Author’s note: Holiday short-off, 2010. Because if there’s anything that goes well with Supernatural, it’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I recommend the 1993 LA revival cast ~ the narrator is amazing and the side characters are funny. Dean as "the butler" is probably the biggest stretch in this story (he's actually Sam's head of security), though Gabriel is sort of the opposite of Benjamin's character (accusing the most innocent one never struck me as much of a loyalty test).
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat reference (songs used): Becky's intro comes from the "Prologue" while her conclusion is "Joseph All The Time;" otherwise, songs listed correspond loosely to the italicized sections. "Joseph's Dreams," "Close Every Door," and "Go, Go, Go Joseph" are followed by "Poor Poor Pharaoh" and "Pharaoh's Dreams Explained" (to make it more Supernatural-friendly, the order of these songs was reversed), and finally "Who's The Thief?"
***
Maribel was standing on a hay bale when Becky found her. She had her elbows braced on the half-open stall door while she stared out at the illusory pasture behind the barn. The unicorn stood by her left wing, dainty head hanging over the door in companionable silence.
“The problem is,” Maribel told the idyllic scenery, “if we’re unique, there can’t be a need for us. Right? Otherwise why weren’t we around before?”
Becky stepped carefully around the hay bale. “Someone has to be the first,” she offered.
“There’s no reason for me to exist,” Maribel said.
“Oh, honey.” Becky caught Emily’s eye in the next stall over. “I’m gonna tell you a story, okay? It’s about a special angel named Castiel.”
“You mean my father?” Maribel asked.
“The name’s just a coincidence,” Becky told her. “Castiel was special because he didn’t just accept what he was told. All of his brothers and sisters grew up thinking that they were angels and so their job was to obey. Castiel wanted to know why.”
“Like my father,” Maribel said.
“Like your father,” Becky agreed.
“Castiel,” one of the brothers said. “You don’t belong here; you’re not like us. You must leave the kingdom of angels.”
“But where will I go?” Castiel asked. “The other lands will not welcome me.”
Another brother told him, “It’s you or us. And there’s more of us than there are of you.”
“He was thrown out of heaven,” Maribel said.
“God was devastated,” Becky said with a sigh. “He disappeared, and the kingdom of angels fell into disarray. All because one soul went missing.”
“Castiel?” Wildfire asked, popping up over the other stall wall.
“The name is a coincidence,” Maribel told her, and Wildfire nodded sagely.
“Why didn’t the other lands like angels?” she wanted to know.
“The other lands had their own kind of magic,” Becky said. “They didn’t want anyone else coming in and telling them what to do, trying to make them change everything.”
“But Castiel didn’t want people to tell him what to do either,” Maribel said, frowning.
“He still wasn’t like them,” Becky said. “And without the power of his homeland behind him, they were able to imprison him.”
Wildfire climbed up onto the stall wall and perched there, a disapproving look on her young face. “Aren’t children’s stories supposed to have happy endings?”
Castiel didn’t like prison. He was smarter and stronger than anyone in this strange land, and there was no reason for him to be where he was. The only thing that kept him from leaving was the fact that there was no reason for him to be anywhere else, either. He had no purpose. No reason for existing.
“Like us,” Maribel remarked.
“You’re young,” Sarah said gently, pausing at the inner stall door and blocking it so it wouldn’t swing when she leaned on it. “Just because you don’t know why you’re here doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be.”
“I still have no idea why I’m here,” Emily added.
“The strange land holding Castiel was ruled by a king named Sam,” Becky said. “He was a fair and just king, except when he sent his brother Dean to do community service in the prison.”
“Why isn’t Dean the king?” Maribel wanted to know.
“Oh, Dean doesn’t want to be king,” Becky assured her. “Just let Sam do it; he’s better at it anyway.”
“Sam doesn’t like prisons,” Wildfire offered.
Becky was quick to point out, “But he does like community service.”
Wildfire was forced to concede on this point.
Dean stopped in front of a prisoner he didn’t recognize. “What’s he in for?”
The man lifted his head and looked him straight in the eye. More than anything, it was this that identified him as a foreigner. “Nothing,” he said. “I’ve done nothing.”
“Tells everyone the truth,” the guard muttered, when Dean glared. “Some people can’t handle it.”
“How does the guard know that?” Maribel asked. “Humans lie. Shouldn’t he assume Castiel lies too?”
“Maybe he knows Castiel is an angel,” Sarah suggested.
“Here’s the thing,” Becky said. “Everyone has a superpower, right? Whether they know it or not. Some of them are just more obvious than others.”
Maribel considered that. “In the story, you mean? The guard thinks Castiel’s superpower is truth?”
“Maybe,” Becky said.
That night, Sam woke from a terrible dream to find Dean sitting on the bed beside him.
“Let me guess,” he said, letting his head fall back on the pillows. “Nightmares?”
“The guy in prison,” Dean said.
Sam sighed. “I’m sorry you lost your own stupid bet and had to do guard duty, okay?”
“He died,” Dean said. “And the world burned.”
“In your dream?” Sam sat up. “I dreamed the sun exploded. Everything was on fire.”
They stared at each other for a long moment.
“Get him out of there,” Sam said at last. “We can’t risk it.”
“Is dreaming their superpower?” Wildfire wanted to know.
“Prophecy,” Emily said. “Right? They’re kind of like that in real life.”
“They have ways of knowing things,” Becky said. “Leaders always do.”
“Guard him,” Dean told the man at the door. Castiel stood on the other side of it: a castle suite instead of a prison cell, and he still looked more wary than grateful. “No one in or out until I come back.”
“He’s still imprisoned,” Maribel pointed out.
“Not for long,” Becky said. “He wanted a purpose. He’ll be helping them in no time.”
“So I’m supposed to help other people?” Maribel asked.
“That’s not the point of the story,” Becky said. “The kingdom of angels might have rallied against their neighbors if they heard one of their own was killed. As it was, they ended up turning to them when resources became scarce.”
“Did Sam help them?” Wildfire wanted to know.
“What do you think?” Sam asked Castiel.
“I think,” Castiel said slowly, “that Gabriel is most likely to cross us. Accuse him falsely, and if they turn him out as they did me? We will know there’s no honor left among angels.”
“You have honor,” Dean said.
“I have you,” Castiel replied.
“They didn’t do it,” Sarah said.
“No,” Becky agreed. “Even angels can learn, right? So Sam helped them, and Castiel got to visit, and the two kingdoms decided to work together instead of fighting.”
“I don’t understand,” Maribel said.
Becky looked over at her. “Which part?”
“What did Castiel do?” Maribel wanted to know.
“Something only he could do,” Becky said. “He didn’t know what would happen, but he was there, and that was enough. It’ll be enough for you too.”
They were all quiet for a moment, and then Wildfire asked, “What about for me?”
The unicorn whickered, and Maribel patted her nose. Emily and Wildfire sat on opposite stall walls, swinging their heels idly against the boards. Sarah still lingered in the doorway.
“For all of us,” Becky said with a smile.