#wow I back and forth between present and past tense like six times

[aurlyn]

Dragon Age (Cocktails and Cheese) / Supernatural Crossover

Chapter 6

A Conversation Between an ex-Templar and an Angel

Cullen sat back enjoying his beer while Alistair showed off behind the bar. Dean and Jo were getting the hang of juggling bottles, which allowed for Alistair to get a little fancier with his showing off. True to his word, he kept his feet off the bar, but the large space behind it allowed for some of his more elaborate backflips, twirls, and aerials while flipping bottles and bouncing various receptacles off his elbows.

He was definitely in his element.

Dean and Jo looked like they were having a great time. His companion at the table, however, appeared to be barely containing his displeasure with their playfulness. When Dean dropped yet another bottle, Alistair placed his hands on Dean’s hips to reposition his stance, then guided him into another toss, which he landed perfectly to cheers and high fives all around. To Cullen, this was a natural training tactic: redirect the stance and the sword work would follow. Castiel, however, seemed to have a different opinion on the matter.

He looked ready to kill .

His furrowed brow and pursed lips spoke volumes of how he felt about someone else putting their hands on his husband. With a gentle touch on Castiel’s wrist, Cullen brought his attention back to the table. After a tense moment, where he swore that Castiel’s eyes glowed blue, he smiled kindly and lifted his beer in a silent salute. Removing his hand from Castiel’s wrist, they both drank, eyes locked together, a silent challenge.

“Alistair and I are not a threat to you or your husband,” Cullen began. “He is naturally friendly and his humor tends to come off as flirty, but I can assure you that he and I do not waver from each other.”

Another cheer from the bar drew their attention; Dean was smiling over at Castiel , proudly waving the bottles in his hands.

Cullen continued, “Seeing Dean with you —y ou have to know how much you mean to him.”

Castiel frowned at him. “How do you—?”

“I’m a detective,” Cullen interjected, simply. “Observing people is what I do. I also get it. I’d be lying if I said that I’ve never felt jealous over how easily Alistair charms people.”

“But, how do you deal with it?” Castiel asked, hesitantly.

Cullen shrugged. “Honestly? Lots of really amazing sex!”

Castiel sputtered, “Really?”

“Really.” Cullen laughed. “It helps to know that when he closes the bar, he comes home to me and never lets me forget how much he loves me. So, I do my best to put my faith in us.” He grinned. “I see the way that you and Dean look at each other too… there’s something pure and perfect in that kind of love. It radiates off you both. You must have been through a lot to look at each other that way.”

Castiel looked into his beer with a small quirk to his mouth. “I pulled him out of hell.”

Cullen gaped at Castiel. “What? Like… literally ?”

He nodded. “My garrison was sent to retrieve ‘the righteous man’ from Hell. I was the first one to him and the only one to make it out alive.” He sighed sadly. “Dean was so broken when I found him. It’s not my place to tell you all the details, but suffice it to say, repairing him was no easy task. Going through that with him… well, it created a profound bond between us.” He picked at the paper on his beer with a sheepish smile.

“Wow,” Cullen muttered. “That’s just… I can’t even imagine. Have you been together ever since?”

Castiel shook his head. “It took us several years to finally admit our feelings for each other. As his brother is so fond of saying, we had to pull our heads out of our asses before we could see what was right in front of us. But, once we got past that rather large hurdle, there was no denying it. Dean…” Castiel looked longingly over to his husband. “Dean is my everything. I fell for him; not just in love—though there is that too. I gave up everything for him: the heavenly host, my wings; I even became human, for a time. My father had other plans for me though, and eventually gave me back my wings and angelic grace as a wedding present.”

“Your union was blessed by The Maker himself, and you’re still worried about someone else stealing your husband away?”

“I didn’t say my feelings were logical. In fact, there are many things that still don’t make sense to me. I’m doing my best to learn, though. There’s just so much that I don’t understand. Thankfully, Dean is a very patient man.”

“So, you really are a full fledged angel.” Cullen’s voice was full of awe. “Man, I just… wow. I’m sorry; I’m not sure what else I can say to that.”

Castiel nodded. “We’ve had Templars here on earth before—a long time ago—but they were just warriors fighting for the church. Regular men and women getting their hands dirty in the name of my father.” He scoffed, “As if my father would weigh in on those petty squabbles. He designed his children to have free-will, to make mistakes and learn from them. He never intended to micromanage everything.” He squinted at Cullen. “You’re not like they were, though. Your light shines almost as brightly as Dean’s, which makes me think that you’re more than just a simple warrior of God.”

Cullen nodded. “Templars, where I’m from, can be more than that, though we do have simple warriors of the Maker too. I’m what we call an awakened Templar. I can see things that the average person can’t. Supernatural phenomena, dark spawn, magic—”

“Not everyone can see these things where you are from?”

“No. I guess you could say that our world has two realities. There are regular humans leading normal, everyday lives. A small percentage of us have what we call the sight, we can see what the average person cannot. Of those who are aware, there are some that also have extra abilities. Alistair, for example, is faster and stronger than the average person. He needs to be to fight the things he fights. As a Warden, he is charged with protecting the world from things that come through little rifts in the veil. Warden’s fight darkspawn and demons, then clean up the area and weave stories so the average person doesn’t see the true horror that was there.”

“It sounds a little like being a Hunter here.” Castiel glanced quickly over to where Dean was carefully tossing bottles back and forth with Jo. “You said Alistair was faster and stronger, but we saw him seal the portal too…”

Cullen nodded. “As a guardian of the veil, Alistair can both open and close those tears. He can also sense the creatures that come through.”

“You mean the demons?”

“Demons and darkspawn are very different. The corpses on the ground near where we came through, those were darkspawn. They are fairly common where we’re from—at least, to those who can see them . ”

“They are fairly new to this world. Angels and Demons—we’ve been fighting for years; the battle between heaven and hell is as old as time. There are other supernatural creatures here as well: vampires, werewolves, ghouls, witches, and fae; these are all things we fight on a weekly basis. It’s only been the last few months that this new species has come into play. The first tear appeared the day my son was born.”

“Some of those creatures are familiar to me, but not others. Wait… you have a son?”

“Dean and I have taken in two children as our own. Claire shares my DNA, but lost both of her parents. She is a young adult now and shares time between our home in Lebanon, Kansas and here in Sioux Falls with her other guardian, Jody. Jack is a product of my brother, Lucifer, and a human woman named Kelly, who died in childbirth. I was there with his mother throughout her pregnancy and developed a bond with Jack, in utero. Unfortunately, Lucifer killed me before I could meet him on the day he was born and I--”

“Wait! You died!!?”

“A few times now, actually. It’s not pleasant; I don’t recommend it,” he deadpanned then smirked. “I’m… much better now.”

“I can see that.” Cullen chuckled. “You said something about your son being born correlating to the new creatures you’ve been seeing?”

“Like I said, Jack is a product of my brother, an archangel, and a human. He is a nephilim and is quite powerful.”

“A nephilim… is that dangerous?”

“They have the potential to be, but Jack isn’t… Jack was lucky to be with my husband and his brother when he was born. They are both good men with good hearts. They have taught me what it means to be a good man. To be a good human. I do my best, but even Angels falter in our paths sometime.” He chuckled to himself. “But Jack, he is pure and beautiful and not-perfect. He chooses free will over what his ‘destiny’ is supposed to be. I couldn’t be happier to call him my son.”

“You said that the darkspawn have only been coming through for the last six months or so… so Jack is just a baby?”

“Well, no… I mean, he should be, but, his growth was accelerated by necessity. It was too dangerous for him to be a baby for long, so he currently looks to be around eighteen or so.”

“How is that possible?”

“Apparently his powers have built-in self preservation mechanisms. When I died, he knew that he needed to be able to protect himself. Being an infant would have left him too vulnerable, so after he was born, he aged rapidly. When Dean and Sam found him, shortly after he was born, Jack already appeared to be teenager. He was frightened and alone. It was their love and support that kept my family together when they thought I was gone forever.” Castiel hung his head, sadly. “From what I’ve been told, it nearly broke Dean. He had a hard time bonding with Jack at first, but Sam was there and stepped in.” Castiel smiled wistfully. “I really am blessed with the best family.”

Cullen returned the smile. “I can see that. So, where is everyone now?”

“Sam is with my brother Gabriel, back at home. They’re currently trying to find a way for us to open our own portal for a rescue mission. Claire is with a local family of misfit hunters here in Sioux Falls. She recently lost someone very special to her and is having a hard time adjusting. Jack is… well, we hope that Jack is with my mother-in-law, Mary. He was trying to rescue her from another world, but he doesn’t have complete control of his powers yet and got separated from the rest of the group. We theorize that it’s his lack of control that might be causing all of these current rifts, especially if he’s trying to get home to us.”

“If there’s some way for us to identify where they are, maybe Alistair can help to get you there and bring them home again,” Cullen supplied.

“That is my hope. We’re not sure how to do that, though. There are infinite worlds and no way yet of showing you which way to go. In the meantime, we’ve been working overtime trying to figure out how to contain all of these rifts while trying to figure out how to open our own so we can go in and retrieve Mom and Jack.” He slumped over his beer with a long sigh. “I’m sorry, it’s just… we’re all a little exhausted and overwhelmed. You two have come at the most opportune time for us. I know you have your own troubles that you’re facing back home, but hopefully, we’ll be able to work together so I can get my family back together again.”

“Castiel, if it is within our power, we will do our best to assist you. You have my word.”

With a grateful nod, he turned his gaze back to the cheering crowd at the bar. “Thank you, Cullen. You don’t know what that means to me.” He paused a moment, then added, “and… thank you for the other advice as well. Like I said, some of these human emotions tend to get the better of me. At least now I may have a way of… working through some of the less desirable ones.” With a smirk, he drained the rest of his beer.