the TROUBLE with a n g e l s ||JAGGER||

[castiel]

There was a time when it would never have occurred to Castiel to doubt his orders. After all, they came from the gods, right? They had to be right. The gods had a perspective on the world that he could never have; they saw far more than he could. Surely, if they had the bigger picture, they must know what was the best course of action for their agent on Earth. They must know better than him. Or so he had always believed.

Now, he wasn’t so sure. He had begun to doubt the wisdom of some of the gods’ orders. It was a dangerous road to go down; once upon a time, he would have condemned it as heretical or even traitorous to doubt that the gods knew what was best. Only months ago, he would have shut down any such thoughts swiftly and harshly. It was not his place to doubt. It never had been. He was a servant of the gods, and he should not question the orders that were sent to him. He had no doubt that, if the other archangels could see him now, they would think him corrupted. On some level, he thought himself corrupted.

But corrupted by what? By the intensity of feeling that he was experiencing here on Earth, as opposed to the divine serenity he had known back in Heaven? Was that truly a corrupting influence? It was one of the joys he had rediscovered upon returning to Earth. Physical sensation and strength of feeling were relatively alien in Heaven, at least in the part that the archangels inhabited. They were beings of energy, and did not feel much besides a graceful calm bestowed upon them by God. Until recently, Castiel had believed himself lucky to experience life in such a manner. After all, was he not blessed to live without strife in the arms of the Lord he had long ago pledged his life to serve?

Whether it was corruption or not, Castiel was no longer so sure of himself as he had been before. He had begun to question, and it was a hard thing to stop. It had seemed clear when he was just overseeing Angel; make sure the Fallen stayed on the path to redemption, as well as taking missions sent from above when they needed an archangel’s hand. Some of them had been mundane, some less so. Some dangerous, and some not. It hadn’t really mattered to Castiel; he’d known he was doing God’s work.

And then he had been sent to save a particular Angel, one even he had known the name of prior to coming to Earth. Jagger Addison. A detective and demon hunter, known in Heaven for being one of the most successful men in both fields, particularly the latter when you considered that he did not have access to the power that Castiel did as an archangel. Jagger had gotten himself into a tight spot and Castiel had been called in to save him, and to give him an amulet that would allow him to call on the archangel for aid, should he need it again. Castiel had expected that would be the end of it, and that he would not see much of the detective after that. He had been wrong.

It had started with Jagger insisting on paying him back for his help (despite Castiel’s insistence that he was not in the archangel’s debt at all), and just sort of… what was the phrase? ‘Snowballed’ from there. And before Cas had quite figured out the strange fluttery feelings in his stomach, he had discovered their cause in a more direct fashion. Jagger had kissed him. And Cas, inexperienced as he was with this sort of thing, had known just one thing at that moment; he wanted to kiss Jagger back.

To Cas, it had seemed harmless enough. There was no rule that he knew of against getting attached to someone, and he was not neglecting his other duties (though Jagger sometimes seemed irritated when he left to take care of something, which confused Cas somewhat). But then, after a month or so, he had gotten another order from above. One with no explanation. He had been told that he was being restationed in a different town, was expected to leave immediately, and was told that, unless he was called for an emergency and apart from his regular check-ins with Liam, he was supposed to stay in the new town. He’d obeyed, though he had stopped long enough to at least leave a note in an attempt to explain, though some part of him had known Jagger would be angry with him.

It was a pleasant enough place, he supposed. A Navy town, he’d heard someone on the street say. There did seem to be more of the uniformed officers around than in Liam or Jagger’s towns. It was, however, very quiet, which made Castiel wonder what his purpose was in being stationed here. He still got fairly regular assignments from above, but was always told to return here upon finishing. He had had to ignore calls from Jagger through the amulet he’d given the other Angel; after showing up the first time and finding that it was not an emergency (as he had somewhat suspected), he had quickly taught himself to distinguish when the other was truly in trouble. Though he could hear much of what Jagger yelled through the amulet (some of the more unpleasant things he chalked up to anger, as he had gotten used to people speaking out of temper rather than their true feelings), Castiel had had to keep himself from answering. Even though that was what he wanted to do, more than anything.

He sat on a bench by the edge of a park, his favored trenchcoat wrapped around him to ward off some of the chill in the air, and watched the children running around on the nearby playground. He liked children. And he found it gave his mind something to focus on besides the odd emptiness that had settled in the pit of his stomach over the past couple of weeks of being alone. He’d become accustomed to having company, someone to talk to or simply be with. It was hard, after that, to be stationed in this town alone.

Castiel sighed, raking a hand through his dark hair, and leaned forward slightly, propping his elbows on his knees as he gazed absently at the playing children. His doubts gnawed at his stomach; he could not see the reasoning behind this new assignment, and it was slowly eating away at his faith. Castiel didn’t know what to do.

---

Tagged: Jagger ouo
Words: 1115 $$ added

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[jagger]

To make things easier on Castiel, Jagger had committed himself to cutting down on communication. Every so often, he'd hold the feather amulet close to his face, staring at it, mulling over whether or not he should call the Archangel he enjoyed company with. Every time, he sighed and stuffed it back into his jacket pocket. He had promised himself that, due to Cas' situation, he would resist and only call on him if it was greatly needed it. It killed Jagger every time he pulled the amulet out. He hated the lack of communication that existed between him and that lovely Angel, Castiel. It was bad enough he had faked being in trouble to gain Castiel's attention- more than once, as well. Cas hadn't been too pleased with the detective's lies...nor was he very happy to be chained by him. Jagger smirked slightly at the thought. He knew it had made Cas unhappy, but when he had faked trouble, Castiel had shown up. He had shown up to help Jagger. That's what pleased this angelic detective's heart. He sighed quietly to himself, patting the pocket that held the amulet. It wasn't right to lie to someone you loved. And Jagger wouldn't do it anymore. Not to mention, he had important business to attend to today.

The Angel king had sent Jagger a case to work. There had apparently been an investigation needed somewhere near the middle of the Atlantic. He had packed his essentials in a messenger bag, along with a few extra magical items. The bag remained lying on the floor near Jagger's front door. What would Castiel think of him? Hesitating to aid others? It had been unlike Jagger. But there was something that was causing Jagger to reconsider whether or not he had actually wanted to answer to the call of the Angel king. Not to mention, the Atlantic was a far way to travel for a case. He ran a hand through his scraggly blonde hair and stood up, staring reluctantly at the bag near the door. In all actuality, he had no choice. He had already written back to the king stating the job could be done. The cases he had worked so hard on by himself, before meeting Cas, hardly compared to the cases he had worked alongside the particular Archangel. In a displeased sort of way, he waltzed over to his bag. Jagger flung its strap over his shoulder and dug in his pant pocket for the key to the front door, which he used to unlock and open.

It felt weird to get air once more. Jagger hadn't felt the breeze in quite some time- being that he had been spending 100% of his time at home, in his office or his room. He hadn't worked a big case since Castiel's abrupt departure. Closing the door behind him, his bright white wings spread wide. Quickly, he took off and headed in the general direction in which his assignment was stationed. The wind felt exceptional. Outdoors was better than Jagger had remembered. And it reminded him of a few flights spent in the presence of Castiel. A few times, even, Jagger had carried the small Archangel home in his arms, flying him back to his cozy detective hideaway. Castiel's form of travel had always taken less time; he had the ability to "teleport." Whereas, Jagger had to fly himself places if he wanted to get there faster. Cas' quick teleportation made it easy to get Jagger back home when in a tight situation; and for that, the detective was thankful.

He flew himself far out, finding the island he sought. Once landed, his bright white wings disappeared, leaving his appearance quite similar to that of a Human's. Jagger closed his eyes and listened to what was around him. Mostly, the sound of ocean waves. However, in the distance, among the trees, he could hear loud thuds and deep voices (very few were feminine). He walked on silently, that way any inhuman troublemakers wouldn't know of him being there. He slid between trees, climbing up them every so often to make sure he was still hidden. Quickly, he dropped down and ran, ducking behind a bush which was quite close to the small building in which he was to infiltrate. He straightened his back slightly, peering at the entrance from afar. His blonde ruffle of hair poked out of the bush briefly; he then went to slide back into hiding. When he went to stand to get closer to the door, everything went black. All his mind saw before the world's lights turned off was Cas' smile.

Notes: CAN THIS BE THEIR SONG!?!?!?
Words: 774! :V $$ added

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[castiel]

Despite his best efforts at distracting himself, Castiel found himself thinking about the one time he had gone to Jagger since being stationed here. He had been reluctant to go, knowing that the likelihood of Jagger actually getting into trouble so quickly after Castiel’s disappearance (more or less) was quite low, and there was likely something else going on. Still, though he could sense some things through the amulet he had given the other Angel (linked as it was to Castiel’s power, as well as something deeper within him he couldn’t quite put a finger on), those senses were limited. It was difficult to be certain of what exactly was going on; all he knew was that there had been several sharp impacts, as if the amulet had been struck, and that seemed an ill omen.

So he had gone to Jagger, and the detective had taken advantage of his appearance to trap Castiel before he could teleport away again. Castiel knew he was not supposed to question his orders, particularly not openly in front of another (even an angel of such regard as Jagger), but the other had left him little choice. Still, he had taken the precaution of casting a spell that would ensure, at least briefly, that his higher ups would not hear what he said.

The truth was, Castiel was concerned about the orders he was getting from above. He was no longer convinced that they came straight from the Lord. That was at the core of the crisis of faith he was reluctant to admit he was having. It was difficult to see how his orders lately could have come from God, as they seemed aimed towards keeping him from forming attachments, and Castiel had always thought God wanted people to connect with one another. After all, he had designed them to crave that sort of deep relationship with another person. It didn’t make sense.

But he could never voice those thoughts where the more powerful archangels could hear. Certain ones of them, whose names he was reluctant to even think in case they had some way of detecting it, seemed to be more ambitious than truly out for the greater good. He suspected that they did not want any chance of an archangel finding him- or her-self with conflicting loyalties, particularly one with as much natural power as Castiel. He was also the only one currently walking the earth, which probably made him even more of a potential issue in their eyes.

However, Castiel’s loyalty was not in question, even in his own mind. His faith was wavering, yes, but Castiel was too well-trained to abandon it so quickly. Why else would he be following these orders, which made both himself and Jagger miserable? He was frustrated, but though many in Heaven would deem him corrupt for even thinking such things, he had no intention of going against what may or may not be the will of God. Not unless something major changed. Castiel bowed his head for a moment over his clasped hands, grey eyes closing as he sent a wordless prayer for guidance to God. The other archangels would not hear; Castiel’s mind was more than disciplined enough to make sure that particular sentiment remained private.

He shook himself slightly, attempting to rid himself of these melancholy, unwanted thoughts. To reassure himself, Castiel reached for the tie within him that connected to the amulet; it would give him enough information to say if Jagger was alright or not. Then, perhaps, he could allow himself to think about something else, if only for a little while.

What he found surprised him, and made him frown slightly. The sensation of the amulet told him it was much closer to him than it had been in a long time. Jagger was in the area. What could have brought him here? Castiel had not told him where he was stationed, to help the detective ease the temptation to test the boundaries Castiel’s superiors had put on him. Had Jagger gone to the trouble to find out anyway? Or was his being here mere happenstance, a job in the area or some such more innocent explanation?

Castiel’s curiosity brought him to his feet. He did not instantly bring himself to Jagger’s side, though he could easily have done so. Jagger was not in peril, or he would have called. Instead, Castiel used his power to track the amulet, following the magical lead between it and himself. Like a homing beacon, almost, used much more slowly than usual. That same aspect was what allowed him to teleport straight to it without necessarily knowing where it was.

He followed it down several streets, into one of the less pleasant parts of town, and turned a corner just in time to see a rather brutish man clout Jasper over the back of the head. The blonde Angel crumpled to the ground. The man who had struck him took a step towards him, his manner obviously suggesting he meant Jagger further harm (as if the initial hit hadn’t been evidence enough).

Castiel would not allow it. He was still Jagger’s protector; his current orders had not changed that. He strode towards the man, muttering a short phrase in Latin under his breath. ”Sum angelus Domini.” As soon as he said it, power began to buzz across his skin and in the air around him, an aura rising up like a mantle that would make his short stature seem more impressive. He felt the tickle in his throat that signaled the booming quality his voice would take on. All engineered to make him much more imposing, to mark him as someone one would not want to fight. A useful spell he had designed soon after coming to earth; often scare tactics allowed him to avoid a straight on fight.

”Touch him again, and you will regret it,” Castiel said, not the slightest bit of hesitation in his voice or step as he approached the man with confidence. ”Leave now, or I will lay you to waste.” Not exactly an empty threat; Castiel may not look like much physically, but his magic was considerable. Even though he was prevented from direct harm, there was much he could do that did not directly constitute harm and was still decidedly unpleasant for his target.

The man looked at him for a moment, looked down at Jagger, then apparently decided a fight was not worth it and made his escape down a nearby alley. Castiel did not pursue him, instead choosing to bend down beside Jagger. The angel detective seemed mostly unharmed, apart from a nasty bump rising on the side of his head. A slight smile of relief took over the archangel’s face as his previous spell faded away. Castiel took a moment to bring them both back to the park bench he had been sitting on only moments before; he was not a fool, and didn’t care for the possibility of the attacker coming back with friends while Jagger was still out for the count.

Castiel arranged Jagger so he was lying on the bench, his blonde head in Castiel’s lap. After brushing a bit of hair out of the detective’s eyes, the archangel laid a gentle hand over the injury currently oozing blood into that lightly colored hair and healed it with a murmured invocation, feeling a slight drain on his power as he did so. Then, unsure of what had brought Jagger to this town in the first place, he decided to wait until the other angel woke up. Perhaps he could help with whatever it was. That would not be going against his orders.

---

Tagged: Jagger ouo
Words: 1283

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[jagger]

Jagger remained in a state of unconsciousness for quite some time, the bleeding bump on his head throbbing lightly as he lay limp with his eyes shut tight. For a moment, he thought he was going to die, but his mind quickly reassured him that it was much more difficult than a swift hit to the head to kill off an Angel like him. Sure he wasn't as powerful as Castiel or the other Archangels, but for someone of his status in the Heavens, he had been granted a good amount of power. The detective might have been out cold and limp in appearance, but inside his mind things were clear as day. It was almost as if the blow to his head had caused damage to his body- but left his mentality untapped.

His thoughts were dream-like, celestial even. Castiel's image was speaking clearly to Jagger. At first he was upset about the things Jagger had done, but soon after he was smiling and acting normal. Jagger felt himself stir. He didn't want to awaken- he preferred to watch the image of Cas talk and move around happily in his mind. But his body was finally feeling ready to move. It was as if it hit him like a brick wall- he could feel the stinging in his head almost instantly, and a slight burn in his throat and stomach. He tossed a little and cracked open his eyes just an inch. "Cas..." was the first thing he could force himself to say. The light-haired Angel reached his arms out, his hands grasping. Perhaps he had imagined the sound of Castiel's presence nearby. All he was feeling was empty space. Until his hands shortly stopped- finding a familiar hem of a trench coat once felt before. Jagger coughed lightly, opening his eyes more. And there he was. That damned Archangel always came at the right times. Even though he felt light-headed and didn't quite feel up to saying much or moving much- he found it in him to smile his usual, smart ass smirk.

Looking up at the Archangel, he laughed quietly, coughing a bit in the process. "Hey there, Cas." he murmured, sitting himself up just a little. The pain where he was hit was lifting slowly, his head feeling less soaked. If it hadn't been for that short, yet incredibly attractive, Archangel...Jagger wasn't sure if he would still be alive. Was there a way to thank him properly at this exact moment? He rubbed his neck slightly. The last thing he wanted was for Castiel to think this was yet another set up- it would do well to tell him just why he was stationed in the same area as his significant other. The Angel gave himself a moment to recuperate, sitting up as straight as possible. "Cas, before you try and leave...hear me out. I'm here on duty- and I swear it. I'd be more than happy to explain." he said in a bit of a gruff tone.

He dug through his coat pockets in search of the letter from the King of Angels. Pulling it out and unfolding it. Jagger held it out for Castiel to take and read. While Jagger looked off into the distance and thought for a moment. The King was having a rough time taking care of a Demon hidden in the very outskirts of town- casting spells and possessing a large group of rowdy Humans who have joined his "posse." Manipulating these Humans and the spells, he's been using their very own souls as a means to sustain life and steal important artifacts located in St. Raiatea. He shook his head. "I'm not sure how that man heard me. But I thank you for finding and saving me before I acquired any further damage..." He ran a hand through his golden colored hair, sighing lightly in confusion and relief. His eyes found their way back to the Archangel, who was skimming the letter from the King. Jagger had read the letter a few times over to concoct various solutions before setting off to find the Demon and his group. To relax himself more, Jagger rested a hand on Castiel's leg. He smiled lightly. He was warm. He felt familiar. And this comforted Jagger. For all they knew, this could be the calm before the storm...

NOTES: LOOK I DID IT. shortthoughomg
WORDS: 727 c8

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