The demon in charge of this whole operation smiled as he looked down on his prey. Lying on the ground, beaten and bloody was Dean Winchester. While his men bound and gagged the unconscious hunter, he decided to check out Dean's cell phone and call a certain angel.
Castiel felt the vibrations of the cellular device in his pocket. Having learned from experience not to press anything but the green button, he did just that and put the phone up to his ear. He had also noted that the name flashing across the screen was that of Dean Winchester.
"Hello?"
"Hey Castiel, it's me, Dean. I met up with a friend earlier and we're going to catch up, so I won't be back for a while. If you could relay the message to my brother…Sam, that would be great," the demon said in an exact impersonation of the Winchester's voice. It was a trick he had picked up in his shape-shifting days. He didn't want Dean to be missing for the next few days, so he decided that if everyone thought he was busy, no one would come looking for him.
Cas narrowed his eyes and felt his- or rather, his vessel's- pulse begin to quicken. A few things had set the angel's red flags off. One, Dean never calls me Castiel unless he's upset with me, he processed everything in his mind. Two, Dean wouldn't call to warn him of his late-comings. Three, he would never use the words "my brother" to describe Sam. And finally, he would never stumble over his own brother's name.
"Okay, when do you expect to be back?" the angel decided to play along for now while he tried to pick up a prayer or anything from the hunter.
"A week tops," the demon responded, pleased with himself for tricking an angel of the Lord. In the background, Dean was silent. His head pounded and he looked at his captor with pure hatred. The cuffs they had locked him in had been engraved with Enochian sigils.
They were meant to keep him from praying and make sure no one could track his location. They also weakened him by the minute, and he could already feel the effects. His sight was blurring and he began to slump in his position on the floor.
Castiel's stomach dropped at the panicky feeling clawing at the back of his mind. No, he would find Dean before it had been that long. "I must ask you something, though."
"What?"
"Who are you and where is Dean?" Cas screwed up his face. He knew that his cover was blown, but in this moment, he didn't care. He wanted to destroy whoever had taken his hunter.
"What are you talking about?" the demon suddenly sounded nervous. "I am Dean."
"No. No, you are not Dean. Tell me what I want to know," the angel demanded. White hot fury engulfed him and for a moment he saw nothing but red.
"Fine," the demon said gruffly. He was now back in his own voice. "Dean is with me."
"That is only one answer. I wanted two."
"I'm not disclosing that information to you."
"Have it your way. But keep in mind, I will find you and if you've harmed him in any way, I won't hesitate to strike you down."
The demon gulped silently and glanced down at the weakened Winchester. "Speak with him. He can tell you that I haven't hurt him." Shuffling was heard on the phone. "Say you're fine, or I'll kill you." The rag was pulled out of Dean's mouth and the phone was placed up to his ear.
"Cas?" he choked out.
The angel's heart swelled. Dean- the real one- sounded awful. His voice cut in and out on such a simple word and he wheezed softly.
"Dean? Dean, what happened? Who has you? Where are you?" Cas bombarded him with inquiries.
"I…" he trailed off, glancing at the demons watching him closely. He gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know."
"If you tell me, I can be there in only a moment. They can't do anything in that time that I can't fix."
"I can't. They'll use me to get rid of you."
Castiel would have chuckled if not for the present situation.
"I am an angel, Dean. They cannot get rid of me."
"But you're weaker now and there are so many of them."
"Dean please," he practically begged. "Let me help you. At least pray."
"I tried."
"You tried?" Castiel was suddenly more nervous than before. If they had blocked Dean from prayer, how powerful were they?
"Yes, I tried."
"What have they done to you, Dean?" His tone had turned harsh, demanding.
The demon shot the hunter a look and Dean lied, "Nothing. I'm fine."
"You're lying to me. You sound like you're in pain. Now let me help you."
"I can't- Mmph!" The rag had been shoved back into his mouth and he was pushed back against a wall. The demon held the phone up to his own ear now.
"Hello, it's me again," he smirked.
"I'll kill you. I swear, I'll kill you all," Castiel put his head in his hands and tried to block out the blind rage clouding his mind.
"Now, that's not very nice."
"Tell me what you've done to Dean."
"Just having a bit of a warm up for what's to come. We intend to get answers."
Castiel almost dropped the phone. He sat up straight and narrowed his eyes.
"Don't you dare touch him!"
"If you'll excuse me, I must be going. Your friend is almost ready for us to begin." The line clicked and the demon threw the phone down. He turned to Dean, who was struggling to stay awake.
"Don't you dare touch him!" he mocked, "Honestly, like that would work on us?"
Castiel pulled the shaking hand away from his ear and gripped the chair he was seated on to keep himself from acting out. How dare they take him? And how dare they hurt him? he thought in anger. Just because he can't pray doesn't mean his soul can't call out for me. Maybe I'll be able to track him then. He debated calling Sam, but realized that Dean wouldn't like his brother to be dragged into this mess. He blocked out everything around him, every other thought in his mind that wasn't about finding the hunter.
Dean felt the cuts over his jaw-line much more than anything else they had done to him. A few punches, kicks, and beatings were nothing new. He could manage. He could also deal with the cuts on his chest and back. But the jaw-line was a newer pain, one that he hadn't been prepared for. He knew that they were trying to get information from him, about Crowley's whereabouts and the two tablets. I'll die before they know anything, he thought defiantly.
After sitting through a torturous ten minutes of silence, Castiel felt something gnawing at the back of his mind. He was familiar with this. Whenever his charge was in danger, this was the warning he got. The soul of the distressed calling out for him involuntarily. He concentrated on the feeling until the gnawing had turned into such intensity that he could focus on a location.
Dean had blacked out from the pain flooding his mind. But he hadn't given up. He wouldn't. His body had been covered in bruises and gashes everywhere. That mixed with the Enochian sigils still in power had done it for his subconscious. It called out for his angel.
In a flash, Castiel was able to track down the hunter. It turned out that he was being held in an abandoned steel warehouse. When he appeared in the room in a flutter of wings, the sight he was met with was not one he could bear. Dean was in a heap on the floor, unconscious and restrained. His body was overcome by injury and blood. Cas was about to run to him before noticing the shallow breaths emitting in the Winchester's body.
He snuck up slowly behind the assembly of demons. Before even one of them could turn around, he pulled out his blade and heaved it into the backs of three unsuspecting demons. In his rage at how they had hurt his charge, Castiel was able to take out all but the head demon that was now behind him.
"Like what you see?" the demon smirked. It was the same one he had spoken to on the phone.
"I warned you," Castiel growled. He advanced towards the monster, his blade held out and ready.
"Ah, not so fast. You need me."
"What could I possibly need scum like you for?"
"His restraints. You won't be able to free him if you kill me. I'm the only one who can open them."
Castiel vanished and popped up behind the smug demon. He wrapped an arm around the bulky neck and sneered, "Release him. Now. I won't ask twice."
The demon said, "Fine. But only if you let me live."
Castiel moved the demon closer to Dean. When he was close enough to let go, he did and said, "I won't kill you. But if you do anything other than unbind him, I will."
The demon bent over and unlocked the cuffs. They fell to the ground with a clang.
Castiel wasted no time and thrust the blade into the demon's stomach.
"You said you wouldn't kill me!"
"I lied," he said coldly as the monster fell to the ground.
As soon as every threat was cleared, Castiel moved closer to Dean. He knelt down and pulled the rag out of the hunter's mouth. He placed a gentle hand beneath his head and pulled it up into his lap. After stroking the dirty blonde hair for a moment, he placed his palm on the side of Dean's face. He focused all of his energy into healing the broken body of his hunter.
Within moments, the scars crowding Dean's body faded and completely disappeared. He was still for a little while longer but his eyes began to flutter open slowly. He blinked hard and squinted up at the concerned face looming over him.
"Cas?" he asked in disbelief.
"Are you alright?" the angel asked, staring intently at the other man.
"I think so. What are you doing here? What happened?"
Dean pushed himself upright sluggishly. Castiel placed a supportive hand on the small of his back to help him stay vertical.
"Your soul called out to me. Once I was able to find your location, I came to help you."
"I told you not to come," Dean began to lecture. "What if you weren't strong enough? What if you got hurt or even killed?"
"I didn't. And I couldn't let you stay here. They were harming you."
Dean was silent at this before saying, "I could have managed. You didn't need to put yourself in danger."
"Yes, Dean, because you were managing so well before I showed up," he snarked.
The hunter looked down at the cement floors beneath them. "I'm sorry, alright?"
"You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I got myself caught. I put you in danger. I should have been more careful. I'm sorry," Dean shook his head to clear the remaining dizziness.
Castiel shot him a look.
"I don't care that you put me in danger, Dean. I'm always happy to help you when needed. I'm just upset that…that you aren't more careful. One day, I may not be able to heal you of your wounds or save you," Cas responded, trying to meet Dean's eyes. When the Winchester finally looked up, he nodded solemnly.
"I'm glad you came, though. Honestly."
"We should go. You need rest." Castiel stood up and extended an arm. Dean took it and hauled himself up tiredly. He leaned heavily on the angel for support and walked slowly out of the warehouse.
It was an odd sight, really. An angel and a mortal clutching each other while walking out to face the bright sunlight. Castiel had an arm wrapped tightly around Dean's waist to keep him from falling and in turn, Dean's arm was draped around Castiel's shoulder.
They walked together down the long road, heading for the nearest town where many, many things would happen between them. Of course, they would be all good things for a change.