Hi everyone! This is my very first story in English, so I'm really nervous at the idea that I might have made some huge grammar mistakes. Please take this into consideration and enjoy the story! Constructive (and not too mean) criticism will be much appreciated. =)
Back to work: a "Sacrifice" missing scene
Kevin Tran couldn't believe it. Just this morning, Dean had told him he was done with all this prophet stuff, and Kevin had been overwhelmed with relief. No more tablets to translate, no more excruciating headaches, and most importantly, no more demons running after him. And now, a few hours later, Dean and that angel had the guts to come back to him with another freaking tablet?!
"Is this a joke?" he asked his visitors, while leaning over the tablet on the desk.
"No, it's the Word of God", Castiel answered.
This earned him an incredulous look from Kevin who, taken by surprise, could only mutter: "What?"
"It's a tablet," Dean said, getting back to the point. "Now translate it, that's what you do."
Kevin laughed humorlessly at this. Apparently, he was going to have to explain the complete unfairness of the situation:
"Okay, hum," he began, as if not knowing how to explain something so obvious. "It's the Angel tablet, which I'd never laid eyes on in my life. And you want a translation in like six hours, when it took me six months and a dead mom to translate a piece of the Demon tablet?!"
Kevin went to pour himself a glass of whiskey, under the inquiring eyes of Dean (when had the kid started to drink?) and the imperturbable gaze of the angel. He went on: "According to your own words, this morning, this is not what I do. It's what I DID. You told me I was out, Dean," he said as he sat down in the armchair.
"Yeah, well…" Dean said, ready to start on a little motivational speech about sucking it up and saving lives.
"And if it's gonna be the 'guys like us are never out' speech, save it," Kevin interrupted angrily.
Before Dean had time to react, Castiel had stepped in with typical roughness, grabbing Kevin by the collar and lifting him off the armchair, sending the glass to crash on the ground in the process.
"Dean's right," he said, sounding even more serious than usual.
"Cas!" Dean interjected, blinking as he had been taken away by the speed of the events.
"There is not out," Castiel continued, ignoring Dean. "Only duty."
"Get the hell off me!" Kevin said in a voice much too nervous to his own liking. The angel's face was dangerously close to his.
"You are a prophet of the Lord, always and forever." Castiel then took a few seconds to think about it and felt the need to add: "…until the day you cease to exist and another prophet takes your place."
Dean rolled his eyes at the unnecessary precision.
"Now," Castiel said, regaining his stern composure, "you will atone for your lack of commitment."
He abruptly made Kevin bend over the desk. Opening a drawer, he took out a ruler and turned back towards Kevin, who was too scared to move an inch.
"Whoa, Cas, what the hell do you plan on doing?" Dean asked, choosing not to ponder on how Castiel had known exactly where to find that ruler – freaking angel insight.
"I intend to punish the prophet for failing to meet the expectations God has set for him, and I intend to make sure he stays true to the cause of the Lord."
Hearing this, Kevin sent a frightened and pleading glance to Dean, who looked a bit stunned himself.
"Cas, you don't think you're overreacting a little? By the way, people don't go around spanking each other." Dean felt kind of hypocritical while saying that, thinking about all the times he had spanked Sam. Nevertheless, Dean didn't think this situation warranted such a strong reaction. After all, he could understand Kevin's frustration – hell, he would go crazy if he had to sit even for one hour trying to unscramble fuzzy writing.
"The frequency of this method of punishment is irrelevant," Castiel answered calmly. "Don't worry, Dean, this shall not be a full chastisement, only a warning."
And without waiting for Dean's response, Castiel raised the ruler and brought it hard on Kevin's ass. Kevin jumped and gasped. He still hadn't moved or even uttered one protest. That angel scared the shit out of him. He had thought he was just a weird and boring guy with angel powers, but apparently he was weirder than he had imagined and completely unpredictable.
Dean stood there, watching as the ruler slammed repeatedly against Kevin's squirming backside. He didn't interfere, as Castiel seemed determined. 'Spare the rod and spoil the child' must have got stuck in his head when he read the Bible, Dean thought. Well, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea: at least they would be sure that Kevin was going to do the job properly. But he was ready to jump into action in case Castiel forgot that he was dealing with a human.
By Dean's count, Castiel had now delivered twelve strokes and was showing no sign of slowing down. Kevin couldn't help the small sounds of pain coming from his mouth. He could also feel tears welling up in his eyes, and after a particularly hard stroke to the undercurve of his backside, they prickled down his cheeks and he let out a strangled cry.
Dean frowned. He wasn't going to allow Castiel to keep this up for much longer. He kept count of the strokes as Kevin became more and more distressed, trying without success to suppress his tears. When he reached twenty, Castiel stopped just as Dean opened his mouth to stop him. They all kept still for a few seconds, the only sound in the room being Kevin's ragged breath. Then Castiel said:
"Are you clear as to the task before you?"
Kevin nodded meekly.
"Then do it. We must go," Castiel said as he walked away.
Dean had watched their interaction with a grim face, and he backed away from Castiel's touch, not wanting to leave Kevin without a word of reassurance. He took the few steps separating him from the desk and tentatively put a hand on Kevin's shoulder. Kevin, who hadn't gotten up, looked up with tearful eyes.
"Hey um… Just do your job, okay? You'll be fine, buddy."
Kevin scoffed a bit at Dean's lame attempt to comfort him, but nodded, grateful for the small gesture. Dean went back to Castiel to get himself teleported, muttering: "Not awkward at all."
Kevin slowly stood up, grimacing at the pain and rubbing his backside. He sighed, and reluctantly got to work.