Author's Note: I do not own any Supernatural characters, nor do I profit from this brief work of fiction.
I'm just gonna put this here, this was part of my original submission to mishamallow:
"ok so i wasn't like… eavesdroppin or whatever, but i saw you discussing what if cas was in dean and ezekiel in sam fight and i just, idk what happened? this probably isn't exactly what you were thinking, but…. i just…i dont know what happened."
"There is one way." It's been months since they'd caught a break and now, hands digging through hair that was too long, he sighed into the darkness of the motel room. The buzz of florescent lighting broke the momentary silence, previously only occupied by a cricket living in the radiator.
Dean was up and out of bed before his eyes had time to adjust to the lighting. "Then why the hell haven't you said anything Cas?" This was Sammy they were juggling around here, "It's been weeks since we've had a solid break and you've been," His face scrunched in irritation, "holdin' out on me?!"
The ex-angel is silent, rubbing knuckles into his eyes, trying to wrench the sting out of them. Slowly he pulled himself to sit at the edge of the bed, his back to Dean. "It's risky."
Before he even realized that he had moved he's coming around the side of the bed to stare Castiel down, "Risky?!" He huffed, "How long you've known me Cas?" The question hung in the air for a moment before he pressed on, "And you think that I wouldn't do whatever it takes to get your buddy Zeke outta my brother?!"
Castiel kept his gaze trained on his bare feet, hand moving to toy with his necklace -it had been six long months, but nervousness was just one of those things he hadn't come to grips with yet. If he was being honest, nervousness and anxiety were something he never expected to overcome as a human. Jimmy had been gone for so long and Dean -well, Castiel wasn't cut out for his way of handling things. He missed Sam. Sam would understand.
"You can't keep me in the dark here, Cas I-" Dean cut himself off, realizing all too late what the fallen angel had been inferring. His eyes traveled over the glowing tube nestled between Cas' fingers, "Not like that, man. I won't ask you to do that."
"Perhaps I should rephrase." He shrugged, missing the tug of feathers and yanked the bottle from the chain, rolling it around his palm. "It is the only way."
"No." He shook his head, hand running over his chin, "There's always another way.
"Yes," He held the bottle up between thumb and pointer, eyes snapping to meet Dean with a look of complete seriousness, "and that is this way."
"Look, if we're gonna take Zeke down before he goes all kamikaze on us, I'll be the one to bite that bullet, Cas." He made a motion with his hands to signify that was final, the end of this discussion.
But, he often forgot, Castiel was not his little brother and, even if he had picked up on the queue, he would still drive the issue. "Give me permission Dean and you can."
He looked like he had just been punched in the face and took a step back, "What?"
Castiel could see the gears turning, Dean was thinking it over. "You are completely aware of what I am telling you," He stood, inching closer, "my vessel," He shook his head, "it can wait here while we bring Sam home."
-SUPERNATURAL-
Nothing Dean Winchester had experienced in his life could ever equate to being used as an angel condom. The searing white light, the intense purity -at first it drove him to his knees and he had to force in gulping lungfuls of air. He could feel Castiel squirming around inside, becoming acquainted with the container before settling back, waiting for Dean to be ready.
It was a lot like riding shotgun in the Impala, things raced by, blurring up the windows and classic rock played in the background, like a dull speaker at a grocery store. It was soft and worn here like the leather interior, homey. Castiel focused on the name, repeating it a few times before he could focus around the popping and squealing of angel radio.
"Zeke you son of a bitch," They landed with a rustling of invisible feathers, stepping into the warehouse, "I should've known I'd find you and Van Nuys."
Castiel bristled from the inside, peering out at Sam and the halo of his brother's influence.
Ezekiel smirked, wide and pleased, "Who knew that was all it would take to get my brother inside of you?"
"Dick."
Castiel pushed forward, shielding Dean from the force of his brother's grace almost a moment too late and he struggled to regain his footing. "Ezekiel," He straightened himself out, "have you fallen so far, brother, that you are so easily corrupted?"
Lips pursed together as he shrugged into a threatening smile, "Have you forgotten who's team I used to play on?" Ezekiel snapped the book shut he had been combing through, the rustling papers of the cork board he had assembled garnered his attention for a split second.
Castiel's first instinct was to charge forward, but, he remembered, rash actions like that in the past were the cause of the near extinction of the angels in the past. "You refuse to leave?" He needed clarification, he didn't want to take his brother's life if he didn't absolutely need to. Images of burnt wings flashed before him and his eyes stung.
"Now why would I do that?"
It was the last thing Dean remembered, bracing for the impact. With grace screaming and the walls shaking, Cas and Zeke had charged each other and the next thing he knew, he was waking up on the cold cement floor. It took less than a split second for him to hurry on hands and knees across the floor to his brother.
"Sam!" He pulled the much bigger man into his lap, wincing against his own injuries, "Sammy?!" Jolly Green remained unresponsive and he bit his lip with a cuss, "Shit." His head fell, chin meeting chest as his eyes passed over his brother one last time. "I won't try this time." Dean fell back against the cement floor, dragging Sam with him in a heap of limbs, "I remember what you said last time." He knew he was avoiding the truth of the matter, trying to put it off even now. "I love you Sammy."
-SUPERNATURAL-
Sam was okay. Dean sighed, dragging the towel down his face and stepped out of the bathroom. After all of that, everything was okay -well, except for Cas. It had been two weeks since the Angel vanished, proclaiming he was nothing but a liability to them. Dean expected he had resorted to the multiple-places-time-loop-mind-fuck he had previously in order to avoid Heaven but, after checking all of the Biggerson's restaurants he knew Castiel was elsewhere. Quantum superstition, or, whatever Sam kept repeating every time he messed it up.
"So, get this," He inclined the screen, moving it out of the glare, "I managed to hack into a few databases and," Turning the laptop screen in his brothers direction he smiled, "there's been a James Novak staying at the Ritz Carlton in New York."
"He did exactly the opposite…" Dean tossed the bottle cap onto the table, tilting the chair back on two legs to reach his keys on the dresser. "Smart little bastard." He shook his head and righted the chair with a clunk, "So-"
Sam closed the laptop, zipping it into the carrying case, "Do you even have to ask?"
Come on Sammy, Dean stood, thankful they'd always been prepared for life on the fly and grabbed his bag, "Lets go get our Angel."