not that he could ever begrudge Jack for that. Even if Jack hadn’t been able to heal him, he would treasure him for his companionship.

Castiel was bullied, to say the least. But Castiel had massive and powerful wings. And Castiel had magic, as undeveloped as it was. And Castiel had a small companion that would literally die for him.

So Castiel defended himself. And that made him the bad guy.

And Anna fought back. Which made her the good guy.

She was The Guardian.

So, Castiel, sick of being judged and scorned and pushed around became Bold Defiance.

And so the city had their narrative.

“You can scream all you want, Winchester,” Castiel said, stroking one of his many crows. “I'm afraid no one can hear you.”

“Not screaming.”

“You might be thinking: Defiance! How did you escape from your inescapable prison cell?”

“I’m really not.”

“Well, it just took some brain power. Some deception. Some cunning.”

“Five bucks says you just used one of your magic watches.”

Castiel’s wings flicked in irritation – enough to startle his crow and make her fly away.

He had used a magic watch. The watch he’d given Jody had a cloaking spell on it, making her temporarily look like him. When all the guards had tried to capture her and put her back in Castiel’s cell, he took the watch and cloaked himself as her. Then he’d simply walked out.

But he couldn’t let Dean know that.

“How do you do that, anyway? Doesn’t magic not work in contact with metal?”

“They’re plastic watches,” Castiel answered automatically. Dean smirked. Castiel scowled. “And anyway, it wasn’t a watch. I mean the magic was– it was very impressive and–”

“You can’t lie to me, man, your wings give you away.”

Castiel scowled harder, concentrating on keeping his wings still. Dean’s eyes danced. “You only think you know me.”

Dean snorted, absolutely no stress in his posture. He was tied to a chair, hands behind his back and legs strapped to the floor. He was surrounded by sigils and creepy things floating in jars and unnaturally attentive wildlife all focused on him. Cats and dogs and crows and foxes and squirrels and ravens and several species of insect all watching him like, at one word from Castiel, they’d ruin Dean’s day. And there was absolutely no fear in the green of Dean’s eyes.

“You, Bold Defiance?” Dean rolled his eyes. “You are so predictable.”

Castiel didn’t like the way Dean said his name. It wasn’t quite like Dean was mocking him – knowing he went by an invented name and speaking as if just saying the name was humoring him. He kind of said it like how Jody said it. Like he wanted to call Castiel something else.

Castiel folded his arms, narrowing his eyes at Dean. “I’m not sure how you can claim to find me predictable when I’ve managed to ambush you dozens of times. If I’m so predictable, couldn’t you avoid getting abducted?”

Dean shrugged, his shirt pulling tight across his chest as he pulled on his restraints behind his back. “I probably could. I never really tried.”

“You never–”

“Boss!”

Castiel whipped toward Jack where he was standing in the corner, worrying at the string on his scrubs pants. He gestured to the giant countdown clock.

The ceremony was about to begin. It was time to call The Guardian.

Read the rest on Ao3