Careful Consideration (Baba)
Castiel stood outside one of the strangest homes he’d ever seen. He wasn’t even sure it was a home, really, the magic imbued in it gave it a lifelike presence that bordered more on creature than physical structure.
It was obviously very powerful, and spoke vaguely of what could only be a more powerful entity inside. But, from what the warrior had been able to gather, this was where the strange older woman Beauty had called “Red” lived.
He didn’t trust this woman, but she was clearly a strong entity, and she seemed to have taken at least a momentary interest in him. In Cas’ experience that was when bad things happened, so he had tracked her down to find out what her purpose was before any of his new friends in the City, and possibly older ones he hadn’t found yet, were dragged into something.
Still, he wasn’t quite determined enough to try breaking into that house and angering her outright, so after a few moments’ contemplation he turned, leading all of the humans in the vicinity a safe distance with subtle but undeniable encouragement, and then popped out of thin air directly in front of the structure, standing still as he looked up at it.
“Woman, Red,” he spoke in his true voice, a sound that brought most humans to their knees in agony. He wanted to know how it would affect this… entity. “I would speak with you.”
---
The small woman hadn’t thought long and hard on the year the beauty had been gone, and she didn’t think too long about others who might have been taken, sent, or given a reprieve of sorts. The City could and would do that, as it wished. She was curious as to what exactly was going on with the City, the why and what came next. It felt different. She wanted to know why the City felt different.
So, she thought, swept, and focused on the world around her. She cleaned the cabin that was all too happy to have its mistress within its four walls again. It was even happier as she tossed a log in the fire; the tiny cabin puffed smoke in happy billows of smoke. Yes, it did like being inhabited.
What it did not like was something from outside, something that had power, pushing against it. No, the cabin considered getting up and moving, even shifted a bit as if to stand. The crone snapped a quick ‘no’ trying to understand what was outside. Her head felt like it was splitting, and the words spoken were just on the verge of her knowledge. Just out of grasp, but she understood what was wanted.
“No need to yell.” Her voice showed little strain. She’d been tortured by the best; a little old power headache was nothing, or so she’d tell herself. She’d tell her husband the same if he had been there.
“No need to make a mess.” A few glasses and one or two ceramics had cracked or shattered. The cabin’s fire had gone out, and there might have been soot on the hearth. The cabin didn’t lift itself to turn around. It didn’t move - it had been hurt the poor thing. No one hurt her cabin but her, and she rarely did that. She reset the fire before walking out the door. The door that opened on the other side of the cabin, away from the power.
“I’m sure you can hear me; I ask that you don’t do that again. I don’t think you want to find out which of us can cause the other more damage.” There would be definite collateral damage involved. She probably sounded as if she weren’t in pain, but her head would probably give her trouble for a while. The cabin would need looking after, having taken more of the force.
----
Castiel watched her emotionlessly as she responded to his call, coming out and complaining. It had hurt her to hear his voice, which spoke of her power levels, but was more complimentary in that she was still walking. Cas could tell she was hurt by it, but she was still walking.
“I wanted to see what you were. That you cannot hear my voice… limits the options. I won’t speak with my true voice again unless you make me,” he responded calmly. True, there were far fewer options eliminated by the exposure test than what might have made it worth the effort, but a test was a test. And surprisingly few people had seemed to know anything directly about this woman, from what Cas had heard.
He looked her up and down, the critical expression on his face more a reflex than actual judgement. He took a single step towards her.
“I am Castiel. Do you go by any other names than ‘Red’?”
----
“I heard you just well enough.” The crone’s eyes narrowed as she returned the critical expression. “Understand you maybe be another matter. You yelled, darling. Haven’t spoken in a while?” She’d never heard an angel, but she’d heard power before. Heard, felt, tasted, smelled, saw. Power was power, even if it wasn’t complete power.
“And, you speak with your ‘true voice’ again, I will have no choice but to rip your tongue out.” Her voice was even as she started to close the space between them. “I don’t know what you are, but you’re familiar. I did not fear it; I know that. I do not fear you. So, unless you’d like to start a war, let’s not make threats or promises that might cause more damage than necessary.”
She had made a promise to something/someone with possibly more power than herself. It wasn’t the City. She wouldn’t start war unless she was pushed, and she was “kindly” letting this one know the same.
“I go by many names. They probably will all mean little to you.” Castiel’s true voice had made her feel old, or something akin to old if such things were possible.
----
As she approached Castiel looked down at her, listening to her bristle. She was sounding like a demon more and more, but feeling less like one the closer she got. It was different, but then, she was accusing him of the same. Clearly the worlds they came from channeled power differently.
“I did not come to threaten you,” he said, feeling less hostile but more patiently wary. Talking to her, if anything, felt like talking to Crowley. That demon was quite dangerous, and quite powerful, but he had an eye on the bigger picture that meant he was never out of control, and did things for a reason. That was something that could be used, even if the personality left quite a lot to be desired.
“I am an angel, I have come to determin what you are. And to know what you meant by seeing me later,” he said bluntly. There was no reason to beat around the bush, after all, and at the very least the powerfully annoyed generally reacted better to blunt honesty than more grandstanding or vague talk.
---
Baba Yaga tilted her head slightly; she didn’t always interrupt. Actually she preferred to let others give the information before she gave any of her own. She was soon within arm’s reach, not touching him yet, even if that was her m.o.
“You are an angel. If you are an angel, as I understand them, you came to see if I was something to be vanquished, to be removed. Something evil. You wished to protect that innocent thing.” Her eyes certainly rolled at the mention of beauty. “From me, the not so innocent.” She laughed softly, having never claimed to be that. Well, at least not at the moment.
“Unless you are a different sort of an angel. Are you a different sort of angel? I’ve met a God, the maker of angels, who smoke, drank, and rutted like a wild man. Or I feel he did so - the rutting. I know he drank and smoke. Are you of that sort of angel?” He was dressed in man’s clothes, so he couldn’t be one of the toga types. She believed she had read of multiple heads and wings.
“When I said I will see you later, I had planned on finding you. You were somewhat familiar, and now I know why - God, angel. It’s all connected.” She waved a hand to dismiss that.
----
“That would depend on the angel,” Castiel responded simply. An angel of the Lord would have orders to do exactly that, but that wasn’t him anymore. It was only one voice among many, any lately it had been weaker than most.
“I’ll protect all innocent things,” he responded cooly. Beauty was now a mortal he had a connection to, but it didn’t diminish the love he had for all of the creation around them. “You promised you would find me. I don’t follow others plans anymore.” It was a more telling statement than he’d have liked to make, but he didn’t waver from the conviction once it was laid out.
Still, the ‘God’ she described did throw him slightly. His initial reaction to the story was scorn, but then he reason that it could be a God, and not his Father. Or, perhaps it was, and his maker was the disappointment Castiel had feared he was before he Fell. Either way, it didn’t change who he was now. It was just odd to finally receive a lead, and from this sort of source.
He mulled over the situation for a few beats, then let out the smallest of sighs.
“If you have no intention of killing or manipulating me, I was also curious as to what you know about this City. I’ve received no contact from whatever summoned me here.”
----
The crone smiled. It wasn’t cruel, or vicious. A creature that had been forced to live by a certain tradition, a certain set of rules that it was in no way responsible for creating. She understood this, following tradition because someone somewhere thought it was what their creation was supposed to be. Part of who and what she was was fighting that tradition.
“I will attempt to manipulate you; I may even try to use your power, taste it for myself.” He was being honest, so she felt she might try that for the moment. “Kill you, no. That would be a waste. You are attractive; you are different. And, you could be useful.”
She closed the space between, now standing right before him. Her hands lifted to straighten his tie. She did not pull it too tightly, just straightened.
“If you don’t follow others’ plans, whose plans do you follow?” Her large dark eyes looked directly into his. There was age there that couldn’t be hidden. She wasn’t old and haggard inside, but she had lived a very long life. She knew a great deal. The question about the City put to the side for now.
----
Yes, this was just like dealing with Crowley. Though she didn’t smell like stale brandy, that was something. And as far as demons went, Crowley or an alternative was not the most unwelcome thing Castiel could have run into here. Powerful beings who were willing to make deals, especially if they didn’t like what was going on around them, and instinct told him from his conversations here that nobody truly knew what was planned for them here.
He allowed her to touch his clothing, but at her question he released some of his hold on his vessel, just enough to allow a stern wave of power against her fingertips. It was as polite a warning as a warrior was able to give something he didn’t trust.
“My own, or none,” he said. Lately, it was far more the second. And even though her honeyed words put him on edge, they also glanced over something he’d been struggling with for a while. Then again, that wasn’t an unusual ability of a manipulator. “And whose do you?”
----
The crone’s brow rose at the show of power, and her smile held the briefest moment of hunger. Yes, he needed to be tasted. Eric would have loved this one, perhaps. Her eyes narrowed, as she put the question she wanted to ask aside. What would this one do to a vampire?
“Words work better, angel.” She shook her finger at him, then sighed, a hint of a pout on her lips. He really wasn’t being fun. Then again, a new challenge was always fun.
“My own. Though they change from this day to that.” Baba Yaga gave a slight shrug. “Some days I want to demolish the City and send all its little children running like ants without a hill, and others I want to make them dance. A true reaction, one that isn’t a mimic of some sort.
“Twisting others to my will, ending a threat to my life, just enjoying being me.” She laughed. “Here’s the part where you threaten me, or decide I am evil. Same as the others. The champions, the ones in white, the heroes, the hunters, the knights.”
---
She liked to talk. The demons and the wicked always liked to talk. Then again, angels hardly talked at all, and Castiel didn’t see how that served them any better in following God’s plan.
When she mentioned him making a decision, he let out a much more human sigh, then turned away.
“I don’t know what’s going on here, and I don’t think you do either,” he said, looking out over the park and the skyline of the buildings. He’d once been sure of what ‘good’ and ‘evil’ looked like, and the effects of being one of the other. Then he’d met an odd assortment of men, demons, and other creatures. Some demons had done more to protect the world than his brothers, some humans represented the most driving forces behind chaos or kindness. He didn’t know what to make of any of it anymore, and had elected to stop thinking about it for the time being.
“I intend to protect the people here. Perhaps at some point I’m the one who will want to use you. So no, I’m not going to threaten you, or attempt to kill you. Not today.”
----
“You may think as you wish. I encourage that more than being swayed by my or any other’s words.” The crone didn’t seem to mind that he thought she knew nothing. She knew a great deal, but the City’s current endgame was unclear. It did not matter she supposed; she would be who she was.
“You won’t use me. Compromise, deal, but use - it will not be the same for you.” She stepped closer, her voice hushed.
“The people here do not need your protection, Castiel. The City’s children are drones, creations, figments of a life barely lived. Mayflies. The people the City bring to it; they are all quite capable of seeing to themselves. Even those who appear to be otherwise. They would not be here if they were helpless. You may find yourself redundant and bored. I suggest you develop a hobby.” She risked patting his cheek before stepping away.
“A bored angel is probably not a happy angel.” The crone tsked softly.
----
Castiel didn’t like the description of the City’s inhabitants very much, but he had to admit, what he’d seen of them more or less matched the description. It was also familiar with how it had felt in the apocalyptic world, and Castiel didn’t like that thought any better.
Her next statement, however, made him almost smile.
“The most capable need the most looking after, in my experience,” he said, ignoring the pat of his cheek. She didn’t intimidate him enough to be treated as an imminent threat, even if he wasn’t looking for a reason to test her ability.
“I’ll be watching you. Harm any, and I’ll see it returned in kind.”
----
“You watch me all you like, Castiel. And, you may want to pull back that thread.” The crone gave him a wink. “I will harm others, and you may find yourself doing the same. Who watches you, who returns in kind? You are not the top of the food chain, or close to it anymore.
“So, threaten, puff your chest, do whatever you feel the need to do. I am here, and I can help you. I can also bring the City to its knees. Let’s see which one you truly want me to do.” She smiled at him and turned as if to leave. She took a few steps then stopped. She turned back to face him.
“You bring your cute angelic ass near my cabin again, speak your words as you did before, and I promise you will not like what I do.” She didn’t bring up the winds to beat him, or make the skies turn dark. She didn’t use one bit of power.
“This…” she motioned to the cabin. “Is one of the dumb innocent things you wish to protect. You will respect it, am I understood?”
----
Castiel didn’t respond to her own warnings, it was a natural trade. Each made their promise and then walked away, since there was no reason to start anything.
The next part about her cabin, however, was slightly less expected, and Castiel turned enough to look at it over his shoulder.
“I wished no harm on an innocent,” he finally replied. It was as close to an apology that she was likely to get on the heels of her own threatening. He nodded to her slightly. “You’re understood.”
And with that he turned back, popping out of sight before he’d finished facing forwards again.