Dean gritted his teeth, they had shown up too little too late. The djinn laid dead beside him, making him let out a small breath, looking over the slumped over angel. Well, technically he was human now. After the fall, Cas had been left without his grace.
"Sam, what are we going to do?" Dean was worried, he had lost numerous people and he wasn't ready to lose his best friend. Sam's eyes flashed slightly and he knew exactly who he was speaking to now, Ezekiel.
"I told you it wasn't safe for Castiel to be around." Was all he said, turning his eyes burning into the back of Dean's head.
"We have to save him, we can't just leave him trapped." Dean forcefully said, turning to Ezekiel.
"I'm not helping, so find another way to." It was short and curt, Dean knew the angel was true to his word as he walked out of the building. Dean began to go over all the possibilities to save Cas, none of them seeming to be good enough. Wait, didn't he have the king of hell trapped in the trunk of his car? His face turned to one of a grimace at the thought of having to using the Crowley but it seemed to be his only chance. He ran outside and opened the trunk, revealing Crowley tied up with tape over his mouth. Dean undid the tape and before he could even get a word in Crowley was complaining.
"You know, for a guy who loves his car, you don't clean up the trunk very much. And what happened to being kind to those you hold captive? I thought you humans did that, a bathroom break would have been nice but now you've forced me to hold it in." Dean rolled his eyes.
"Crowley, you dont need to go to the fucking bathroom."
"Still, the gesture would have been nice, love. Normally, I'd think this was a way of trying to romance me, kidnapping me and placing me back here all chained up, something like in one of your sick fantasies."
"Damn it, Crowley, I dont have time for you bullshit. Cas is in there dying and I need your help." Crowley raised an eyebrow, his eyes lighting up.
"You are asking for my help after trapping me in the back of here? I do-"
"You are going to do it, Crowley, cause I know the human blood is still affecting you." Dean had cut him off, time was running out and he was in mood to play the demon's games. Crowley scoffed.
"If you want my help, you'd need to let me out-" Dean cut him short by cutting the demon trap. Crowley seemed shocked but he pushed himself up, trying to be quick before the hunter changed his mind. Dean watched Crowley with careful eyes, not trusting the king of hell to abide by his commands. "Well where is he?" Crowley asked, now sitting up. Dean cut the binds on his legs and lead Crowley inside the warehouse, when he saw Castiel laying there he couldn't but snicker. Dean shot him a glare and Crowley just gave him a small glare back.
"I need you to take us into his mind, Crowley." Crowley cocked an eyebrow before laughing.
"You seriously can't accept me to take us both in there? I cant even get one." Dean was quiet, now not knowing what to do. "Isn't there something you can use to get inside his head?" Crowley eyed the hunter, surely he had something.
"African dream root, but the only place I know to get one is through a series of steps and damn it crowley I dont have time!" Crowley laughed, playing with the chains on his hands now.
"I could get them for you, in exchange." Dean turned to Crowley, wondering what in the hell the demon had in mind. "Oh, just a favor down the road." Dean felt torn, he couldn't just let Crowley lose but he couldn't let Cas die either. Damn it.
"Fine, whatever, go get the supplies Crowley and know if you screw me over I will find you and I will kill you." Crowley chuckled, letting Dean approach him and undo the chains, as soon as they were gone so was the king of hell. Dean turned back to Castiel and walked over, sitting beside him. He didn't really know why but he felt himself compelled to hug the angel, bringing him close to his chest and rubbing his hair in a comforting manner. "It'll be okay, Cas, we will save you." He whispered, hoping his words would reach his friend in his dream world. After a few moments the demon appeared, holding a mixture in his hands.
"This is it, correct?" He asked, handing over the supplies. Dean nodded and sat beside Cas, gulping.
"Wait, before I do anything.." He got back up and reapplied the chains to Crowley's hand. He seemed shocked but didn't say a word as Dean sat back down and swallowed the african dream root recipe. Soon, he was asleep beside Cas, his head leaning on his shoulder.
Dean felt himself awake in a torn apart bunker, he was confused now. He looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, did the dream root not work? Then he heard it, Cas's fluttering wings. He looked over to see his best friend appear and run over to the library, Dean followed him. Once they arrived he saw a bloody mess, in the middle of it was...him? Cas ran to the body and held it tightly to his chest.
"Dean, you can't die." He pressed his fingers to his head, healing the man. Dean watched in utter silence, hearing the doors burst open and he looked to see an angel there.
"Cas, you have orders to let him die!" The angel screamed, walking forward and pushing Cas aside. Cas reached for his angel blade and went to stab the angel, nearly missing but he did it. There was a flash of light then the dream repeated. This time when Cas went to run to the library the real Dean went to him, grabbing him by the shoulder.
"Castiel, you're in a dream" Cas was quiet for a moment, thinking.
"Angels dont dream." He bluntly responded, seeming confused.
"Well, in this dream you are an angel but in real life you've lost your grace."
"Am..Are you okay in real life?" Castiel wondered, looking around the nodded, giving him a small smile.
"Alive and well. Actually, I might have a ruined liver but that's my own doing." Dean chuckled at his joke, Castiel smiled at his friend. Castiel brought Dean into a hug, Dean slowly hugging him back. The sound of feathers fluttered behind Dean but he ignored it, taking in the warmth of his friend, he was going to be okay. Then he felt it, a sharp pain.
"Dean…" Castiel's voice was quiet and Dean blinked, wondering what hit him. He turned to see the angel from earlier staring him down, he ripped the angel blade from his back and stabbed the angel, causing a white light to fill the two of them. Dean went to look back at Cas but he was seeming to wake up, yet Dean still felt stuck, bleeding out. Castiel had vanished now, leaving Dean alone in the bunker. In Cas's mind. What was going on? He fell down, the blood still spilling out of his back.
"Cas…" He voice was a whisper as he fell down and felt the image around him grow dark…
Dean woke up outside of a warehouse, but it wasn't the same one he had been in with Castiel and Crowley. No, but this one still felt familiar to him, although it was all black and white. He looked around and saw Castiel standing on the roof, it was shaking and it looked like the angel could lose his balance. He was about to go help when he fell in front of the door and stood up, straightening himself up as the chaos ensued. He then walked in, his face straight. Dean followed him and saw himself standing there, this was when he first met Cas! He looked between the two of them, the color appearing before him. It was like watching color bleed onto paper, it was filling the walls and it stopped on Dean's eyes. They were bright, as though this was the major point Castiel had focussed on in this memory. He felt the image fade away to a more recent one, what was this? He was in the bunker again but in the kitchen. Cas and him sat around the table, discussing something...oh no...this was when he basically told Castiel to scram. He felt his heart grow heavy as the image played out, when it was over he felt himself compelled to follow Castiel out. When he was outside the bunker, something strange happened. Castiel seemed to be upset, as though something was wrong. Did he hurt his friend? He couldn't have...but it seems he did.
"Was it because I slept with that woman?" Castiel wondered aloud to himself, seeming confused. "It seemed right though, and why would Dean be mad?" He walked away, causing the image to fade. Now he was alone in a hotel room with Castiel. He had his head buried in his hands and was muttering to himself. "What is this? Why do I feel these human emotions?" Dean was about to chuckle, but decided against it. "This is ridiculous, humans typically shun these emotions when their felt towards a male." Castiel said, Dean was now confused, what? Oh man, he was going to tease the living hell out of Cas if he got out of here. The image faded again, to Castiel holding Dean's bloody face, wait...oh yes, when Castiel beat the shit out of him.
"We're family…" The bloody Dean said, trying to look up at Castiel. Dean felt embarrassment wave over himself, he had meant to say he loved Cas, but then he decided against it. Love was a strong word, something Dean didn't use lightly. He watched as Cas healed him and faded, causing the memory to once again go to a new one.
Dean had flashed through every memory with Castiel, the good and bad ones, with each one he felt himself regretting some of the chosen words. He needed Cas, he knew it now. He had to wake up now and hug the man he had slowly over time developed feelings beyond friendship with. He was going back to the beginning memory, meeting Cas, when he felt himself being shaked. He blinked his eyes and the image vanished, changing into Cas hovering above him. His blue eyes were filled with concern...this was real, this was real life! He had woken up! Dean didn't waste a moment, enveloping his friend in a deep hug, basically pulling him down with him.
"Dean...oof" Cas fell onto his lap and awkwardly hugged him back in this position. The angel had no clue what to do besides stare at Dean. "You're safe, but Crowley escaped…" His voice trailed off but Dean didn't care right now that the demon had escaped them, they would catch him later.
"Cas, that doesnt matter, you're safe." He whispered, feeling his heart grow light. His friend was safe.
"Dean, although this position is rather nice I feel uncomfortable." Dean felt embarrassment wave over him, something that hardly ever did. He got up and brought the angel with him.
"So cas, I was in your memories.." Dean trailed off, prepared to tease the angel now.
"Oh." Was all Cas said, he seemed nervous now, why?
"I didn't know you were gay man!" Dean chuckled and slapped his friend, Cas fell a bit and straightened himself back up.
"Although gay is an okay term, that doesn't describe me. You must have seen me talking to myself, but you must know I only share those feelings for one human, not many. So, no, I'm not gay." He huffed, Dean laughed and rolled his eyes.
"Man it's okay to be gay."
"If it's okay then I should ask, are you gay Dean?"
"What?! Man, no!" Dean sounded shocked and laughed, trying to cover himself up. He wasn't gay, no, he just had some feelings harbored towards a certain celestial being.
"Ah." Cas was back to being curt, making Dean confused.
"So who's the guy?" Dean asked, trying to ease the tension between them now.
"You." Dean's face fell, wait what?! Castiel liked him? Nope, this wasn't true.
"Me? Dean winchester?"
"I assume so, considering you are the only person to be here." Dean was silent for a moment but he hugged Cas, not letting him go.
"I love you too, man." Was all he said, making Cas hug him tighter, the two of them stood there, having just revealed feelings, in utter silence, holding each other. Sure they didn't know what was going to happen from here on out, but they knew they'd be in it together.
AN; should I make this into series and not a one-shot? Show you what happens with the Crowley thing, how heaven reacts, etc?