14 [Video]

[ofthursday]

[The feed crackles on in the Darkness, the usual growls and other eerie noises of night at Siren's Port conspicuously absent in the area. It takes a moment for Castiel's image to become clear on the screen, almost melding out of the dark, expression smoothly neutral except for the faint hint of a smirk that looks completely out of place on his usually serious face.

His eyes are dark in the dim lighting, endless and like staring into an abyss, and even across the electronic feed the sense of wrongness is readily apparent.]

So I find myself here once more.

[His voice is soft, calm, almost uncaring, as if showing up in the Port again is a curiosity and nothing more. Then he smiles.]

It seems a good place to begin.

Comments

[hostage]

How's this work? You got a list, like Santa Claus?

[ofthursday]

I can see into someone's soul. Their pasts, their intentions. I make my judgements based on what their soul holds.

[hostage]

[He swallows, and his voice is tight:]

Okay.

[He doesn't want to die and go to hell, but he knows he doesn't deserve to live, either. So he won't beg. He won't even ask. He's so sure he's one of the damned.]

[ofthursday]

[He just tilts his head slightly at that, so close to his normal gesture, but not quite.]

You seem nervous.

[hostage]

Yeah?

[Beyond nervous. Deeply ashamed and terrified.]

[ofthursday]

Do you believe you have reason to be?

[hostage]

Yeah. Of course I do.

[ofthursday]

Why is that?

[hostage]

You know, don't you?

[Murder, that's one of the big ones. Even Jesse knows that. And the stealing. And maybe God doesn't care about the drugs, or maybe he does, but there's that. Greed. That's a deadly sin. And being with Mary. That's in there somewhere, being with someone else's wife.

But it's the murder Jesse's really ashamed about. The innocent people who are dead because of him.]

[ofthursday]

[He reaches out with his senses, across the island, uninhibited by space or Darkness or anything else, searching for Jesse's flaws; for his sins, for his virtues, for his regrets and his prides, weighing them all against each other in a moment.]

Not all are perfect beings. Perhaps none.

Intent matters a great deal.

[hostage]

[He can't be understanding that right.]

So... What, you're saying just because I tried, it's all good? No problem?

[ofthursday]

No. But because you regret your sins, and your intentions are good on the whole, your actions can be understood if not excused.

Sometimes one does terrible things for good reasons.

[hostage]

[He's still confused. It just plain doesn't make sense to him. There's no good reason to do a terrible thing. There are terrible things and terrible people that do them. He's faced that truth.]

So I'm... I mean, what happens now?

[ofthursday]

[Castiel doesn't really bother to clear up his confusion, and is just even more enigmatic with his response.]

What do you want to happen?

[hostage]

[What, it's a question directed to him? To Jesse Pinkman: the guy who makes a living destroying lives and shooting innocent people in the face? It makes no sense. Jesse knows people like him don't just get forgiven. Even if they follow the steps. Even if they turn to God. There's still all the blood on his hands. There's no justice in the world if someone like him can just get let off the hook because he's sorry, so why even ask?

But those are thoughts he keeps to himself for now. He's a coward like that. He'll take the out if he can get it.]

I don't suppose you could, uh... just give us a chance? To, uh, you know... do better.

["Us", he says, without even realizing it. "Us", because he's always negotiating for more than his own life.]

[ofthursday]

[Castiel seems to consider that a few moments, then reaches out to touch Jesse's mind again and pull who the 'us' might be. He weighs the request against the actions committed and those that might be done in the future, silent for several seconds.

Finally, he nods.]

You and he will have your chances. Make them count.