It's Father's Day today, and Castiel wants to incorporate some mention of that into his show. He decides that before 'Yasss' is the easiest segue, where he can throw in a casual shout out to all the dads, because he's already in the middle of a long speech.

"Now, if there's one thing you probably know about me, it's that I'm very, very, very openly gay," Castiel says, earning a round of excited applause. "And, from what I've gathered, so are a lot of you."

The crowd cheers again, and Castiel watches with an amused smile. The two girls directly in front of him — they can't be much older than seventeen or eighteen — share a kiss as if cementing their sexuality, and Castiel can't help but find that adorable. He's always found love cute, but same sex couples just make him really happy. Despite all the shit the lgbt+ community goes through, these two people found their way together, and they seem more than happy this way.

"And, as I'm sure you're aware," Castiel continues, "it's June, which means it's pride month." He says that at every show during the month, just for an added opportunity to listen to everyone scream for a few seconds.

"I love myself a good pride celebration as much as the next person, but the people who need this month the most aren't the ones you see at the parades. They're not the ones with the rainbow shoes at the 'lesbian' t-shirt. They're the ones sitting at home and watching from far away, because for one reason or another, they can't be involved in the celebrations — whether they're still in the closet or if they've been ostracized for who they are.

"And I think it's important to remember those who aren't as fortunate as us, and to anyone standing in front of me right now who has faced discrimination because of who they are and who they love; anyone who's been told that they aren't valid because they don't fit someone else's standard of 'normal,' I want you to remember that you are not alone. There are millions of people out there who are just like you. And I promise, it will get better. We will make it better, because we are the generation who will change the world for the better."

The audience cheers again, and this time, they don't stop after a few seconds. It takes what feels to Castiel like two minutes — though he can't check the time to see — until they've quieted down enough that he can continue speaking without yelling.

"And today is special for another reason," Castiel continues. "It's Father's Day, as I'm sure many of you are aware of. And you are under no obligation to celebrate your father if he's done nothing for you, but for those whose dads have supported them through everything and have always been there for you — even a father who doesn't share your blood but does have your heart — then don't forget to wish them a very happy Father's Day. And any dads out here today, whether you were forced into watching the kids because they had some stupid concert they wanted to go to, or if you ditched the kids for a night out, whatever the case may be, happy Father's Day, and thank you so much for being here."

The crowd erupts in another round of thunderous applause, and Castiel has to wait another few seconds until he can continue speaking. He notices another couple in front of the stage — a guy and a girl, probably in their late twenties — say something to each other that ends in a kiss on the cheek. Castiel can't help but wonder if they have a kid at home. Maybe this is a Father's Day gift for him. It's always cute to see a straight couple at his concerts — whether they're bi and no one would guess by looking at them or if they're straight and here for more than the sexuality party, it's cool to see that he hasn't been ditched by the straight couples.

"But," Castiel says, causing the crowd to settle down, "I know you didn't come here to listen to be ramble about dads and love and all that. No, you came here to sing it along with me."

The intro to "Yasss" starts, and Castiel pulls off his trench coat to reveal his rainbow outfit that he wears only for this one song. The crowd cheers, and Castiel beams out at them. He never used to notice individual people in the crowd, but after all this looking for Dean he's done lately, it's become second nature to scan the reactions of the people standing in front of him, and so many of them have already started dancing.

Until suddenly, that's the last thing on everybody's mind.

He's not sure when it registers with him that this is really happening. Is it the fire that bursts out from the front of the second level of seats? Or maybe it's the loud bang that accompanies it, the noise deafening. It could be the screams, too — not happy, excited screams like before, but from the now frightened members of the audience, desperate to get away.

Whatever it is, it takes him a few seconds to process it, and he can't help but just stare for a few moments. It's not until the fire clears that he finally realizes that it was a bomb. This is a terrorist attack, and they're right in the middle of it.

"Holy shit," Castiel breathes, and the sound carries a bit from his headset, but the screams are too loud for anyone to notice. He's sure they can't hear a thing right now, and if they can't hear, they can't communicate, and if they can't communicate, they can't work together, and if they can't work together, this whole this is going to be an even bigger mess than it already is, and people are going to die and —

Castiel takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself down a little bit, at least so his mind isn't going at 60 miles an hour, before he yells into the mic, "Everybody stop screaming! I know you're scared, but that's just going to make it more chaotic and harder to talk to each other. If you will just listen, I promise we'll get you out of here safely."

That quiets the crowd down a bit. There are still screams, of course, but he can't shut everybody up. A lot of them are probably coming from where the bomb went off — which isn't quite as comforting as he had hoped.

"Everyone needs to get out of here in a calm and orderly fashion," Castiel continues. "Pushing each other and cutting each other off is just going to make this worse, but I promise you'll all get where you're going much quicker and safer if you remember that everyone else has the same goal in mind."

He looks around, biting his lip nervously. God, they're so slow. What if there's another bomb up there? It could take an hour for the people in front of the stage get out of the stadium, never mind the parking lot.

"Okay, and if you're up here —" He gestures to the couple hundred people standing in the pit, "try climbing up here and leavening through the backstage area. Anyone back there will give you directions to the parking lot. I know the stage is high, but security..." He makes eye contact with one of the security guards in front of the stage, who nods once. "Security can help you up."

Castiel runs to the end of the stage, desperate to help someone here, to speed up the process a little. He reaches down, grabbing the hands of the woman who had kissed her boyfriend on the cheek during the father's day speech. Her ring digs into his hand, which is when he realizes that they're actually married, but it's not the first thing on his mind as he hoists her up to the stage.

Her husband jumps up, supporting himself with his hands to push himself on the stage with her. He says something to Castiel — maybe a "thank you," but he can't hear with the headset in — and he just waves them away. The man nods once and stands up, pulling his wife to her feet and taking her hand as they run towards the back of the stage to get out.

He's about the throw his arms down again and take whoever grabs on, but he changes his mind when he sees the girl with the red face, tears streaming down her face — not that that's something new here. The thing that gets him is that she looks like a kid, probably about fourteen, and seems to be all alone.

Castiel jumps off the stage, pushing through the crowd to get to her. He takes her hand, trying to pull her back to the stage, but she just collapses on the ground, her face turning redder, he realizes as he takes the headset off and hangs it around his neck, her breathing is getting heavier and less stable.

Castiel scoops her up in his arms, pushing through the crowd again. Any complains he gets are quickly hushed when they see who he is, though no one gives the girl a second glance. Castiel hoists her up on the stage, hopping up there himself. He picks her up again and carries her a little ways away, keeping her back to the audience and making sure she's looking at him instead.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Castiel says, a bit louder than he'd like to be, but it's necessary in here. "You're okay. You're safe." He puts a hand over her shoulder, then thinks twice and asks, "If I touch you, would that make this worse?"

Consent's always important, but right now, she seems to be having some type of anxiety attack, and the last thing he wants is to make things worse. When she shakes her head, a small action, Castiel puts a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Hey, sweetie, you're okay," he insists. "You're going to be okay. I promise. You're going to get out of here. But you need to calm down."

"I can't calm down!" she practically shouts, her voice hoarse. "There was a goddamn bomb and I don't know where my mom went 'cause someone pushed me away from her and I forgot my phone when I came so I can't call her to find her but even if I could I don't think it would do anything because it's too loud to hear anything and I'm scared and confused and I just wanna go home!" She says it all in a single breath, and suddenly, she's panting harder than before, tears spilling down her cheeks, and Castiel realizes that the "calm down" card is not going to work.

"Okay, okay," Castiel says quickly. "That's okay. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Maddie."

"Okay, Maddie, listen to me," Castiel says firmly. "You're safe, okay? You're safe up here. And your mom is still down there, right? She's still in the pit, and everyone on the pit is going to come up here. She'll come find you, so you don't have to look for her. I promise."

He truly means it, too. They're up here in plain sight. Her mother must have seen them, and she'll make her way up with them and take her daughter. It just makes sense, right? And Maddie seems to understand, because she starts to calm down, thank god.

But then the second blast comes, so close to the edge of the stage that he's afraid to go near it, because it's bound to be scorching hot from the flames. He could feel the heat from here, yards away. Maddie screams, and this time, Castiel doesn't know how to comfort her. Her back was to the explosion, but his wasn't, and he can see everything.

"Oh, shit," he whispers. "Shit shit shit shit shit —" He bites his lip, tearing his eyes away from the pit and looking at Maddie instead. "Okay, you —" He glances behind himself, towards the backstage areas, and lets out a long breath. "You need to get out of here." 

"But my mom —"

"You need to get out of here," he repeats, more forcefully this time. "I will find your mother, and I will send her after you, but you need to get out of here now. Go."

She hesitates, then nods, standing up and taking off at a sprint. Castiel waits for her to disappear from view before turning around again, not out of consideration for her safety but to give him a chance to talk himself into turning around again.

Castiel grabs his trench coat from the floor and slowly approaches the end of the stage, not sure how hot it will be. Fortunately, his shoes seem to be heat resistant enough that it doesn't bother him. He pauses at the edge of the stage for a moment to look around, and instantly regrets it.

He covers his mouth with his hand, trying to keep his lunch down. He wraps his coat around his hand and pushes himself off the stage, being careful where he steps. This time, he's grateful for the screaming, because he's not sure he could handle if his shoes started squishing in the blood.

Castiel looks around, trying to tell the dead from the almost dead. He goes to the first person he sees, kneeling next to her. It's one half of the lesbian couple he noticed just a few minutes earlier — or almost a half, but is it really a full half if she's missing an arm and a leg?

Castiel pushes the question from his mind, trying to focus on the important things. It's her right limbs, which means the bomb was probably really close to her right, which means that everyone on her immediate right is going to need more help than her left, right? Or is everyone on the left going to be dead, and he should help the ones on the right? God, this is not his field. What the hell is he supposed to do?

He takes a deep breath, trying to focus himself. He'll start small. He'll get more done giving one person his undivided attention than giving everyone just a little bit of it.

"Hey," Castiel says loudly, trying to be heard over her screams of pain. "It's me; it's Castiel. You're okay. You're going to be okay. I'm going to put pressure on the wound, okay?" That's what all the the tv shows tell you to do, right? Granted, he's never seen a tv show with a literal goddamn bomb, but it would make sense that this would still work, right?

He presses his trench coat against what's left of her leg, and she writhes in pain. He yells some apologies, as if she can hear him over her screams.

But then she stops.

"Oh god," Castiel whispers. "Don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Don't be —"

God, Why didn't he pay more attention in gym, when they had to take each other's pulses? He could never find one that wasn't his own, and that's not going to help him when he's perfectly aware that he's alive, but she may not be.

But the blood is still flowing from her arm. That's a good sign, right? Her heart must still be pumping blood. But how does he stop it without stopping her heart? What does he...

He pulls off his rainbow shirt, leaving his second shirt on underneath — thank god for quick tear-away shirt changes — and balls it up. He presses that against what used to be her arm, doing the same with his trench coat against her leg. It doesn't feel like it's doing anything, though. It doesn't take long for the blood to soak its way through his rainbow shirt. But he doesn't want to stop. If he could save her — if he could save one person — he'd feel like he'd done something. One family who doesn't have to mourn the loss of their sweet little girl, that's all he wants.

So when he starts whispering, "You're going to be okay, you're going to be okay, you're going to be okay," like a mantra, it's all for his own sake.