AN: That's right ladies and gents, I have written something that isn't Malec. I know, I know, shocking right? But fear not! I still have at least one Malec story waiting in the wings.
Now, time for some Destiel. Those of you who follow me on Tumblr know I have lately become obsessed with Supernatrual. Destiel has even managed to edge in on Malec as my all-time OTP. Hasn't overtaken it just yet though, but it's trying.
This fic is 100% written already! No leaving you guys hanging this time. There will be a chapter uploaded once a week.
Dean flopped back on the couch in the main room of the bat cave, dragging his hands roughly over his eyes and through his hair with a dramatic groan.
"Stop it, Dean." Sam muttered as he stirred the papers on the table in some vain attempt to make them magically start talking and just answer his questions.
"I will not stop it." The older Winchester grumbled, shooting a glare at his brother that Sam failed to notice.
"Well then go do it somewhere else. I can't think with you pouting and groaning all the time."
"My bes-…Cas is missing, with the angel tablet none the less. Kevin is missing. You're one step from keeling over. Oh, and now we also have some crazy bitch named Naomi to worry about who I'm pretty sure tortured Cas in some manner. So I'm going to pout and groan as much as I damn well please." Dean snapped, trying to ignore that he had almost acknowledged Cas with something other than his name.
It wasn't that Dean didn't consider Cas his best friend, he really did. They'd become very close over the past years and despite everything that had occurred Dean was still pretty sure he could rely on the angel if he needed to. Maybe not trust him, but count on him at times. It was just that actually calling him his best friend out loud didn't seem to fit. Dean wasn't really sure why but the term didn't work with what he felt for Cas. There was a niggling suspicion of why exactly that was that always tickled at the back of his mind, but when one was constantly hunting deadly monsters and hiding from angels and the new king of hell one generally ignored niggling suspicions unless they had the possibility of either saving or ending one's life.
"Fine. Just do it quietly. I'm getting a headache." Sam mumbled, a rare acknowledgment of how the trials were effecting him.
Dean nodded, watching his brother carefully as he continued to mull over their situation. They hadn't seen Cas since he had vanished after beating the shit out of Dean in some mind controlled rage before breaking out of it and healing Dean. It wasn't something Dean focused on often, that night, in fact he hadn't really thought about it all. Things had been far to chaotic, and if he was honest with himself he hadn't wanted to think about it because there was one of those annoying niggles that there was something specifically important about what had happened between him and Cas that night. Aside from Cas trying to cave his face in, anyways.
After awhile he started to doze, still draped on the couch as Sam shuffled through his papers. He had half formed thoughts that he couldn't quite distinguish from dreams as he drifted in and out of consciousness. His thoughts revolved around that last nigh he'd seen Cas, around how Sam's shuffling and huffs of annoyance sounded like a very strange symphony, around Bobby, around a lot of things. But mostly Cas.
And then suddenly the images shifted violently, thrown into sharp focus with the hazy edges of half-dreams vanishing in an instant. Dean tensed, trying to figure out what was going on but unable to pull himself away. Images of something like an abandoned warehouse, a road-sign, dead bodies, all flashed through his mind. And then two very clear, very distinct, very panicked words:
DEAN! Help!
"Cas!" Dean shot up into a sitting position, eyes snapping open.
"Wha-" Sam started, looking confused. But before he could even finish that word Dean was hauling him to his feet and dragging him out to the Impala and practically throwing him inside. "Dean, what the hell is going on?" Sam demanded as the Impala sped out of the garage and took the turn onto the road so fast Sam was thrown against the door.
"Cas. Cas is in trouble." Dean ground out, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. Cas had sort of asked for their help before, but never like this. He had never forced himself into Dean's head to…to beg for Dean to help him. Dean hadn't even known he could do that, but he was sure that it was in fact Cas and not some demonic trick.
"How do you know?" Sam was eying Dean warily, bracing himself as they took another turn at a speed that Sam was surprised didn't flip them.
"I just know, damnit!" Dean shouted, a little panic leaking into his tone.
"Alright, alright." Sam conceded. He wasn't so sure this wasn't a demonic trick, but he also sensed there seemed to be no point to trying to convince Dean to slow down and use some caution so he just sat in silence as he mentally cataloged what was in the trunk as they were obviously headed for a fight. They hadn't restocked after their last battle, so they were low. Two things of salt, a jug of holy water, maybe twenty rock salt shells and a handful of regular shells, two working shotguns, one working handgun, one angelic blade and the demon knife. It wasn't near enough for Sam to feel like they were going into this prepared.
"Do you at least know where we're going?" Sam asked after several hours.
"Colorado. Near Kremmling." Dean muttered.
Nodding Sam pulled out his phone, relieved to see that they were only another half hour away from their destination if Dean kept up his current speed.
"Okay, so WHERE in Kremmling? Or near Kremmling?" Sam asked, pressing on when Dean shot him a look that threatened death, "Look, I get that I'm not going to be able to stop you from running in there. I don't intend to. But we can't just drive around the area all night hoping Cas stumbles into the road in front of us. What else do you have to go on?"
Taking a shaky breath Dean called up the images from earlier, "It looked like an abandoned warehouse…or maybe a mine. I think it was a mine. A huge, modern one. There were dead bodies everywhere, miners I think."
"Alright, gimme a minute." Sam responded, googling area mines and cursing the poor signal he was getting. He was a bit distracted by what Dean had said, how he said it had "looked like" something. What had Dean meant? But he knew there wasn't time to press the issue. He promised himself he would ask Dean about it once everything was all over and everyone was safe again.
Finally a list of results popped up on the screen and he scrolled through them reading only the simple descriptions below the links and not daring to actually click one in case his signal got lost.
"It looks like there's a big Molybdenum mine, about half an hour outside of Kremmling." Sam told his brother.
"Find it on the map." Dean answered, shooting a glance at the glove box.
Sam did as asked, pulling out their huge map book of the country and directing Dean down the correct roads until the mine loomed up in the distance. The first thing they saw was the torn up land, areas where there had once been curving hills covered in trees that had been ravaged and turned into huge settling ponds. As they sped past them the huge white building that marked the entrance to the mine loomed up, pipelines of water to and from the mine crisscrossing the whole area.
Dean sped towards the metal gate, not even slowing despite Sam's surprised shout. He could put the Impala back together, he'd done it before. Protecting his car was not more important than protecting Cas. And something in him told him they were in the right place, that this was where Cas was and where he needed their help. There was that feeling to the air, that tinge of power that accompanied an angelic throw down. Launching himself out of the car he was yanked back by Sam's hand on the cuff of his jacket,
"Let me go. Now." Dean growled.
Sam just shook his head before dragging Dean around to the back of the car and popping the trunk. He shoved Dean's pistol into his hand and the angel blade into his jacket, keeping his hold on Dean as he grabbed a shot gun and the demon knife for himself and a flashlight for each of them. As soon as Sam released his hand Dean sprinted for the building, hearing Sam right behind him. One swift kick and the door slammed inward, Dean quickly following. Blackness welled up and Dean waited for a moment for his eyes to adjust only to find himself in what appeared to be a bank of offices.
"Here." Sam said from his left. He was standing in front of a decorative map of the mine, tracing his finger around as he looked for the nearest entrance. "This way," he said after a moment, turning and leaving the building with Dean following at his shoulder.
They found the entrance to the mine, two steel doors in the side of the mountain, torn wide open. With a quick glance at each other they lifted their flashlights and guns and carefully walked inside. The entire place was eerily silent, no whir of machinery or rush of water in the pipes, just the occasional drip-drip-drip of water from the rocky ceiling. Eventually they reached a fork in the path and had to stop to figure out what to do.
"You don't suppose the angel blade works like some sort of divining rod for the nearest angel, do you?" Sam asked, looking between the two paths.
"Can't hurt to try." Dean answered.
Just as he reached for the knife there was a loud crash heard from the left path and an inhuman scream. Without thinking Dean took off, Sam trying desperately to keep up so he could protect his brother.
They came across a huge room that looked like it had previously housed well ordered shelves and several rows of tables. A survival bunker in case of a mine collapse, perhaps. But now the entire place was torn to shreds. Jagged bits of metal from the shelves were strewn everywhere, intermixed with what the shelves had once held. The acidic smell of smoke filled the air and a few flames still licked around the edges of unrecognizable scorched objects. And in the middle of it all stood Cas, facing down Naomi. Though "stood" was perhaps a bit to strong. Cas was clutching his left arm tightly and favoring his right leg. Blood coated his face and a huge well of it had stained his shirt and dribbled down his pants. His trench coat was gone, seemingly torn from his body. But he still looked at Naomi with a cold hatred that said he would kill her if he could, and he was going to try even if it killed him.
"Hey!" Dean shouted, trying to draw Naomi's attention away as she dove for Castiel again. It worked just enough to make her hesitate at the last moment, giving Cas the chance to leap out of the way.
"This isn't your battle, Winchesters." Naomi hissed, still watching Cas out of the corner of her eye as he stumbled back, eyes clenching in pain.
"Screw you." Dean said in a scarily calm tone.
Dean knew it wouldn't do much good, but he shot her anyways. Mostly it was meant as an attempt to get her anger to redirect towards him and away from Cas who had fallen to his knees. It worked a little to well. Naomi screeched, clutching her shoulder and healing the wound before throwing her hand to the side, violently ripping the gun from Dean's hands before rushing forward. Sam intercepted her, grabbing her arm and twisting as he slammed the heel of his other hand into her chin. The blow would've been enough to knock out a normal human-being but it only winded the angel.
"Get to Cas." Sam shouted at Dean, using the grip he still had on Naomi's arm to spin her out the door of the room.
Dean spared one glance to Sam as he drove his elbow into the side of Naomi's neck before sprinting to Cas just in time to grab him before he collapsed completely.
"You came." Cas moaned, eyes rolling back slightly.
"Of course I fucking came. Look at me." Dean ordered, hand cradling the back of Cas's neck as he tried to get a good look at his head wound. Dean had no idea what exactly to do with severely injured angel so he just went with his instinct to treat the injuries as if he were dealing with a human. The gash on Cas's head was bad, a glimmer of bone showing in the deepest part of the cut that went from next to his left eye and curved up into his hairline just above his right eyebrow.
"You can't let her get it, Dean. You can't." Cas mumbled, his words slurring slightly and concerning Dean even more. Angel's shouldn't slur their words, no matter how injured they were as far as Dean was concerned.
"Get what?" Dean asked, more to keep Cas talking than out of any actual curiosity.
"The tablet. The angel tablet."
They were interrupted by a shout from Sam as he was thrown violently backwards into the wall, knocked unconscious by the blow to his head as it smacked against the hard rock. Dean shouted his name and moved to help but before he could halfway stand he felt his muscles lock and he to was thrown just as violently into another wall. Consciousness didn't vanish immediately, but he couldn't move. Cas had managed to struggle to his feet, teeth bared in a way that Dean wasn't sure if it meant Cas was in pain or growling in anger.
"Don't you dare touch them, Naomi." Cas hissed, managing to stand completely and look fairly intimidating.
"You're disgusting, lusting after them the way you do. Especially Dean," she spat his name like an insult, "It's a disgrace to everything you are, Castiel. To everything father wanted us to be."
"I'd rather be a disgrace for caring than a disgrace for torturing people the way you tortured me." Cas said in a soft, but deadly tone.
Naomi stilled in her predatory advance, eying Castiel carefully. Obviously she hadn't expected him to stand up to her in such a manner.
"Fine then." She said after a moment, earning a wary glance from the injured angel.
Before he had a chance to react Naomi had surged forward, angel blade in hand. Dean tried to shout, tried to struggle to his feet, but he still couldn't move right. He watched in horror as Cas tried to fall back, but in his injured state he couldn't move fast enough nor did he have the power to vanish. The blade came forward, slipping up under Castiel's ribs and into his heart. There was a split second where everything was still, Cas's mouth was hanging open as he stared at a smug Naomi and Dean was still trying hoarsely to scream. And then Cas's head tipped back in a silent scream and he exploded into light, giving Dean barely enough time to slam an arm over his eyes. The blast of power was so strong it slammed Dean into the wall once more, causing unconsciousness to finally claim him.
AN: Reviews are love, especially since this is my first time writing these guys. I really want to know what you all think! Don't be afraid to call me out if you think I've screwed something up.