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heavensentme (heavensentme) wrote in vas_captio_rpg,
@ 2009-11-16 10:16:00

DAY 29: Seeing Through the Fog
Who: Castiel & Shannon Rutherford
What: Arrival
When: Day 29, about 1PM
Where: Forest, road just beyond the barn (Impala)
Rating: TBA
Status: Active

Unconsciousness, in human terms to loose the sense of one's body and drift in an absent space, was not something commonly experienced by angels. There was certainly rest and rejuvenation in Heaven, but it did not feel like this. Not even sleep felt like this. This was unconsciousness, as he had not fallen asleep.

Castiel willed himself to wake, but he found it was not as simple as a choice. Grogginess laid over him like a thick mud. Leaves crunched beneath his shoulders as he shifted and struggled to pull himself out of unconsciousness. He took a deep, rousing breath of the brisk musky air, and finally his eyes slid open.

A bright forest canopy covered a clouded sky. The overcast sky culled Castiel's most recent memory from his delirium.

There had been a green room with the Winchester brothers and the Trickster. No, not the Trickster - Gabriel.

The angel nearly leapt from the ground, which only reminded him of the blows he had suffered to his head in Gabriel's trap which left crusted lines of blood on his face. All that surrounded him was the forest. His immediate suspicion was that he was trapped in yet another of Gabriel's illusions, which meant that he had to find a way out and back to the Winchesters, otherwise Gabriel would slowly destroy them.

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ballerinadreams
2009-11-18 02:38 am UTC (link)

The idea of busting Ianto and the other captives out of their cage had dissipated pretty quickly when Shannon got close enough to see that Ianto was no longer in there - she tried to ignore the sinking of her heart at the idea that he might not be there for a reason - and that Jack was still patrolling it. Stephen and Spencer could tackle that if they wanted to, but Shannon wasn't going to test her luck a second time. The first time, Jack hadn't gotten physically violent with her, but if she came back for a second go, he might and she didn't want to find out whether he would or wouldn't.

So, Shannon parted ways with Stephen and Spencer under the guise of heading back to the museum where she'd be safe. In reality, she was on a search for Sam. He had to be there somewhere and if anything tried to stop her, she'd use the crowbar, however heavy and cumbersome it was. There was no way someone was getting in the way of her finding Sam now that she was free to roam again.

It wasn't until Shannon got all the way down, a football field's length maybe, from the barn and saw the Impala sitting there neglected that she even began to entertain the idea that maybe Sam was gone and wouldn't be coming back. It had happened to Dean, after all. Making her way toward the vehicle, perhaps once again to pay her respects, Shannon noticed movement in the corner of her eye. Guards, she thought, and the notion was confirmed when she drew nearer and saw a cage housing a man and a woman inside.

Then, Shannon was struck with an idea. Dean might not have thought of it because it'd do some damage to his baby, but she thought maybe if he could get past that, he'd do it. Ducking slightly as she went, Shannon scurried over to the Impala and pulled the door open. She froze, eyes darting over to the guards, when the door creaked loudly. When neither of them seemed to notice her, Shannon dropped down into the driver's seat and tossed the crowbar unceremoniously into the backseat, closing the door behind herself. "Keys...keys..." she muttered, looking through the glove box. If I was Dean, where would I hide the keys...? she thought and for a fleeting, terrifying moment, she wondered if he'd had them in his pocket. Or if Sam had them. In either case, she'd be out of luck, but she kept looking because the crowbar would be a good weapon, but the beast of a vehicle would be a better one.

Pulling down the visor over the driver's side, Shannon's eyes went wide and her smile brightened with victory as a set of keys fell into her lap. "Yes!" she hissed, shoving them into the ignition. Before turning them, she took a moment to look, dumbfounded, at the controls and gearshift. Everything was so antiquated, she wasn't quite sure whether she'd actually know how to run the damn thing, but when she thought she finally had her bearings, Shannon turned the key and the engine roared to life.

...for a few seconds before rumbling and then dying out. "No, no, no!" she whispered, slamming her hands against the steering wheel. "Come on, you piece of shit," she snapped, turning the key again and screaming in frustration when she heard what she was pretty sure was the sound of an engine that did not want to turn over again. "Fuck!"

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heavensentme
2009-11-18 03:06 am UTC (link)

The nature that surrounded Castiel was laden with an eerie stillness. The only sound at all was the breath he pulled into his lungs as he slowly got to his feet. Leaves cracked and crumbled beneath the soles of his shoes. Then, once again, it was silent.

Without warning, a motor revved in the distance. It grumbled to life and chugged its way through to a short-lived growl. The unnatural roar was one he had heard time and again. The gargle and chug of the engine was unmistakable. It belonged to Dean Winchester's black Chevrolet Impala.

Even if this were a trick of some sort, the car might help Castiel find Dean. For just a moment, he wished the sigils he had used on the Winchesters were not so powerful. At least that way he could know where they were.

Instead he was flying blind. As fast as his feet could carry him, Castiel ran in the direction that the sound had come from, cutting through the trees and brush as fast as he could manage until he saw a clearing ahead.

Cautiously, Castiel approached what he believed to be a clearing. The closer he got, however, the more he realized that it was a road. Directly across from him sat the uncharacteristically dirty Impala.

The muddled sensations from the head-trauma and what he guessed was a deep sleep made it hard to make out a figure that sat in the driver's seat. Slowly and quietly, he slipped out of the cover of the trees and onto the road toward the car.

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ballerinadreams
2009-11-18 11:16 pm UTC (link)

Having all but given up on the car after three more unsuccessful tries to get it started, Shannon pulled the key back out of the ignition and looked out the windshield. Either the guards hadn't heard her at all, or they'd heard and didn't find her a threat when the car had stopped running. Either way, they didn't seem to be looking her way and that was a plus.

As turned in her seat to reach back for the crowbar again, her eyes grew wide when she caught movement in the corner of her eye and looked up to see a man in a trenchcoat heading toward her. Was he a new comer? Another rogue whom she'd simply not met as of yet, or was he with the management? Leaning over, Shannon pushed down the manual lock on the passenger side door and then locked her own out of precaution before leaning back to roll down the window just a crack; just enough so that he could hear her.

"What do you want?" she asked, brow furrowed and heart racing. He could be anyone. He looked a little beaten, she thought, but couldn't tell because of the way the sunlight hit the trees casting a slight shadow over him as he approached. If he needed help or had any ideas on how to get the people out of the cage without having the shit kicked out of them by the two men on guard, she was more than happy to let him in and hash things out. If, on the other hand, he was one of them, he could go fuck himself and she wouldn't go anywhere. ...and she'd try starting the car again. That thought in mind, she pushed the key back into the ignition, just in case.

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heavensentme
2009-11-19 12:05 am UTC (link)

Nearly immediately, Castiel noticed that the person in the car was not Dean, unless Dean had become a blond woman. Though this was most likely another false reality created by Gabriel, he assumed that Dean would at least look remotely like himself, and there was not any obvious resemblance.

"Where is Dean?" he inquired flatly. Castiel did not assume that everyone knew Dean Winchester, but it was not a stretch to assume tat a woman in his car would.

The surrounding area was reminiscent of many frequent haunts for demons, vampires, and other unholy creatures. Perhaps they were hunting - but that didn't make sense in the context of the last few days. Unless the hunt was an illusion. All the circles he was thinking in were only worsening the ache he felt in his head and the confusion that already clouded his thoughts.

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ballerinadreams
2009-11-19 01:25 am UTC (link)

At the man's response, Shannon looked - and felt - as though she'd been slapped in the face. Blinking, she looked back at the man and replied with the same flat tone, albeit with a crack of emotion, "Dean's dead." She swallowed hard and sniffed, willing herself not to cry. Crying didn't get her anywhere, didn't gain her sympathy, and Shannon, quite frankly, was sick and goddamn tired of crying in this place. It only made the Management smile, she thought. No use in making them happier than they probably already were. At least not willingly.

And then it registered in her mind that some strange guy - who had most certainly not been around while Dean had been alive, because Shannon was almost one hundred percent positive that she'd met everyone back then - was asking for the owner of the car in which she sat, frustrated. "How do you know him?" she asked, jaw set as she stared back at the stranger, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

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heavensentme
2009-11-19 01:53 am UTC (link)

Unless his severance from Heaven was more complete than he had realized, he would have known of Dean's death. Certainly, he was aware of his acute absence from the world, but that was not new. Ever since he had given the Winchesters the sigils, they had been absent from his awareness.

Before he could assure her of Dean's well being, she questioned him again.

To explain how he knew Dean would be a long and fruitless venture. What was more, he did not know who this woman was. She could have been anyone. His explanation needed to be vague. "We work together."

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ballerinadreams
2009-11-19 01:57 am UTC (link)

Shannon raised an eyebrow when the man said that he and Dean worked together. "Really? Because I was under the impression that he'd worked alone. Traveling. A lot," she accused. "You know what? Whatever. Fuck off. ...unless, that is, you know how to hot wire a car older than dirt," she muttered, frowning.

Her eyes moved away from him and back to the cage, her head nodding toward that direction. "Which side are you on?" she asked. "Us or them?" If he wasn't new, he'd know exactly what she meant and if he was new, she thought he'd probably ask what she meant. Shannon was fairly confident that if he was with the Management, she'd see the falter before he feigned confusion, if that was the route he decided to take.

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heavensentme
2009-11-19 03:18 am UTC (link)

Apparently the vagueness of his answer was not enough. It was not simply the mugginess of his mind that had prevented him from understanding her, but he could not get any form of 'read' on her. His instincts told him that she was human and marginally innocent, but he knew nothing about her. This unsettled him somewhat. Most of the time, he could see into a person and understand the facts of their existence: who they were, where they came from, etc.

For her, he felt nothing. Perhaps she was just another trick. In that case, her question was simply Gabriel by extension.

"I am on the side of salvation." Lately, discerning a 'side' had become far more complicated than 'us and them'. Instead, he had rebelled and chosen the only 'side' that seemed to truly follow God's will. The side that was going to hold off the end of days.

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ballerinadreams
2009-11-20 12:45 am UTC (link)

The trench coat guy came out with some interesting responses, Shannon thought. Cryptic and maybe a little insane, she thought, because...what?

"Salvation? ...the hell is that supposed to mean?!" she gaped. That sounded like a Management sort of response, but she didn't quite want to discount him yet. If only, really, because he didn't seem to realize Dean was long dead or, if he did, he was doing a good job of faking it. "There's no salvation here, buddy, hate to tell ya," she added, knitting her brow with frustration.

Shannon realized that there was no real way to tell whether he was one of them or one of them, because she'd not only been unable to tell with Jenny, but had actually befriended and trusted Jenny...and she had been one of them. While Shannon hadn't wanted to believe that she could've been that stupid, after L had insisted it, Shannon had looked back through the journal and Jenny's last entry had confirmed it.

So, as far as it went with new people, Shannon was no longer interested in being nice; she didn't want to run the welcome wagon anymore and clearly her judgment was off, so venturing a guess on this guy wasn't an option she was giving herself.

Pausing, Shannon nodded again toward the cage in the background. "You see that? Are you on the side of one of the ones who put them there...or are you just lucky to be on the outside of the bars like me?" she asked bluntly.

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heavensentme
2009-11-20 01:11 am UTC (link)

"Salvation? ...the hell is that supposed to mean!? There's no salvation here, buddy, hat to tell ya."

Clearly, this woman was not aware of the imminent apocalypse. Perhaps there was no salvation to be found here, but the more he was shoved away by angels, demons, or Man, the stronger it made his will to find God. Illusion or no, this woman simply reminded him of how badly he wanted to find his Father.

Nothing about her was very threatening. By all appearances, she was simply a human woman, locked inside a car. Castiel was certainly aware that he could simply lift the lock and open the door, as was his gift from the Lord, but he would allow her to remain where she felt safe until he had a need to be inside the vehicle.

"You see that? Are you on the side of one of the ones who put them there... or are you just lucky to be on the outside of the bars like me?"

The cages, which until now had gone unnoticed by the suited angel, seemed crude and wrong. Simply looking at them reminded him of the devices of Lucifer's army.

He was certainly not on the side of anyone who would put anyone or anything into such cages. At least not without a very just cause. Imprisonment was a last resort that he had come to a few too many times recently.

"I was never in a cage. I woke up in the forest."

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ballerinadreams
2009-11-20 01:41 am UTC (link)

It might've been that Shannon was paranoid, but she thought that maybe the man was studying her. Trying to figure her out or the situation out or, hell, maybe just what the hell she was doing in Dean's car. The thought of the look on Dean's face if he'd been alive to see her trying to figure out how to work the thing, never mind how unnatural she probably looked behind the wheel would've probably been priceless. It almost brought a smile to her face.

The man outside the car said that he'd never been in a cages and that he woke up in the forest. Shannon nodded sympathetically. "When? Today?" she asked. "We all woke up in the woods," she added casually, as if it was completely normal to wake up in the middle of the forest somewhere when you'd fallen asleep somewhere else entirely.

Frowning, Shannon looked over at the cage again, momentarily ignoring the man outside the car. Her brow furrowed. Rorschach was a dickhead, yeah, but she hadn't ever pegged him as the type to be patrolling against the others inside the Glass Cage. As much as she disliked the man, she found herself hoping like hell that he was under the same apparent mind control Jack was.

Finally, Shannon looked back at the man. "You have any ideas on how to break them out?" she asked. "They don't deserve to be in there. I was gonna slam the car into it - or the guards; I hadn't decided yet - but I can't get it to stay running," she admitted.

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heavensentme
2009-11-20 10:45 am UTC (link)

"When? Today?"

It was reassuring somehow to know that others had the same strange awakening. "Yes, today," Castiel dryly answered. Though the haze that filled his head was slowly lifting, the disorientation was lingering.

Normally, he had a very good concept of where he was. Having a basic concept of where he was, especially in relation to a desired location, made it possible for him to travel quickly and precisely.

Here in this strange forest, he was only aware of a limited sphere that extended from where he had woken up to the edge of that barn. He could move to the barn faster than human steps, but such a short range seemed like a needless use of his wings. His feet were perfectly able to take him where he needed to be.

"You have any ideas on how to break them out? They don't deserve to be in there. I was gonna slam the car into it - or the guards; I hadn't decided yet - but I can't get it to stay running."

Liberating strangers from other humans seemed appealing. Immediately, his mind rebuked him for being seduced by what was most likely to be fake. If he allowed himself to be distracted by this farce, it could be his end.

He quickly compared this situation with the others he had been dropped into. None of the previous ones had made much sense, especially the ones that he had found the Winchesters in, too. They seemed to be bizarre simplifications of human occupations or situations. There was no occupation apparent in this situation, except for, perhaps, hunters.

Something nagged at him. All the people he saw were simply that: people. There were no demons, no angels, just God's humans. "I have no time for this. Where is Gabriel?"

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ballerinadreams
2009-11-23 10:01 pm UTC (link)

Shannon's expression softened slightly when the man answered that he'd woken up in the woods there that day. "Newbie, huh? Sorry," she said softly, her brow knitting with concern. "I take it you know Dean wherever you came from? What year is it for you back home?" she asked. Maybe if he knew Dean, he would also know Sam and even if Shannon wasn't a fan of sharing, she could understand and sympathize. If someone from the Island had shown up in this place, she'd be falling all over herself to be around a familiar face.

The sympathetic look fell away again as the man went on. "You don't have time for this? Well, have a blast finding your own way, then, buddy, because believe it or not, from here on out, you've got all the time in the world," she snapped. "You're not going anywhere; you're stuck here like the rest of us, so you can be a douche or you can help me get those guys out of the cage, whatever, I don't care."

Shannon tried again to turn the key in the ignition, slamming frustrated fists against the steering wheel when the engine still refused to turn over. "COME ON! You'd fucking start for Dean if he was here!" she roared at the car, trying the key again and failing once more. Then, she looked sharply back over at the man, having just then registered the last bit of what he'd said. "Who the hell is Gabriel?" she asked, making a face. "Did he wake up with you? We come in in pairs usually, but I don't know any Gabriel and I haven't seen anyone, save the people in the cages and the people guarding it, other than you, so..."

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heavensentme
2009-11-26 05:13 am UTC (link)

"Yes," Castiel spoke distractedly as he contemplated the prisoners and their captors. "I am a new-bee." Slang was gradually becoming a part of his language. It was an awkward process, but he felt that in order to communicate with Dean, he had to at least understand it.

"I know Dean in 2009." All of his answers were very brief and factual. The question about what year it was disconcerting, but it would not have been the strangest question he'd ever been asked. Without his connection to Heaven, there was no way of knowing when he was either.

This woman seemed to firmly believe it when she said they were trapped. If she were telling the truth, it probably did not matter to Castiel as he had the power bestowed upon him by the Grace of God.

It was also most likely to still be a trap, he reminded himself.

The more answers he gave to her, the more concerned he became that knew nothing about this woman. Recently, he had learned the price of misplaced trust, and as of now, the stranger had done nothing to make him trust her. And she could have been anything from a hallucination to a cunning agent of Lucifer.

He let her unleash her frustration, as it was quite apparent that she needed it. Castiel did not begrudge her for her pent-up emotions, especially if she was trapped as she had said. All he could do was hope that she did not damage Dean's treasured muscle car for Dean's sake.

Before he was going to give her anymore information, especially for a question about something so important, he wanted to do away with the separation and concealment that the Impala gave her. In the blink of an eye, Castiel moved from the road outside and into the familiar passenger seat.

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ballerinadreams
2009-12-01 12:03 am UTC (link)

An eyebrow arched with detached interest as the man confirmed that he was new in a awkward sounding parrot of what she'd suggested. New-bee. "Okay..." she said slowly, giving him a weak, forced smile almost remniscent of the ones she'd seen on sam's face far too many times. "2009? Huh, okay..." she replied. That was something like four or five years from when the Dean she'd known in Vas Captio had been from. He wouldn't have known this guy anyway, even if he was telling the truth. Shannon wasn't so sure about that, anyway. "Well, for what it's worth, then, unless you've known him for a good few years, he probably wouldn't have known who you were anyway; he wouldn't have met you yet," she said with a shrug.

The fact that the Impala wouldn't start was grating on Shannon's nerves enough as it was, but this guy seemed all kinds of shady and the fact that he seemed to be torn between just standing there like a useless lump and actually doing something to help the people on the cage was disconcerting. She waited, watching him, for a moment to see if he'd answer as to who this Gabriel person was, but when he didn't, Shannon rolled her eyes and looked away from him again, trying the key in the ignition again to no avail. "Whatever, don't talk, then," she muttered, annoyed.

A few more tries and the car seemed to give up and tell her off for pushing her limits. A slow exhalation of steam was leaking out from beneath the hood and Shannon let out a heavy sigh, dropping her head back onto the headrest, closing her eyes. For a moment, she stayed like that and then decided to give the guy another chance to come up with an idea better than hers, since hers had failed. When she looked over, though, she gasped and startled heavily, seeing him in the front seat beside her. "Jesus Christ!" she shrieked, grabbing for the door handle and realizing a second too late that the doors were still locked. She'd locked herself in in the effort of locking that guy out. When she tried to unlock them, her hands shaking still, she found herself unable to maneuver it properly because she wasn't exactly sure how the locks actually worked in a car this old. Shannon was used to pressing a button and automatic locks clicking into or out of place. This was completely different and thus, she was stuck.

Quickly turning to face him, eyes wide, Shannon stared at him. "Okay, I'm sorry," she insisted, swallowing hard. "You're not a douche, I'm sure you and Dean were totally bff, and please don't hurt me," she babbled, holding up her hands defensively and wishing like hell that she'd kept the crowbar up front with her. If she reached for it now, he'd be able to stop her without very much effort at all and she thought maybe trying to get it would be a dangerous mood. So, it sat on the backseat taunting her. "How did you do that...?" she asked in a wavering voice, her jaw clenched slightly as she looked back at him.

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