#i am not beating the stereotypes (hozier title)

[spacetiel]

happy wedding day destiel i wrote an orpheus eurydice fic

Title: no grave can hold my body down

Length: 6k

Summary:

He thought of Cas’ teary eyes, the way he looked as the black tendrils of the empty collected him, and the way Dean’s mouth refused to move, stunned to silence like the rest of him. Castiel had had to push him out of the way. He knew that there would be very little that could get rid of him this time.

“Have you ever heard of the Greek myths?” Empty Zachariah questions. At his blank-stared confusion, it adds, “Orpheus and Eurydice to be exact.” ~~~ Cas is taken by the Empty. Dean is going to get him back.

Read it on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45023290

Preview under the cut!

It takes three weeks of Castiel being dead for Dean to find him. Three weeks of fighting, searching, and begging any being or creature he could find for some kind of answer. He had come up empty handed.

In the end, all it takes is falling asleep.

“Hello, hello, hello,” says Meg, blinking into existence. It isn’t the real Meg, though, because Dean went to sleep and woke up under a pure black backdrop, alone. He always kinda wondered what the Empty was like, having been through Hell. It wasn’t that damn impressive.

“Where’s Cas?” Dean asks, bluntly. He doesn’t really care about the hows or whys of the situation. They don’t matter.

“So impatient, Dean Winchester,” The Empty Meg drawls out, circling him, “It’s been a while.”

His sense of space is all out of wack here, so the second it steps out of his view it's like a goddamn black hole. It is far too early to lose focus. He tries to follow the sound of its voice.

“Where. Is. Cas.”

“In due time, Dean. For now, I have a question,” Empty Meg grins, peeking back around to meet his gaze. They aren’t what he remembers of Meg’s eyes. Instead what he meets is pitch black and swirling, the kind of darkness he’s afraid of drowning in, “Where are you?”

Dean takes a step back, “I’m not playing your goddamn games.”

The Empty takes a step forward, almost floating as it walks, “If you had to guess? Pretty please?”

“I’m in the friggin’ Empty,” Dean spits. Empty Meg grins at him, hands clasping together.

“Correct you are. Good job, you get a treat! Now, do you notice anything about this place?” Empty Meg lazily gestures around. He can’t help his eyes following the movement, Empty Meg is the only solid thing to focus on. He shifts his position with discomfort.

“Pretty hard to notice anything around here, it’s empty,”  Dean says as Empty Meg goes behind his back once more. He really doesn’t have the time for this bullshit. He turns his whole body to follow it, but the Empty is too quick.

“Except for you, that is.”

Chasing the noise only leads him to face himself. The Empty version of himself, at least. Empty Him wrinkles its nose with a mocking grin, “hard to be Empty when you people are always knocking around. You in particular. You’re human, you were never meant to be here at all.”

“You brought me here, that ain’t my fault,” Dean says, low and warning. He knows the kind of trouble multiple Deans can stir up, even if they aren’t both real. Empty Him rolls its eyes.

“You know what is your fault?” The Empty steps towards him, voice turned venomous, lip curling into a sneer. It knocks its fist against its forehead for emphasis, “You and your little God pounding at my door day in and day out, always crying out for Cas.”

Jack hadn’t said a word to him or Sam since he became God. He assumed- They both assumed that he was taking a lesson from Chuck’s hands-off approach. It isn’t like they hadn’t had problems before, either. He can’t blame the kid for stepping back, even if they’re  family. Turns out, he had been trying quite a bit.

Sam had been sad when Cas died, but it wasn’t the way Dean had been sad. He didn’t quite get why Dean couldn’t so much as look at a trench coat, or his stupid truck, or anything else that reminded him of Cas without trying to put a hole through the wall. Cas had been dead before and Sam… Well, Sam started to get over it. At least Jack understood. ‘Course he did, that was his dad. 

“Give him back then. Sounds easy enough.”

The Empty laughs in his face.

“Slow down, Dean, I’m getting there,” Empty Him grins. In the span of a blink, the Empty switches its shape from his own to the long-dead Zachariah, “I’m here to make a deal with you.”

“What kind of deal?” Dean demands, completely unable to hide his interest. Hope, stupid hope, is only quieted by knowing better. It’s all too good to be true and the Empty still has a lot of power. Even then, what lengths wouldn’t he go to to have Cas back?

He thought of Cas’ teary eyes, the way he looked as the black tendrils of the empty collected him, and the way Dean’s mouth refused to move, stunned to silence like the rest of him. Castiel had had to push him out of the way. He knew that there would be very little that could get rid of him this time.

“Have you ever heard of the Greek myths?” Empty Zachariah questions. At his blank-stared confusion, it adds, “Orpheus and Eurydice to be exact.”

“The name rings a bell,” Dean says carefully. Sam found a book of myths as a kid and didn’t shut up till Dad made him, but it was thirty odd years ago and he couldn’t be expected to remember all of them. That was Sammy’s job.

“The point is, I’m letting you walk out of here, Castiel in tow, with two simple, simple conditions. Think you can do that for me?” Empty Zachariah looked at him as if it was talking to a child, cruel sharpness still lingering in his eyes. 

He didn’t want it to, but hope still hung around his heart. It was a hand, reaching out for what he wanted. Too good to be true.

“Depends, what’s the catch?” Dean narrows his eyes, trying to stay aware of his nonexistent surroundings. If this is a trap, he isn’t gonna fall for it.

“Well, if you were smarter I’m afraid you would already know,” Zachariah says, patting his head mockingly, “I’m going to provide a path out of here, and you are going to lead Castiel out. However, rule number one: you cannot look at the angel until you have gotten out successfully. Rule number two is that no matter how it goes out there, you and that little overpowered nephilim agree not to bother me ever again.”

The story starts to sound a little familiar. Dean steps out of Zachariah’s reach, “So, what? I can’t look at Cas or you’re going to come drag his ass back into the quicksand or something?”

Empty Zachariah smiles, “Or something. No matter how it goes, you agree to leave me alone for all eternity. I’m very tired, Dean.”

“If you’re so friggin tired, why not just let us have Cas back? What’s with all the friggin pageantry?”

Empty Zachariah hums while pretending to think, “Consider it a punishment for annoying me. Besides, I would never cave that easily. Usually I would demand a trade, be grateful I didn’t.”

The mention of a trade with the Empty still stings in Dean’s chest. He’ll be back soon.

“Do you agree, then?” The Empty asks, holding its hand out, “Do we have a deal?”

It had been over the moment a deal was even mentioned. He knew his answer. If he was being honest, he would know what his answer is even if the Empty had demanded a trade. It was too, too easy.

“Fine,” he says, taking its hand, “whatever it takes.”

“Good,” the Empty grins, and disappears.

[cohendyke]

top five albums? maybe why you like them too :3

AUVH. UGH. okay again probably in no particular order it would break my heart i think

all things must pass by george harrison: ohh. oh my god. guys. best beatle best post beatles album. every song fucks i don’t think i’d survive without it. it’s for the eldest daughters really… ugh. man….

falsettos (revival) cast album: falsettos is just so good. i love the story i love the characters i love that it’s a relatively accessible musical since it’s sung all the way through so you don’t need to see it on stage to know what’s happening which is cool!!!

hot fuss the killers: the killers are SOOO FUCKING UNDERRATED WHAT THE FUCK.. god. all these things that i’ve done is my favourite song ever but everything else is soo good. man…. cornerstone early 2000s rock. listen to it

shadowland kd lang: this is one of the only country albums i really and truly care about and i am well aware i am not beating stereotypes (canadian or otherwise aka lesbian ones) here but i don’t care…. good god she can fuckinf sing. and i love torch songs soooo. yeah. i also unironically love the album cover…. god. okay well. just listen to it and you’ll understand probably. please listen

self titled hozier: you already know. idk what else to say like this is tumblr.com you’ve probably listened to it

honorable mentions: white album, abbey road, queen ii, songs from a room and songs of love and hate, graduation (im sorry….) the great escape, violator, music for the masses, george harrison self titled, KIND OF BLUE……. the suburbs…. okay