When Cole looked out to this city, he saw his home. He saw, especially in Manhattan, an area that was completely free for him to roam. A place he'd worked hard to protect and guard, from the Reapers to the Dust Men, then the First Sons and Kessler. During the quarantine he'd been able to climb buildings as he felt, build on his powers and try to make up for all the pain and suffering he'd caused by opening that package to begin with. In the end it was all for nothing, because the Beast came anyway and wiped it all out... but he'd tried.
Stretched out before him was a symbol of freedom and second chances, the lights of a city that breathed still, unlike in his own world. It was alive, it was well, and it was so refreshing to see. Especially knowing that somewhere, in some other plane of existence, Trish was at peace. She was happy and safe. She'd be happy to know that in some reality Empire City was doing the same and wasn't suffering the effects conduits had on it.
"Yeah. She was the girl I was going to spend the rest of my life with. I loved her more than anything and anyone else." Zeke of course came a close second, but obviously that was different. Zeke was like a brother to him, and thinking on that, Cole took out a picture from his back pocketβthe picture from Kessler's future. Looking down at it sombrely, a smile soon grew across his face at the sight of Trish happy and Zeke beaming like he'd just won the lottery. Even if this future never came to be, Trish was happy in Heaven and Zeke was alive. That was good enough for him.
Showing the picture to Cas, he said, "This is from a future that was stopped from happening. I married Trish, Zeke was my best man at the wedding, and I had two daughters. For the first time I can finally look at this picture and not feel the desire to fuck up as much shit as I can before finally being taken out my military artillery or something." Not that Cole would ever have actually done something like that, but that feeling, that all-encompassing rage and sorrow had been something else entirely.
"You ever loved someone, Cas?" Cole couldn't help but ask, unsure if that was even something that happened to angels.