On a wing and a prayer

[the_baking_vampire]

This isn't the first charge he's ever had as a guardian angel, so it's not exactly as if he's new at his job. He's never broken the rules before or failed in his task. He's always followed strictly to the rules and protected his charges with the utmost care and diligence.

He never thought things would be so much different with John Grimm.

As a boy, he'd lost his parents, and Seere had been tasked to him without any real explanation of why. Sometimes, that's how it goes; an assignment without a reason. It's never bothered him. All he knew was that he needed to protect the boy, and by extension, that usually meant protecting his twin sister, as well, inseparable as they were.

For years, Seere watched him grow, a sad, shy, and reserved child who turned into a handsome young man.

It was difficult when John entered the military. Seere can't fix mental anguish. How does one protect against that sort of thing without keeping a soul from gaining the necessary experiences to benefit from having lived? So, he watches as John struggles through bootcamp, watches as he struggles with the deaths of his friends, with the guilt that comes with it. He wants to help, but there's nothing he can do. He can't protect everyone. Only John.

Seere is wary when John gets selected for the RRTS. It's such a dangerous squad. Protecting him becomes a full-time task, flitting in and out of John's vision, exploiting those fractional blind spots that all humans have to subtly change the trajectory of bullets or nudge him away from a falling object or protect him from an explosion.

During these years, he's grown closer to John. He knows he shouldn't get attached, but John is such a sweet, loyal person, Seere can't help but care for him. He's gentle and protects those around him, gives everything he's got to try to keep his friends safe. He's grown into a man that Seere is proud to watch over, even if it's become dangerous to do so. Angels aren't allowed to love.

Still, his job goes well up until John is in his 26th year -- and he suddenly disappears.

Seere tracks his last signature to the point where it disappeared. It's a portal to Mars. Seere knows this, but he can't go. He can't leave the sphere of influence that Angels have on Earth. He can't travel to Mars with him, can't protect him. For once in his eternal life, Seere is afraid he will fail. He's not afraid of the punishment for it, he's afraid for John.

So, he heads back to Heaven to wait, and never have two days seemed so long for someone with as much patience as he has.

As soon as John's familiar tug reappears on Earth, Seere seeks him out.

He finds him at the hospital, beside the bed of his sister, and he immediately looks the both of them over for injuries. John is perfectly healthy, as far as Seere can tell, but Sam seems as if she has been wounded. Not fatally so, thankfully.

He breathes out a sigh of relief. He is so glad to see his charge is safe.

Comments

[beautifulanimal]

After Olduvai, everything is a haze.

He isn't sure what happens after he blows the arc and takes Sam with him up to the surface. There's people and noise and questions, and John's bounced around until things calm down enough that he can become aware of his surroundings again.

He's in the hospital, sitting by Sam's bed. She's sleeping, but he can hear her heart beating steady and slow. There's a moment where he wonders if it's normal that he should be able to hear her heart even with all the noises of people talking in the other rooms and cars out on the street and the endless buzzing of hundreds of machinery, but then he remembers that nothing is normal anymore.

"She gonna be okay?"

He doesn't fully look at the man in the room. He's still staring at Sam and can't really take his eyes off of her, like he's worried she'll die if he does. He assumes the new presence belongs to one of the doctors.

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere immediately freezes, wings ruffled like a startled owl, and he looks around the room, sure that there must be someone else in there that he hasn't noticed.

But there's no one. It's just him and John and Sam.

Perhaps it's a rhetorical question, then? But that's not the sort of thing that seems like a rhetorical question. It's one that wants an answer.

Well, there's only one way to find out, so Seere hesitantly turns towards John. "Can you see me?"

[beautifulanimal]

This time, John does look up. "Yeah, of course I-"

When he really sees the man in the room, wings and all, he jumps back, causing his chair to slide backwards away from the bed.

"What the fuck are you?!"

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere is equally startled and he jumps back, too, wings shifting uneasily as he ponders whether he should flee or not. John's not supposed to be able to see him. "That's not possible! Humans can't sense--"

But then again... the resonance from John's soul seemed odd earlier, so Seere checks it again.

That's not right. That can't be right. There's something wrong with his charge and it may very well explain why John can suddenly see him.

"What happened to you? You're not quite human anymore. Was it something on Mars? Please, I need to know."

Seere's not sure he can fix something that fundamental and it worries him. What if it's something that will lead to his death? What if it causes him chronic pain? What if God considers him an abomination and tasks Seere with killing him?

Seere's not sure he could follow that order.

[beautifulanimal]

He's on his way up and out of that chair. After what happened, he trusts nothing that doesn't smell human, but then this guy speaks as if he knows him and John freezes.

"Who are you? What do you know...?"

He hasn't told anyone what Sam did to him on Mars. He destroyed the research data and pretended they never even got that far. Because he knows that if they find out, he'll be their new guinea pig.

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere hesitates, but there's no way he can go back. John's obviously seen him, seen his wings. It's not like he can say he's one of the doctors.

The truth is just as unbelievable, though, he's sure. Still, it would be unbecoming for an angel to lie.

"My name is Seere. I'm one of the lower orders of angels. I've been watching over you since your parents died."

[beautifulanimal]

"Bullshit. There's no such thing as angels."

He would've been angry at him for bringing up his parents, and he is, but the story is so far out there.

And yet...

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere unfurls his wings as much as he can in the limited confines of the hospital room. He does have quite an impressive wingspan, after all!

Not that there's any pride there.

"Explain these, then."

[beautifulanimal]

"I've seen weirder."

Like eight-eyed beasts with detachable tongues that he could swear were straight from the bowels of hell...

This isn't that kind of thing, though. He tries to act like it is, but there's something tugging at his insides. If he knew the whole situation, he would say he's somehow hardwired to recognize this for what it really is. Part of him really does want him to drop to his knees and cry. The other half is a little more stubborn.

"That's crap you tell old people so they won't be scared of dying."

[beautifulanimal]

It's a lonely life after John gets settled in the compound. His days are busy from sunrise to sunset and the little time he has to relax is spent surrounded by other people. He can always see Seere hang around them, but he ever gets to talk to him, or touch him, or pull him close to breathe him in. The only times he gets to steal a little connection is at nights when Seere's sitting on the edge of the bed or laying down next to him. On those nights, John's hand sneaks over to take Seere's and clings all until morning.

And then comes the order that they're going on a mission. No surprises there. It was bound to happen and the fact that he gets almost two whole weeks to get re-adjusted to life with the Hellfighters is a small miracle. The whole crew is excited, but John feels like he might throw up his stomach at any point.

That night, he waits until everyone has fallen asleep, until Seere's settled on his bed, and then he gets up and motions for the angel to come with him. He won't go far. Just down the hall into the shower area. The door is heavy there and it's not likely that people will walk in on them. Especially since he has no need to turn on lights.

[the_baking_vampire]

"Hmm?" Seere follows after him curiously.

He knows John's nervous about this upcoming mission. He can feel it vibrating along their connection, that tension and worry. John's been doing so well these past couple of weeks, though. He's been associating with people, which is good. Seere is happy for him.

Still, it's not entirely a surprise that John wants a word alone, so once they're in the shower room and the door has closed behind them, Seere wraps him up in a hug. "Are you alright?"

[beautifulanimal]

John can't get close enough. He presses his face against Seere's right away and clings as tightly as he dares. He missed this so much that he almost forgets why he dragged him out here.

[the_baking_vampire]

"Love," Seere soothes, nuzzling at him and pressing chaste kisses along his jaw. "Are you alright?"

[beautifulanimal]

"I'mscared."

[the_baking_vampire]

"Why are you scared?"

[beautifulanimal]

"What if I get them all killed, Seere?"

[the_baking_vampire]

"You won't. I'm right here. I'll help you keep them safe."

[lovestheimpala]

Meanwhile, in Maine, Dean and Sam are fighting a group of demons that are running loose in a small town. It's a little more than even they can handle and eventually, Dean's out of options. So he calls for angel back up in the hopes that Cas can help them

[the_baking_vampire]

That prayer gets answered, and soon, there's an angel standing next to Dean. Except it's not Castiel. Not Castiel by a long shot.

No, this angel is curly-haired and clean-shaven, and in place of the trench coat is a clean, white button-up shirt and cream-colored slacks.

Also, this is not the sort of reception Seere was expecting. There's demons in the area. He can smell them. He can feel their presence, and it makes him nervous. He's not meant for this sort of thing.

Though, he does give Dean the courtesy of appearing visibly, since it seemed like that was something Castiel used to do. "Hello. I'm Seere, your new guardian angel."

If he seems a little nervous, it's because he keeps checking their vicinity for demons. "You must be Dean."

[lovestheimpala]

"Guardian an-"

What? What the hell is this? This guy looks like he's right from some church camp.

"No no no no. Where's Cas? I need Cas."

[the_baking_vampire]

"He's been reassigned. I'm sorry. I'll be taking his place from now on." Does he sound a little sad about that? Sorry... It's not you, it's him.

[lovestheimpala]

Dean stares at him for several, looking like his brain is slowly trying to translate what Seere said into an understandable language.

Then he steps back and just ignores him in favor of looking up.

"Cas! Come on, man. I know you can hear me. We've got a real situation here and we need you. Just send the miniature angel back to whatever daycare he escaped from and get your ass down here!"

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere frowns a little more and takes a cautious step closer. He knows this man is a hunter. He was briefed. Vaguely. Nobody really tells him anything important, only that he needs to protect this man and his brother, which is somewhat difficult, considering Seere is most definitely not a warrior and his ability to exorcise demons is not exactly on par with Castiel's.

"He can't hear you. He's on assignment elsewhere. I know I'm not what you were expecting, but I'll do everything I can to help you. There are demons here, aren't there? You're hunting them?"

[lovestheimpala]

"Trying to earn your wings?"

[the_baking_vampire]

"I already have my wings." He unfurls them just to prove it. They'renotthatsmall,arethey?