Dean and Sam were covered in blood again, at least this time it didn't look like their own. The neon lights from the vacancy sign of their cheap motel shone in through the crack in the curtains. Sam shut the door behind him and locked it; he locked the knob and the deadbolt, just in case. Dean made a trail of salt in front of the door and the windows, something about this job didn't sit well with him. The demon had lured them into an old house and Cas had been there…trapped by holy fire. Dean's eyes had turned dark and he went crazy. Sam killed two demons and freed Cas, but when Sam went to look for his brother he couldn't find him. "Dean!" Sam shouted, he turned to ask Cas to help look, but he was already gone.
The angel found Dean outside in an alley; he was leaning against the brick breathing heavily. "Are you injured?" Castiel asked.
Dean laughed shakily, "No Cas, I'm fine." He pushed himself away from the wall, "Just peachy." Cas relaxed a little. "What the hell man! How did you even get trapped like that and why did the demon lead us here?"
"I don't know Dean." And like that he was gone; the only goodbye Dean got was the sound of feathers ruffling.
Dean stood in the shower watching trails of red blood mix with black dirt and make its way down the drain. There was one question that kept coming back to him, how had Cas been trapped? Something wasn't right. Dean stepped into the steam left over from his shower and wrapped a towel around his hips.
"You're still bleeding."
Dean jumped and slipped on his ruined shirt, a hand grabbed his shoulder and righted him. "Damn it Cas, what did I tell you about personal space?" he opened the bathroom door and let the steam pour out. Sam looked up and raised his eyebrows at his half-naked brother and the angel walking out of the small bathroom.
"I've been researching, no thanks to you, and I found what the mark on the alter was. It's the name of-"
"The Nephilium or shadowhunter you humans call them." Cas walked over to the window and looked out. "The demons want a Nephilium."
"Yeah Cas we got that, but what does trapping an angel have to do with it?" Dean pulled on a pair of jeans and sat down in the chair opposite his brother.
"They're the result when angels and humans have kids Dean." Sam spoke up before Cas could.
"There are none on the earth right now."
Sam and Dean's eyes widened at the same time, "They were going to have you get busy with a human?" Dean laughed.
Sam kicked him.
Dean stopped laughing and saw that Castiel had wrapped his arms around his stomach, such a human gesture. "If you knew what a Nephilium could do Dean, you would not be laughing."
Castiel began to pace the floor, a wind was picking up and Dean thought he could see the glimpses of the angel's wings.
"Calm down Cas, they didn't get you. You're with us."
Cas turned to face him and Dean was almost thrown back by the force of his wings, "Would you calm down if you were first in line to father the anti-Christ?" Cas ran his hands through his black hair, making it an even bigger mess. His blue eyes showed the fear he was desperately trying to hide. In that moment he looked so vulnerable, so human that Dean wanted to do anything in his power to make him feel better. But Sam was already there, by his side.
"You're an angel; they couldn't really force you, right?"
"A weak angel." Castiel looked up at Dean.
"My care for the humans in my charge has made me weak, they have made me feel."
"Great!" dean threw up his hands, "Something else I've ruined."
Sam looked at Dean and frowned, "I'm going to the library and try to dig information up on Nephilium." He left the room and Dean was left alone with the angel.
Cas held his head in his hands, almost as if her were in physical pain. Dean looked away from him. Then he heard the familiar sounds of fluttering wings and he knew Castiel was gone without even looking.
Dean flopped onto the bed and draped his arm over his eyes. He heard the flush of wings again and peeked his eyes open. He sat up and saw Cas standing in the middle of the room with a bottle of Jack in his hands, "You know alcohol isn't the answer to everything."
"That's now what you seem to believe Dean."
"Yeah," he stood up, "I'm dead inside so it works." There was a pause where Cas put the bottle to his lips and Dean watched his Adams apple work. "Whoa there big fella, take it slow." He pulled the bottle away from the angel. It was half empty now.
"There's a spell," Cas spoke up, "this spell puts angels under an illusion." Dean saw Cas shudder; he had never seen the angel this scared before. "It makes an angel see anything happy or…" Cas blinked and looked around the room, like he had forgotten he was here. "The demons tried it out on me, to see if it would work." Cas sat down on the bed nearest him and Dean sat beside him. Castiel opened his mouth and closed it, "I can't remember what I did, but I remember was I saw."
"What did you see Cas?" Dean asked a gently as he could.
Cas didn't look at him, "I saw you."
"Me?" Dean smiled, "What was I doing? Dancing in a hula skirt?" he tried to make Cas smile, but the angel only just sat there.
"Dean, we have a profound bond, I'm not close to many other creatures."
Dean scoffed, "Profound bond? Same o'l humbo jumbo as last time I asked you a question. It's always a 'well I did drag your soul from hell so I must stand next to you, oh I must disappear for weeks on end to play some angel poker.' Cas I know there's more to it than that and I thought that you could tell me. We're close like you say, so spill." Dean reached over and gripped the angels shoulder for support, "Sam and I have a right to know what's going on, especially if we're going to be the ones helping you gank these perverted demons."
Cas paled, obviously uncomfortable, "I just saw you, and we were alone. Sam had left to go do research after a hunt and we were alone."
"Like now?" Dean asked.
The silence stretched between them, "Yes."