Dean Vs Dr Teddy Bear

by pastann

"And claws!" Castiel said. "What kind of sick, deranged person puts claws on teddy bears!" Superhero AU, comedy, action, horror, character death, violence.

Dean

Dean's Secret Underground Base

The light of the moon filtered down to almost nothing at the ocean floor. It was close to pitch black.

Clinging to the stubby nose of the transport pod, Dean clicked his teeth and popped his cheeks into the rush of cool salt water. The echoes came back: he felt the sound in his bones, beneath and through the water running around the stubby nose of the transport pod and the churning of Castiel's super-strong and super-fast kicks. The taste and mouthfeel of the water and the vague, echo-located shape of the ocean floor felt familiar. The heaviness of the water in his lungs was unpleasant. He didn't need to breathe, but he liked the comfortability of it.

Dean needed to sleep and he felt a reluctance to focus his super-senses.

Need more light, Dean thought. Castiel swam ten meters back, pushing the buoyant pod from above and behind, keeping the nose facing down.

Nothing happened.

Must be too distracted keeping Papaver under and pushing the pod to keep tabs on my thought streams, Dean snickered to himself without bothering to keep his thoughts quiet.

He and I could have flown to a safer location or called for air support - all he needed to do to keep the mission undercover was minionize a few civilians or a super with flight - instead the brainchild decides to swim across the Pacific Ocean.

Dean pushed off the pod and skimmed his hands over the ocean floor. By feel, he picked up a smooth stone; he spun and kicked up, caught it in his hand and then gave the stone a slow, easy toss over the length of the pod, aiming to let the rock float down and hit Castiel or draw his attention. Dean kicked once, surging ahead to catch up to the nose of the pod.

He could swim back and get Castiel's attention directly, but this was funner - for Dean.

Castiel and he had been traveling underwater since the pod's suppression gas ran out and Dean needed to sleep; his last nap had been a week ago and his energy was low. Castiel had gotten lost and Dean had subtly guided the other super to a NOAA buoy. If Castiel couldn't tell from the look of it that the buoy was part of NOAA's tropical atmosphere ocean array and wanted to argue … well, the tire made a perfect napping spot and Dean had no compunctions about making himself more comfortable by tearing off the sensor array and dropping it into the deeps for Castiel to figure it out.

Watching Castiel dive for the grid while failing to keep the transport pod submerged underwater had been the most entertainment Dean'd had in weeks. The transport pod kept popping up, then Castiel would push it down and try again; it never worked. The exaggerated frustration on Castiel's face was comedy gold and - Dean didn't lie to himself - lack of sleep made it that much more comedic. Dean had dozed off to Castiel's clumsy attempts to reattach the sensory array to the buoy and slept the sleep of the content. Then the last of Papaver's flying minions had shown up and without giving a guy warning, Castiel had picked him up and thrown him at a supervillain as a distraction. After the fight, Castiel's reaction had been hilarious; the hysterics the guy had when he was convinced they were lost. Dean hadn't let himself enjoy it too long. He had the basic wherewithal to keep track of their location while crossing the Pacific Ocean without navigational equipment.

Castiel flicked on his underwater flashlight, illuminating the ocean floor at the back end of the pod.

Dean swam into the hazy, drifting cone of light aimed into the turbulent water kicked up by Castiel's legs. They were traveling a slow, steady pace of three knots: human bodies were poorly shaped to push buoyant orbital transfer pods underwater.

It was clear water for this section of coastline. Dean recognized the look of the ocean floor: gritty, coarse sand mixed with round rocks, clumps of short scrubby kelp interspersed between larger patches of lichen and occasional green or purple lettuce kelp waving in the water as they passed above. Debris from ships, pipes, and garbage on the ocean floor were corroded and crusted with sea life and the larger flat surfaces were dotted with fat-limbed starfish.

Castiel and Dean were near the marina in Bellingham.

Dean swam under the pod and gripped the slick composite tiles over his head with care to avoid damaging the astral warding carved on the undersides of the tiles and built into the structure of the pod. Occasionally, he touched down on the ocean floor with a bare foot to correct the heading of the pod, choosing the placement carefully to avoid leaving a trail of destruction through the delicate sea creatures and plants.

The interlocked U-seawalls of the underwater entrance to the base came into sight. The pod stopped abruptly as Castiel's legs kicked the water into a roiling froth of water. Excess astral energy spilled past Dean's body and obscured his super-senses. Dean felt heavy and dizzy, disconnected to his body as his mass fluctuated and moved high. He let his heavy fingers slide off the slick tiles rather than risk damaging the warding; his body floated forward accelerating, his mass continuing to rise. He turned and landed with his feet on the first seawall. The impact knocked the large rocks of the seawall outwards in a slow motion explosion.

Blinded or not, Dean bounced off the massive rocks, flipped himself rightside-up, dug his lower legs deep into the gritty sand, and reached for the rocks before they flew too far. He caught the rocks and flung them to the sides of the entrance; they fell slowly against the drag of the water. A few broke apart as his heavy limbs knocked into the rocks the wrong way. Castiel looked fine, floating over and behind the pod, his legs giving an easy kick to keep the pod hovering in place; Dean's dizziness faded and his mass drifted back to normal. With great reluctance and no hesitation in his speed, he broke the overhanging concrete in the lock. A four meter hole would fit the pod.

It's going be a doozy to fix this one.

Castiel pushed the pod into the hole; Dean turned upside down to run down the tunnel on the ceiling, keeping the pod centered in the passageway. At the edge of the tunnel, Dean kicked off and they rode the buoyant pod to the surface.

Light from Castiel's flashlight played across the water in the low-ceiled concrete chamber. A wide ramp led up into a long, straight corridor. Dean hitched a ride at the nose of the pod, while Castiel paddled from below.

Dean took the opportunity to cough the water out of his lungs and let his body regenerate.

Finally. He took a deep breath: the dank air sucked into his lungs sweetly.

The bulk of the transport pod scraped to a gentle stop on the ramp. Dean dropped down to the concrete; his bare toes gripped the grooves and bumps on the concrete.

Home base and almost home.

The underwater flashlight jiggled against Castiel's thigh and cast light wildly across the concrete floor as Castiel splashed out of the water, pulling the end of the transport pod around, so the pod lay diagonally across the ramp. The pod was too long to fit the width of the ramp and Castiel stopped waist deep in the water.

"You okay?" Dean asked.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Castiel asked.

"That back there," Dean gesticulated mildly. Dumping astral energy into my mass to—

"I have handled the situation. You need not concern yourself with it," Castiel said flatly.

….

"Papaver is under control," Castiel snapped.

One year with the guy on this mission alone, and—

"I can hear your thinking and it is not helpful," Castiel said curtly.

Huh. Castiel didn't often acknowledge that he read Dean's thought streams. It made the minion master uncomfortable ... which was strange, but Castiel was strange.

"You lazy slug." Castiel's calm, dry voice carried over the sound of the slosh of water against the hard surfaces of the chamber. "You could have swum yourself instead of hitching a ride on the nose of the pod. Your shape and weight were unwieldy."

Dean looked searchingly at Castiel's face. The minion master had always spoken to Dean with a certain restraint: a pretense that he hadn't captured Dean as a minion and read and modified Dean's thought streams without Dean's awareness or consent.

You have a stronger combat superset, Dean thought. Only your senses and regeneration are a touch less strong, and the unique superpower you minionized me for.

"And don't think that I don't know that you destroyed that NOAA buoy on purpose to take a nap," Castiel said evenly. "That is a federal offense. You are not getting away with it. I will make certain you are appropriately disciplined—

Castiel's face looked sweet-faced, blank, and distant, even as he spoke directly at Dean. Nothing different there.

"...And I will have you know that 'brainchild,'" Castiel made airquotes with his fingers, "is an Americanism to refer to the originator of an idea or invention, often by an admirer or less commonly by a sarcastic disparager, for example," Castiel paused.

"I can't think of an example, but I will inform you as soon as I do," Castiel said curtly.

"Like I admire you," Dean said. It'd been Castiel who sponsored an Agreement banning mind control and minionization without informed consent, and then borrowed Dean's superpowers to modify the thought streams of the minion masters and mind controllers who'd disagreed. It'd changed Uncle Lou's opinion of him.

"Yes, like you," Castiel's voice turned wary and deepened: "…I didn't know you admired me."

Dean had grown to admire him with mental work, because Castiel hadn't released his minionization call; Dean liked his thought streams the way they were. Dean thought about the charity Castiel had done and Castiel's big ideas: world kindness week, kale appreciation day - every day, Dean had thought it foolishness until he saw the results, and one of the varieties of the leafy, dark green vegetables looked like imaginary dinosaur skin, which was hilarious to Castiel's weird sense of humor. Castiel's work bringing in other nations into the Super Network had stabilized the Network and kept it going. Supers with flight, teleportation, and supersets broke the boundaries and laws of nations and the Network would have collapsed without expanding into the sole nongovernmental organization ruling over supers and over the world.

That wasn't going to stop Dean from yanking Castiel's chain as much he could. The guy didn't like to interrupt, which would give Dean time to build up to his punchline. "I admire you, for showing me how to live, for protecting me—

"Protecting you?" Castiel said flatly.

Hmm.

"Yes. And disciplining me appropriately," Dean said.

"Disciplining you appropriately," Castiel said, even slower and deeper. "We are not continuing this topic of conversation."

Well, that's new.

"Okay. The loading corridor runs past the main control room. If we take the pod there, it'll be close by while I made a few calls," Dean said. I'll ask Uncle Lou to call in air support. "The ground entrance is on the south side. Airfield entrance up top."

Dean didn't let himself think further. The base and its secrets were entrusted to him.

"No peeking," Dean asked hesitantly.

"Fine, I won't peek. It's not like I haven't been inside your secret lair before," Castiel said with a note of exasperation in his voice.

When were you in here before? Dean turned his super-senses high.

Castiel didn't answer, the guy doesn't listen. At super-speed, the minion master tore off his flippers with giant splashes of water that arced through the air, drenching the low ceiling and falling. The droplets that had touched Castiel's body - shimmered faintly with astral energy; the minion master's sticky, intrusively contagious power wasn't under complete control if he was burning it off as visible light.

Castiel hurled his flippers against the wall of the chamber and muttered the words: "Stupid ass-

Heh, got to him, Dean thought smugly.

...under his breath, then flicked off his flashlight. Darkness closed in and only Dean's super-senses allowed him to perceive the room and Castiel's form as vague shadows.

Dean hefted the bulky transport pod over his left shoulder and Castiel picked up the other end. As Dean led the way down the loading corridor, water sleeted off the composite shell of the pod and off their drenched clothing. Dean felt, rather than saw, the water soak into the unsealed concrete floor; he was still repairing the base from Moleman's attacks years ago, before Castiel modified the guy's thought streams and turned him into a superhero.

Need to seal the floor. He'd been telling himself this for years and always had other things to do.

The humidity and the light sea smell in the air faded as they sped into an easy run. Dean tossed the front end of the pod into the air – he ran to the wall and brushed his hand over the Braille markers counting off the distance from the underwater entrance: a quarter of the way there – and caught the front end of the pod as it fell back down.

"A simple pace count would serve the purpose without the risk of dropping the pod," Castiel snapped.

Dean started counting….

Five-hundred and ninety-five.

Up ahead, Dean saw a faint light at the T-intersection leading to the central control room.

He slowed to a stop; Castiel matched his movement at the other end of the transport pod. Dean focused his super-hearing. Behind him: the slosh of water against the concrete echoed up the corridor from the underwater entrance. Ahead of him:

A woman's voice said, "…understands?"

"No, I don't know," a rapid, staccato voice answered. It was a man.

Then … "Don't touch it, it might trigger an alarm," the man's voice said.

Who are they? What are they doing here?

"I'll need to report this," the woman said. It was Ruby's mellow voice.

Of course … Ruby.

She'd been a thorn in Dean's side ever since Kevin died and she stepped in as Dean's Super Network handler and personal assistant. Dean didn't feel comfortable enough with her to tell her his name; she only knew him as Superhero Containment.

Dean slowly lowered his end of the transport pod. He set it down with the barest whisper of sound. Castiel started to lower his end of the pod.

Castiel flinched.

Kkkt. "Oops," Castiel muttered, as the pod rolled and scraped against the floor before he caught it.

Dean sprinted down the corridor, leaving Castiel's whispered, "My bad," behind.

"Did you—" Ruby started to say. Her voice broke off into a gasping intake of breath. Dean heard a soft thunk and rustle.

Dean sped around the corner.

Light spilled into the corridor from the central control room. The metal blast door was missing and Dean looked into the chamber below. A giant teddy bear loomed over the tiny human figure of Ruby. Hard lines of terror creased her face starkly. She stared up at the supervillain that she had been talking to moments ago.

Dr. Teddy Bear.

The petite brunette pressed her back against the frozen, foil and saran-wrapped bundle of Superhero Rapunzel, inside a glass-faced freezer that Dean had wedged between two defunct punch card computers. The freezer door was open and Rapunzel's body was exposed to the heat.

Dean didn't stop his sprint as he scooped a hand into the concrete wall and ripped out a hand-sized chunk of the wall.

Dr. Teddy Bear's glass eyes flashed red.

Dean ducked and dove forward, rolling—

Zzzzzz. Boom. Concrete exploded in the corridor behind him.

-over the concrete platform at the top of the ramp and onto the floor a few meters below the doorway. He landed lightly on his feet and whipped his body into a fastball pitch. The chunk of concrete flew through the air.

Boom.

The concrete chunk tore a hole through Dr. Teddy Bear's shoulder and smashed into the wall on the other side. Yellow stuffing burst out of the monstrous supervillain's body. Ruby flinched.

Dr. Teddy Bear leapt into the air, turning his wide, rectangular stuffed body on all fours. The doors to the other two entrances were gone. The monstrous supervillain floated to the doorway leading to the old airfield, three of his short limbs scuttling in the air as if he was running. He thrust his body through the frame of the doorway which was a quarter his width, and burst through with a scatter of yellowing squares of stuffing. Ruby covered her head with her arms as concrete debris from the wall and yellow stuffing rained down on her.

Dean raced after Dr. Teddy Bear. The bobbing, circular tail on the teddy bear waggled enticingly close as the supervillain disappeared into the gloom of the tunnel.

Ruby's back there and Castiel with the pod ... if the pod had been damaged and Castiel lost control of Papaver….

Dean stopped, spun around, and ran back to the control room.

Ruby had her back to him. She withdrew her arms from above and looked down at her black cell phone, as if she had just taken a photo of the freezer. Castiel was nowhere in sight. The freezer door gaped open. The foil and plastic bundle had been partly unwrapped and the defrosting face of Superhero Rapunzel peeked out.

She's risking Rapunzel's body and reawakening. The guy doesn't have major regeneration.

Dean raced up behind Ruby. She was annoying, but he didn't want to hurt her. Before she could react, Dean wrapped his arms around her soft, slow body–the flesh on bone feeling of normal bodies was disgusting—and took her hand in his own. She was dialing Jeff, one of the Pac Northwest coordinators. Dean pressed the red, rectangular End call icon. The flip cover on her cell phone case was open and the inside ran an astral spell that Dean didn't quite recognize. A gold electronic tattoo covered the inside of her right wrist and forearm.

Inside the circle of his arms, her soft body trembled. Need to get to Castiel and the pod.

Dean waited patiently for her to speak.

"Superhero Containment!" Ruby gasped. Her voice shook.

He wanted her to sit tight and he wanted Rapunzel's body wrapped up and safely back in the freezer.

"Let go of the phone," Dean ordered. He reined in his impatience as Ruby's hand relaxed slowly. From the looks of the antenna and inlaid foci on the tattoo, probably a wireless-astral-wireless signal booster. Newfangled gadgets. Dean flipped the cover of the cell phone closed and took the fragile device from her. He set it gingerly on the ground behind him. "Put the plastic and foil back on," Dean ordered. "You know the protocol?"

"Yes, I do. I'll rewrap him, sir," Ruby said in a tightly controlled voice.

Dean flipped on the lights to the main corridor and the underwater entrance. Most of the lights were burnt out and he hadn't gotten around to replacing them. The concrete ceiling and the upper walls where he'd entered the control room were blasted apart in a strip almost ten meters long, and dirt trickled intermittently on top of the debris on the floor. He'd have to repair it soon or risk a cave-in; there were normal residential units and a university built over the base. He looked at Ruby. She had started to smooth the plastic over Rapunzel's face, working carefully and methodically.

Dean jumped on the platform and over the debris. He ran down the hallway, heading back to the underwater entrance.

Come back, Dean thought at Castiel.

Dean couldn't hear movement ahead. Castiel must not be paying attention.

Dean caught up with him at the underwater entrance. Castiel stood next to the pod, his head cocked, as if he was listening to a voice that Dean could not hear. His hands rested on the side of the pod.

Castiel turned to to face Dean. "The pod appears secure, for now," Castiel said in a gravelly voice. "Time is short. I am near my limit. The longer I contain Papaver's powers, the greater the possibility that I slip up. He needs to be neutralized or taken out of range as soon as possible."

Dean nodded. "Dr. Teddy Bear fled down the corridor to the old airfield entrance. Ruby's back there, my Super Network handler—

"Excellent, get her to call for air support…." Castiel broke off. "What is it?"

"She's not one of my fans," Dean muttered.

"What did you do?" Castiel asked.

"She's terrified of me," Dean said. "And she was poking around my freezer, left it open too long."

Dean felt Castiel's frown. "Well, ask her. Surely, she will cooperate; you are her superhero."

"Right," Dean muttered.

"She was down here protecting your secret lair from…" Castiel broke off again. Dean felt a wave of accusatory outrage pouring off Castiel.

"I didn't tell her about this place. She was investigating me with Dr. Teddy Bear's human form."

It was too dark to make out Castiel's face, but Dean had a feeling that Castiel was giving him an exasperated look. "Excellent, if you break his cover identity, he'll be at your mercy," Castiel said with forced patience. "You should be pleased. He's been your nemesis for fifteen years. You are close to catching him."

Dean didn't say anything.

"The side of the pod was very slightly damaged when I dinged it against the wall," Castiel said.

Good Lord, more repairs.

Castiel snapped, "Repairs to your lair are the least of our problems. You handle your handler and get her to call in air support and tell you who she was working with before he transformed into a gigantic teddy bear supervillain."

Dean said, "She'll listen better if you—

"I can't go out there," Castiel said in an annoyed tone. "I'm a known supervillain in the United States."

This again.

"Look, no one believes you're a supervillain. Everyone in the know, knows that you're faking it to go undercov—

"Nnnnt!" Dean felt the movement as Castiel cut a horizontal line in the air with his hand. "What are you saying!" Castiel hissed. "We have to give her a plausible reason for why I'm here with you!"

The guy doesn't listen. That's normal. How Castiel managed to keep the job as director of covert operations, I'll—

"Think of something!" Castiel demanded urgently.

The level of Castiel's arousal was higher than the situation called for, Dean sniggered to himself. Castiel's triggers were hilarious. I know how … he must have minionized one of the Atlantic coordinators or Command—

"I take offense at your insinuation. I saw the need and created the position myself," Castiel snapped. "Tread carefully or I will modify your personality."

Dean couldn't help the kneejerk reaction: he fled.

As he turned his back and began to take a step, Castiel's hand appeared around Dean's wrist and held him. His entire body stilled. A tug of power ran into Dean's thought streams and Dean's superpowers faded.

"I have had it up to here with you!" Castiel snapped. "Hold still! You will turn your back to me when I am speaking to you!"

Without his volition, his body turned towards Castiel. Dean gasped a final breath in the thick, damp air. His muscles froze; his lungs stopped expanding. The corridor darkened. The single fluorescent light in the ceiling of the corridor behind him - flickered. Dean's shadow darkened Castiel's body, but the minion master's pleasant, kind face shone brightly as he looked into Dean's eyes. The grip on Dean's wrist felt light and normal – normal body temperature, normal flesh and fingers and hand around his wrist. Dean's thoughts and his heart began to slow to a stop.

Home, sweet ... home, Dean thought to himself.

Dean woke. He sat on the concrete floor with his legs crossed and his hands in his lap like a young schoolchild. His body had regenerated and Castiel had returned Dean's superpowers. Castiel was a square presence crouched next to him; his face was close and comfortingly warm.

Castiel spoke in a dry, clipped voice. "You little brat! Let me be clear. It was not my choice to minionize you. I was loaned to the CIA for the purpose of keeping you under control," Castiel's voice changed. "Loaned by agents in the FBI mind-controlled by a supervillain, nevertheless, they were legitimately FBI agents. Even before the experiments began, your estimated power rating was among the top hundred supers in the United States. A person with normal cognition would feel concern at—

Minionized for thirty-one years without a harsh word from him, and now it's come to this, Dean thought glumly. His body sat compliantly and passively still on the floor while Castiel spoke.

"...took longer than I expected to deal with the issue of mind control and minionization in the CIA. The extent of the mind-controlled and minionized personnel in government organizations around the world-

So that's what he was up to. Castiel had been overseas a long time.

"...did the best I could to protect you from the crazier supers left in the agency, but clearly, I left you alone and out of my direct supervision for too long and, clearly, I have been too nice to you. I've been overly indulgent—

A sinking terror stilled Dean's thoughts. Castiel was creative; Dean couldn't imagine what the minion master would come up with.

I'm grateful you joined the Super Network and stopped mind-controllers and minion masters from controlling or capturing people without their informed consent. You stopped Lucifer.

"...yes, I did stop Lucifer. Which led to my placement on the FBI's most wanted supervillains list. Who trusts a super who names himself Lucifer," Castiel muttered. "I can't believe he forced a child to dig out this base by hand. Well, I believe it because it happened, b—

People trusted Lucifer because Lucifer was a minion master, not a mind controller like everyone thought he was. It would have been easier by hand. I had to dig slow or the tools would break. Never knew when—

"Stop that right now. You are going to play on my sympathies to get out of listening to my lecture. I won't tolerate this manipulative behavior," Castiel stated. "Aren't I always nice to you?"

A whisper of thought Dean couldn't stop from surfacing. You just about killed me.

Castiel's voice took on a pressured edge: "Did I or did I not care for you as best as I could, given the circumstances under—

Dean shivered and pulled his thoughts together.

This isn't helping the situation, not in the least. Ruby's back there doing who knows what.

"Fine." Castiel stood and put his hands on his hips; the minion master's attitude swung abruptly from harsh to carefree and Dean felt his body return to his control. "I have an idea. We will pretend to be boyfriends," Castiel enunciated carefully.

What? You and I—

"I'll turn Good because of falling in love. It's completely plausible; other supervillains have done this before. I've studied the matter of amorous love extensively through literary and media sources …"

Oh, Lordy—

"… and I have my personal theories which I will reveal to you at a later time," Castiel stated dramatically.

The buzz of a cell phone. Ruby.

"Fine, we're pretend boyfriends," Dean said, as he stood.

Need to get going.

"You lead on. I will stay in the shadows and then enter at an appropriate time. Give me a hand with the pod," Castiel said. "Be careful of the left side, your right side."

Dean picked up the end of the transport pod and Castiel and he ran down the hallway to the T-intersection.

Ruby's sharp; she's not going to believe this. I'll have to talk sense into her.

Dean and Castiel set the pod down in unison.

Dean entered the control room. Standing next to the freezer with Rapunzel's fully wrapped body safely behind the freezer door, Ruby glared defiantly at Dean, her cell phone in one hand.

Dean stepped off the platform and walked confidently next to Ruby. Waving his arms broadly to settle her down, he said, "Ruby. Listen, I don't know what you're thinking, but whatever it is, it's not what you think it is." He put his hands on his hips heartily.

The woman scowled at him and didn't say a word.

"Ruby," Dean said.

The freezer door had been open too long.

"You should know better than to leave the freezer door open," Dean criticized her sharply. The girlish woman shrank away from him.

Ruby scowled back at Dean defensively. "Did you kill Superhero Rapunzel and put him in this freezer?" Ruby glared at him and pointed accusingly at the glass-doored freezer where Rapunzel's body was on ice.

"No! I put him on ice. He'll be fine once he's defrosted, if no one carelessly defrosts and refreezes him," Dean gave Ruby a glare for good measure. "You should know better. There was condensation on the glass."

Ruby's lips trembled then curved into a wide, nervous smile. Her voice shook. "Containment, normal people and supers without major regeneration can't survive being frozen like this."

Rapunzel's a minion master, he was sure to be hiding his thought streams in his minions. The guy had lied on the list all your powers section of the Super Agreement Form, like every other minion master, and Ruby believed it.

"He'll be fine," Dean said dismissively.

"No ... Containment! Why did you put him on ice?" Ruby demanded.

It was Castiel, of course.

Dean waited.

Of course the guy wouldn't take his cue, step into the room, and answer the question, Dean thought quietly to himself.

"He was too hot to handle with the other super activity going on. Needed to ice him for a while and deal with the situation later," Dean said heartily.

"What were you doing that was so important?" Ruby asked with a puzzled frown on her expressive face.

"Handling that." Dean gestured back at the transport pod. He turned. The pod wasn't visible from the control room floor. Dean hopped up on the raised concrete platform by the door. "Handling that," he repeated, gesturing towards the pod.

Dean waited patiently as Ruby walked her slow, normal speed up the wide ramp that hugged the circular wall of the control room, a look of curious expectancy on her face. She stopped and stared at the pod. The orbital transfer pod was sealed and ready for shipment to Low Earth Orbit and eventual transfer to the supervillain prison on the moon.

"So, if you'll call in air support…," Dean hinted.

Ruby pointed at the pod, as if Dean couldn't figure out what she was talking about without her pointing. "Who is in that orbital transfer pod?" she demanded.

Castiel had asked him not to discuss the details. The compulsion held, though the situation had changed.

If the guy would come in on his cue—

"My turn to ask the questions," Dean said.

Ruby hesitated. She looked up at him beneath her long lashes, then away.

"What were you doing down here?" Dean asked.

"I was investigating Superhero Rapunzel's disappearance," Ruby said.

Dean never could tell when she was bluffing, but he had a healthy suspicion that she wasn't telling him the complete truth.

Dean said, "That was over a year ago. You've been on assignment to me as my handler and assistant—

"You left Bellingham a year ago," Ruby said.

Uncle Lou must have had his hands full with her.

"You know that I was assigned to the task force going after Papaver," Dean said.

"Yes, I know. And then you disappeared without notifying me. I had to find out from Atlantic Field Command that you had gone in undercover," Ruby said sharply.

"I told Lou how I was going in," Dean said.

Ruby shook her head, sending glossy waves of her long dark hair tumbling over her shoulders. Her body shuddered slightly as she spoke and she sounded almost frightened. "He didn't tell me."

She should show him some consideration; he's in a wheelchair and in poor health. He doesn't have the energy to dot all the i's and cross all the t's.

"Did you know the man you were working with was Dr. Teddy Bear?" Dean asked.

Ruby shot him a bewildered glance. "No! I had no idea Lou is Dr. Teddy Bear, I don't understand how he managed to hide it. I texted the other Pacific Northwest Coordinators and was just about to call Atlantic Field Command. This is a serious breach of security, with the Super Network infiltrated by a supervillain. We're on lockdown Code—

Dean shuddered as pain squeezed his head like a vice. It was horrible. How could normals live with pain like this?

"Containment?" Ruby asked with a puzzled tone in her voice.

A mind control program. Deleting the words before they register.

Dean couldn't formulate an answer.

From behind, a lazy voice drawled, "Don't be alarmed, I assure you I have no intention of harming you or any agent of the Super Network."

It was Castiel. His voice sounded different ... or the mind control program was messing with Dean's head.

Dean blinked. "Castiel?"

Castiel walked up an arm's length away and placed a hand on Dean's shoulder.

You need to come closer to make this look realistic.

Ruby's eyes widened.

Of course she recognizes Castiel, now we can end this charade and—

Castiel ran his hand along Dean's back. The sodden shirt tore. Without even attempting to conceal his grimace, Castiel grabbed the torn piece with his hand and pasted the wet cloth back in place on Dean's back.

This is stupid.

Dean took a side step closer to Castiel and wrapped his arm around Castiel's shoulders as he'd seen normals do. Unlike the flesh of normals, there was no give in Castiel's or his own durable bodies and it was difficult to mimic the reaction. They'd needed to practice in front of a mirror or video themselves for feedback. Dribbles of water squeezed out from their clothing and spattered on the concrete floor.

From the look on Ruby's face, they weren't doing too well on the acting.

"I have fallen in love with Containment and turned to the side of Good," Castiel announced dramatically.

Ruby's face closed.

"That's wonderful news, Castiel," Ruby said in a low voice.

Of course, she's going along with it. It's stupid enough it's got to be Castiel's plan.

"Who was … that man you were working with again?" Castiel asked.

"It's Lou Bollo, he's the Coordinator for the five northwest counties and the handles super to normal public relations for the Region. The greater concern is he coordinates internationally with the U.S.S.R. and BC Super Region," Ruby said.

A jag of pain ran into Dean's skull. The aftershock of pain made his vision blur for a moment.

"Lovely. I'll make sure to take care of Dr. Teddy Bear ASAP. Are you with me, Containment?" Castiel asked.

"Yeah," Dean said hoarsely.

"What's your phone number?" Castiel asked.

Ruby scrambled to her feet. "866-907-3235."

Dean's ears rang with sensory interference.

Why would the mind-control program delete her phone number?

"Air support," Dean gasped.

"Right, of course," Castiel drawled. "Call in air support to take the pod. I'm sure Containment's explanation was perfectly satisfactory."

"Of course," Ruby said quickly. "I'll call it in right away."

"Excellent," Castiel said.

"What location should I give for the pick up?" Ruby looked down at her phone and typed away industriously.

"Let us arrange the time first," Castiel said. "Perhaps tonight. The side of the pod was damaged. If—

Castiel looked at Dean.

Finally.

"…Papaver wakes up in space, he can't fly," Dean supplied helpfully.

Ruby's face froze. "The minion master behind ISIL and Al-Qaeda?!"

"Yeah," Dean said. "The one the entire Super Network is hunting."

And why we had to do this undercove—

"Nnnt!" Castiel glared at Dean.

"I'll scramble air support," Ruby said, texting on her cell phone.

Huh. Does she even know—

Ruby's cell phone buzzed.

"Rocket will be here in a half-hour," Ruby said.

They're just giving out scramble codes these days.

Dean said, "Dr. Teddy Bear was heading down the tunnel to the old air field. The marina and ground exits are clear."

"Excellent. We'll take it to the marina. Is there a clear, flat field for a landing nearby?" Castiel asked.

"Yes, the marina has a park nearby and the parking lot of the shopping mall should be mostly empty," Ruby said. She looked timidly nervous, but not more than usual.

Dr. Teddy's Bear's stuffing inside the control room. Dean didn't like the idea of it.

"Let me clean up Dr. Teddy Bear's stuffing," Dean said. "I'll be quick."

Castiel lifted his hand from Dean's shoulder and Dean raced with super speed to the remote. He flicked on the television and internal monitors to keep Castiel and Ruby company; a weather report played on the T.V. and the monitors displayed the experimentation rooms and the entrances and exits to the base. The lights were off in most of the base, but Dr. Teddy Bear would show up in the end.

Dean rummaged through the tub of cleaning supplies he had stashed underneath a desk and took out a black garbage bag and a hand broom. He used the back of the hand broom to quickly flick the tiny squares of foam into the bag. The foam squares looked like they had originally been white, but had aged to a discolored yellow, darker on the corners and edges.

He and I, we got old.

"He's—

Dean looked up. On the monitor showing the airfield exit, Dr. Teddy Bear bobbed up and down at the top of a round chamber below a closed, circular door in the ceiling. The façade on the top side of the door was a concrete circle in the network of paved trails in Sehome Arboretum.

"—in a chamber with a roof exit leading to a forested hilltop," Castiel said. Castiel was standing in the middle of the control room, watching the monitor with his arms crossed over his chest. Ruby huddled on the far side of Castiel, near the concrete ramp leading up to the door. The metal blast doors taken out of the doorways were piled flat on the floor at the base of the platform. Dean had rolled right over them without noticing them during the fight.

Dr Teddy Bear's right arm was held at an angle, protecting its shoulder and preventing more stuffing from falling out. The stubby left arm waggled angrily as the bear floated up and down in front of the motion detector.

"Hah," Castiel barked a laugh. "He's not able to trigger the motion detector."

Ruby's mellifluous voice cut in urgently, "Is there a way to lock down the exit?"

The teddy bear turned its body as if it was standing in the air and pumped its stubby right arm at super speed…

I should have replaced the automatic door ope—

…and hit the door with an upward stroke.

Boom.

The circular door flew into the air and outside of the view on the monitor. Woodland debris showered into the tunnel and on the head of the floating teddy bear. The giant teddy bear floated upside down, dumping the woody debris off the top of its head. It rolled back onto all fours and drifted up into the forest to the east.

Could have took out a tree with the door. At least he's flying away from the marina.

"Looks good for the pickup at the marina; he flew south," Dean said shortly.

Have to fix that exit before joggers fall in.

"Ruby, sorry to be a pest. Could I borrow your phone?" Dean asked.

Ruby curled her fingers protectively around her cell phone. "Containment, I'll call Cliff and ask him to cordon off the area," she said hastily.

"Thanks," Dean said. Ruby bent her head and texted away on her cell phone.

Not ideal but it works. Got to get to Uncle Lou's place, get my cell phone back.

"Do these monitors monitor anywhere else?" Castiel asked.

"Only the base," Dean said.

Dean flattened the garbage bag to press the air out. He knotted the top, sealing Dr. Teddy Bear's yellowing stuffing safely inside.

"Let us head out the same entrance. I assume that is the fastest route," Castiel said.

"Yeah," Dean said. He looked at Ruby assessingly. "The exit is underwater. How are you with a dive? It's a couple minutes."

"I'll be fine," the brunette said levelly.

"I can tow her," Castiel said with a jaunty air. Castiel had gloated about his superior combat superset the entire first half of the swim across the Pacific.

Don't pull too hard, normal arms and legs tear off easy, Dean thought at Castiel.

"I have excellent control over my super-strength, unlike other people," Castiel drawled, "who destroyed a NOAA buoy while 'taking a break from swimming,'" making air quotes with his fingers.

"That was an accident," Dean said, eyeing Ruby. She had a concerned look on her face.

"I realize that," Castiel said.

"The sensor array was coming off," Dean explained. "The entire thing fell apart practically on its own."

"I'm sure NOAA buoys designed to weather the harshest oceanic weather conditions, fall apart at the slightest touch of your hands and feet, because that is precisely what happened," Castiel said.

Ruby looked even more concerned.

"Guys, we need to get going," Ruby said in a tight, controlled voice.

"Right," Dean said.

Castiel held his arms out slowly and carefully lifted Ruby by the hips, carrying her in a hug against the front of his body. Castiel leapt to the top of the ramp and then bounded over the debris. Dean followed Castiel to the transport pod. Castiel and he picked up the pod and ran to the underwater dock, footsteps out of sync as they ran on the concrete floor. Ruby flipped the cover over her smartphone and slid it into a dock on the inside of her jacket.

That looks useful.

"Keep your legs around my back and clear of mine. I'll need to kick hard to get the pod underwater," Castiel said to Ruby.

"I'm ready," Ruby said, with her legs curled high around Castiel's lower back.

The distant, flickering light in the corridor gave the water a menacing darkness by contrast. Dean ran down the concrete ramp into the drag of the water and forcibly pulled the end of the transport pod underneath. The pods were designed to float for ocean landings and it took super-strength to get the pod submerged.

Dean kicked and pulled as he dove down backwards into the water; Castiel's immense super-strength shoved the pod down. Their kicks churned the water into foam. It was a fast swim down to the concrete tunnel leading to the ocean. Dean spun as they reached the tunnel and he felt Castiel move with him. Dean's feet touched the ceiling of the tunnel and he ran through the tunnel upside down, keeping the pod positioned in the middle of the space. Their steps were muffled thuds in the chaos of moving water. The interlocked concrete and piled rock U's that formed the underwater breakwater were tumbled in a sad, broken rubble from their earlier entrance.

Have to fix that later.

Dean pushed off the end of the roof and kicked down hard as Castiel put on a burst of speed. They cleared the roof and sped upwards, riding the buoyancy of the transport pod upwards. Dean clicked his teeth and popped his cheeks. The dim light from the moon grew brighter as they neared the surface.

Bellingham Marina

They broke the surface into the air. Ruby gasped for breath over the sound of the waves. The bright mid-autumn moon shone over the water. Looks clear, no boats out. Next to the marina, a barren grass and concrete park ran beside the shore.

Dean rolled back underneath the pod and guided it to shore.

By the grassy bank, Dean hopped up, lifting the pod carefully on his back and keeping it from scraping against the ground. Castiel kicked up in the water like a dolphin standing on its tail while holding his end of the pod overhead, then stepped calmly onto the grass.

Ruby unhooked herself from Castiel, shivering.

Probably feels cold. The night air was pleasantly brisk to Dean.

"Rocket need a concrete landing pad or is grass fine?" Dean prompted her.

"I think concrete will be safer," Ruby said, her voice trembling slightly, her arms wrapped around her upper body.

Normal reactions are strange.

"Right, let's use the parking lot," Dean said.

"Good idea," Castiel affirmed.

They carried the pod to the nearest parking lot. Leaving Ruby guarding the transport pod with her cell phone in hand, Dean and Castiel lifted a Honda Accord by the wheelbase and carried it into the connected parking lot of the marina.

"We could stack these on top of each other," Castiel suggested as they lifted a GMC truck and ran it to the second parking lot. "They are breaking the rules by parking here overnight."

Stop trying to get out of work. My power isn't that low. I know yours is higher.

"They're fragile. The windows and roofs will get crushed," Dean said. "Careful of that."

"Yes, fine, I'm being careful," Castiel snapped.

Squeee.

The top of the front bumper tore away from the body of the truck and flapped open in Castiel's hand.

….

"I was being careful. This was already broken," Castiel lied bald-facedly.

"Set it down," Dean said, glancing over his shoulder at Ruby. She stared at a streak of light in the night sky and didn't seem to have noticed.

"Fine," Castiel said with a careless air. He lowered the cab of the truck. "Only a few more."

Superhero Rocket was coming down fast and he sure wasn't low-key about it. The light of his descent was a meteoric streak of burning air that cut an arc across the night sky below the moon.

Castiel and Dean sprinted back and forth with the remaining vehicles.

Dean looked up. Past the aura of light, he could make out Rocket's body belly flopped a mile out over the water and a half mile up.

That's sharp shooting from wherever that guy was. Must have been near one of the International Space Stations or in Low Earth Orbit; I hear the guy works on satellites.

Rocket unfurled one huge, square wing out from his right side, jerked into an unstable spin, and then unfurled a second wing. He didn't level out. Rocket skittered through the air like a paper airplane, looping and twisting crazily in the air and he wasn't slowing down by much. The air didn't burn around his incorporeal wings, but his corporeal body continued to ignite the air around his human form and the fireball grew larger.

Dean looked at Castiel. Castiel looked back. Dean picked up Ruby's squishy body in one arm, ignored her squeak of surprise, and lifted the pod with his other hand; Castiel picked up the other end of the pod and they ran for it, heading south within the strip of park by the shore. Dean looked back over his shoulder.

Rocket's square wings were swiveling on either side; the air screamed as the superhero passed above the parking lot; he's not going to make it; Rocket looped in the air and slammed down on the asphalt—

Boom.

Dean swung Ruby in front and stood still, blocking the wavefront from impacting her body directly.

A blast of air as the explosion washed over them, gravel and dust rattled across the sides of the transport pod and lightly peppered Dean's legs and back. The sound of glass shattering in a distant building. Dean looked over his shoulder. A black column of smoke and dust rose up from the crater. The boats swayed in the marina.

"Put me down," Ruby said in firm voice that contrasted with her appearance. She had her hands covering her head and ears, her body curled up and sandwiched between Dean's torso and his arm and the black garbage bag with Dr. Teddy Bear's stuffing in Dean's fist.

Dean released her.

"Put the pod down and go help people who were injured," she ordered.

Rocket jumped lightly out of the crater created by his landing; his naked body pink and untouched; his square wings stood straight up and down, fifty meters high, and dropped down threateningly into the earth.

Don't like the look of Rocket's wings in the ground. Astral wings and don't mix well with real objects.

Across the expanse of concrete and grass, Rocket waved his arm at them.

"Handler Ruby," Rocket bellowed, his superpower-enhanced voice carried the distance easily.

"I've got this," Ruby said in a firm voice. She waved back at Rocket's figure, about 400 meters away.

"Superhero Rocket," Ruby shrieked at the top of her lungs. "I called for emergency transfer." She turned and made timid shooing motions at Dean with her hands.

I'm not going anywhere.

"What the hell landing was that?" Dean demanded, loud enough for super-hearing to pick up and Rocket had a full superset.

Ruby shouted. "Potential supervillain, Papaver. Orbital transfer and examination."

Potential supervillain? How is a guy who minionized 150 million people and tried to take over the world not a supervillain?

"Full mind control and minion master precautions," Ruby yelled. "The pod is slightly damaged and needs to be broken and checked past Low Earth Orbit."

"What is he on?" Ruby hissed at Dean.

"Nothing—

Ruby recoiled and turned her flinch into a quick side step away from Dean, Castiel, and the pod.

"…2-22 suppression gas to get him inside and the passive astral warding on the pod. The gas ran out while we crossed the Pacific," Dean said.

"Acknowledged," Rocket bellowed back. "I'll need the other supers to clear the area."

Other supe—

"People could be injured," Ruby hissed again, even more annoyingly.

There were injured people.

Most of the damage was to the commercial buildings near the marina, which didn't have any normals at this hour, but Dean heard the confused alarm in the voices of people near the town center, voices of teens and young adults hanging around Glass Beach, along with the sounds of the waves sloshing against the rocks of the marina's jetties and seawalls and the very light traffic on the roads. Some of the residences near the town center might be damaged.

"We'll check the town," Dean said curtly.

"Here," Castiel said, with a jaunty air of 'I'll solve this problem.' He stepped to the middle of the pod, picked it up and threw it at Rocket.

The pod hurtled through the air.

Rocket startled into motion as Ruby shrieked, "No!" A look of horror came onto her face. Her shrill scream the cut through the night.

Too far to make it.

Rocket's vast wings unfurled in the ground below the parking lot and swept into the air and the building on the other side of the lot at super-speed. The earth and asphalt and building turned into dust; the walls and glass windows crumbled and began to fall. Rocket's wings passed through the physical objects in a blur and shimmering haze of astral flux.

Rocket jumped up with the flap of his wings and a crack of thunder. The air ignited around his wings. The air and the debris began to burn.

Ruby spun her slow speed, turning away from the billowing clouds. Dean moved with her and picked up the normal around her chest, careful not to compress her ribs more than necessary to hold her. He sprinted, and swung her against the front of his body. He tugged at Castiel's call, asking for his full complement of superpowers back.

Castiel ignored him. The minion master stood unmoving, his gaze fixed on Rocket and the pod as they rose into the air. Debris hammered the minion master with a hard rattle, then the damp clothing on Castiel's body ignited and burned as the inferno swallowed him.

It wouldn't hurt, but instinct made Dean turn his face away as the edge of the explosion caught up.

Chunks of asphalt, gravel, grass, and soil were blades and bullets that hammered Dean's back; he felt the temperature rise on his back as he sprinted the last meters to the shore and dived.

Dean leveled out at two meters under the water; he kept them shallow while the blast passed overhead. He felt Ruby holding her breath; he clamped a hand over her mouth and nose and pressed gently. Her small, fragile hands clutched Dean's wrists. When her involuntary struggles slowed, he popped a head above water. The boats in the marina were a tangled, burning mess outlined against the night sky to the north.

The heat might be bearable for a normal. Dean held her as Ruby stuck a hand weakly into the air, like a cat waving a paw in a cat video. Heh. She withdrew her hand and then climbed up Dean's body into the air, hanging around his neck. She coughed as she took a breath. Watery blood ran from her elbow and shoulder where Dean's body hadn't blocked the debris.

Got to get her to the hospital.

Dean heard the voices of the teens a half mile south at Glass Beach. One of the kids had slipped off the large rocks of the seawall and fallen. Voices of people in the residences near the town center and on the slope overlooking the marina, more injuries and residential damage.

I'm starting emergency response in town, then heading to the hospital, Dean thought at Castiel.

PeaceHealth Hospital

Castiel's call tugged, strong and insistent with a yanking intermittency typical of Castiel when he was in a fight. An idle thought, as if from a daydream, inserted into Dean's thought streams: the madrona trees on the top of a hillside overlooking Teddy Bear Cove, a hovering teddy bear darting amongst the trees. Castiel had tracked down and engaged Dr. Teddy Bear.

As Castiel drew deeper on Dean's superpowers, Dean's senses dulled and he took a harsh, involuntary breath, sucking in the night air out of need. The icy wind and the pavement under his feet were painfully cold. His arm shook where Ruby sat on the inside of his forearm. She slid down his chest with her warm hands running over the torn, damp remnants of his clothing to stand on her own feet, staring into his eyes. Almost before she landed on her feet, she was on her cell phone.

On my way soon. Give me time to get Ruby taken care of, Dean thought at Castiel.

The woman hadn't wanted to leave Dean's side. Lord knows why.

"Containment?" Ruby asked urgently.

"Yeah," Dean said.

Dean took her by one arm and walked slowly against Castiel's call, across the level parking lot towards the brightly lit glass windows of the Emergency Room of PeaceHealth Hospital. The pavement was freezing jolts of cold and from his toes: the strange sensation of stinging and numb combined. Ruby squelched beside him in her damp clothing, leaning heavily on his arm and side. She was tough, but a normal body functioned in tight limits.

Should have brought her here sooner.

Triggering the emergency alert and response system and getting the support services going had taken longer than he'd expected and Ruby had been useful. A couple kinks to work out for next time. Becky and his superfan groupies might fill in the gap; he hadn't wanted to get them involved more, but was rethinking.

Ruby's phone connected. She coughed weakly as she lifted one arm and slapped the hard, rubbery back of her cell phone against Dean's cheek. Flickers of light danced in the edge of Dean's vision: the morphing astral sigils on her cell phone cover were too close to see clearly.

What is she doing?

His superset was almost gone and the feel of her body had lost the revolting bone in jello sensation. Instead, Dean felt a firm, muscular easiness in his hands as they fell to the generous curve of her hips, stabilizing her. She stepped in front of him and leaned against the front of his body. She was a pleasant warmth and blocked the freezing wind ... if only she was taller and wider. Ruby was sweating in spite of the cold and gave off a heavy, almost rank musk that filled his nostrils; if he thought about her competent backup tonight, it wasn't unpleasant.

"Containment," Ruby whispered. "Can you answer me?" The soft puffs of her breath were warm. Must be exhausted.

What? Of course.

"Yeah. What is it?"

Dean could see the bustle of the emergency room through the large floor-to-ceiling windows and the glass doors.

"Is Castiel listening?"

Huh.

"He's busy," Dean said. "You got a message for him?"

"No!" Ruby squawked hoarsely. Her voice dropped back to a whisper. "What's going on with Castiel and Papaver?"

"Castiel captured him. He needed my assist." Needed me close to borrow my superpowers and reduce the power loss over distance. It was the one time Dean hadn't enjoyed Castiel getting taken down a peg. Dean's containment had always been enough to make the difference with more powerful minion masters in the past.

"Yes, but why?" Ruby asked sharply.

"He was a major threat to participation in random acts of kindness week, worldwide kale appreciation, and establishment of a hang-dry laundry day for the northern hemisphere," Dean said firmly. Those last two weren't his favorite reasons to give, but he stuck the delivery.

War interfered with daily activities like kale appreciation and doing laundry.

Ruby gave him an indecipherable look. "Rocket and Justice broke open the pod in lunar orbit at a distance of 11 K kilometers. They confirmed it was Papaver and Mercury's Satellite engaged and irradiated him lethally from Lunar Base Two."

Figured as much from her conversation with Justice earlier. Castiel had planned to modify Papaver's thought streams and let the minion master go free. He won't be pleased to hear this.

"When was that?" Dean asked.

Ruby glanced at her cell phone. "Thirty-three minutes ago."

Huh. Plenty of time for Castiel to run from the marina's park to Teddy Bear Cove. Wonder how he tracked down Dr. Teddy Bear.

"Thanks," Dean said. "You know how Castiel tracked down Dr. Teddy Bear?"

Ruby gave him another inscrutable look and shook her head. "I don't know." In a wary voice, she continued, "You requested access to the cell phone tracking app. I triggered the spell from my phone ... you entered the cell phone identification code yourself, it wasn't your number. Was that what you wanted to know?"

Huh, must have put me to sleep and asked her. Wonder where Castiel got a cell phone from.

"Good thinking. You running a check on me?"

Ruby stared into his eyes as if she was trying to read his mind. "Yes, on your astral signature," she croaked.

The new astral apps... He wondered what the app would say ... if it worked, his signature wouldn't read clean. "That's enough."

Ruby coughed wetly. She slowly withdrew the cell phone from his cheek and rested it against his ribs, where Dean suspected that it might pick up a partial signal. "It would allay suspicions by Atlantic Field Command."

That's not going to happen. "Let me think about it," Dean said. He wasn't entirely unsympathetic: it was a difficult position to be in, answering to him and to the Super Network, and whichever agency she was secretly an agent of, the FBI or the CSIS since his territory was close to Canada. Too bad she's amazingly competent. He'd probably kill her when or if she triggered a mind control program.

"This is not a laughing matter," Ruby took a rasping breath. "I reported my observations about Castiel and Rapunzel and ... the base to Atlantic Command. Castiel told me that you killed Rapunzel on your own initiative." She spoke even more urgently, "Field Command questioned why you hadn't discovered Dr. Teddy Bear's cover identity earlier."

"First off, the base is my secret lair, you're not allowed to enter it again," Dean stated.

"I … I understand, but it looks like one of the mind control experiment bases, the ones from the Cold War that are banned from operation according to the Agreements," Ruby persisted.

It was. It was one of Lucifer's bases, but he couldn't tell her that. And he maintained the place with Lou's assent, he didn't operate it. It was a maintenance nightmare. Got to get the airfield cover fixed so Cliff can call off the police cordon.

"You're not going in there," Dean ordered and held her gaze in a steady glare.

Ruby stared up at him with nervous tension drawn visibly on her face. "I understand. I won't go back in there again."

Dean didn't get why she kept at the job when the whole process terrified her.

"Second, I didn't kill Rapunzel. He's on ice." Don't get why Castiel's playing along with her, or why she doesn't understand. She knew the icing protocol and had shown her competence tonight.

"Containment ...," Ruby shook her head, but it was more like a full body shudder. "Supers without major regeneration—

Ruby coughed wetly into her elbow. The blood loss couldn't be good for her; her scalp wound had taken a while to stop bleeding. How much blood does a normal need?

The woman peered up at him; her hands rested lightly on his chest. "Sir, if you would de-ice Rapunzel now and—

The woman's persistent. "No," Dean said. "When Castiel's ready, I'll de-ice Rapunzel." He'll want to question the guy in person.

Ruby's lips tightened. "I'll coordinate with Castiel an ... an appropriate time for Rapunzel's de-icing procedure?" she looked up at him.

"Sounds good," Dean said.

She didn't speak for a moment and Dean began to gently push her towards the door to the E.R.

"It would allay concerns if you would allow an examination by one of Atlantic's mind-con—

"No," Dean said curtly. She needs medical attention and soon. Behind her, the E.R. bustled with people: an all hands on deck staff of everyone willing to respond. "And I don't know who Dr. Teddy Bear is. There's not much chance…"

Ruby's face changed expressions. He couldn't figure out what she was thinking.

"…I can capture him, he has limited flight and we're evenly matched in super-speed."

"Containment, if I could verify your signature," she started to bring her blasted cell phone up again.

Dean wrapped his hand around her small, warm, and delicate fingers and her cell phone. "Let's get you inside," he said.

He spotted a couple of the kids from Glass Beach sitting in the waiting area. "I'll work on the emergency response. Maybe bring in Becky and my fanclub." Dean guided Ruby to the entrance to the E.R. The pavement was cold on the soles of his feet; his toes felt numb. Without his superset to run to Teddy Bear Cove ... Larry might give him a lift if he asked.

"Becky? She—

Ruby broke off her words. Her body thrummed; the normal was exhausting herself. He was almost carrying her full weight. An urgent whisper came out of her throat: "Why Castiel, the real reason?" She stared up at him. "This isn't a joke, Containment!"

She's persistent.

"You know who he is," Dean said. "I was called up for Justice's team, tracking Papaver."

Dean looked searchingly at Ruby's face. He'd always had trouble reading her face and understanding what made her tick.

Ruby shook her head, "Why…," she whispered. She shook her head. Her eyes dropped from his face as she coughed wetly.

Dean scooped her small frame into his arms before she could gather her thoughts. Her head drifted upright, her lips glossily wet with her blood and her breath came in a rapid rasp. "Let's get you inside," before you ask any more questions, Dean thought to himself.

Teddy Bear Cove

The moon had grown small, high, and bright. A broad, red aura shone around the moon from the dust and chemicals kicked up into the atmosphere from Rocket's takeoff. The open pine and hemlock forest with an understory of salal shimmered with rainbow waves of astral energy from the running fight between Castiel and Dr. Teddy Bear. The energy blurred Dean's super-vision and the flickering light of the scattered fires left by the laser eyes of Dr. Teddy Bear's teddies was a welcome illumination to his normal photoreceptors.

Under the shadow of the moonlit trees of Teddy Bear Cove, a small teddy bear floated. The dark, formless shape was near and its whole body turned as it homed in on Dean's position.

Dean dodged its gaze and ran up the bare trunk of a Western Hemlock missing its lower branches. Red light traced across his left arm, boiling a line of dead flesh underneath his skin and across his chest and then his right shoulder.

The pain dimmed immediately as his body regenerated.

To his right, the top of a tree exploded and scattered burning debris across the wet forest.

Dean grabbed at the shape and caught it in his hands. The bear was hard and rocky. Its stubby arms and legs buffeted his forearms and claws scraped against Dean's durable skin with a clatter.

Dean tugged at Castiel; he needed his full super-strength for this. Dean kept in the air as he waited, jumping thirty feet to the bare trunk of another hemlock while keeping the struggling teddy bear contained in his hands.

Castiel released Dean's superset.

Dean gripped the bear tighter and pulled. The bear came apart. The animated monster turned into soft synthetic stuffing and fur, claws became felt, and glowing red eyes became lifeless plastic googly eyes.

Castiel was moving fast on the ground. Dean felt the minion master call him downhill, towards the beach. They would miss this chance at capture if Dr. Teddy Bear made it to open water. The monstrous minion master couldn't or wouldn't fly more than a few meters off the ground, so they still had a chance at capture.

Dean ran down the trunk of the tree and leapt from bare tree trunk to bare tree trunk. He stayed just underneath the branched canopy and headed down the steep slope.

A flash of red light. Another cluster of small fires lit the forest of Teddy Bear Cove.

Dean sped through the trees. A movement. Dean pounced.

An injured teddy bear lay on the ground: limbless body attached to a head. The teddy bear slowly rolled over.

Red eyes flashed.

The laser hit Dean's face and burned across the front of his brain.

His body began to collapse. He felt strange.

Without his volition, Dean's hands scooped up the rocky body of the teddy bear and turned it so the eyes faced the ground. He stood.

Luckily, luckily for you, you, you, his animated minions cannot rotate their heads, Castiel's thought echoed in Dean's mind.

Castiel's call pulled at Dean. Dean sprinted. He was almost at the beach.

The pain and strangeness faded as he ran.

A hammer of sand against bark and the clatter of falling rock. Footsteps.

An arc of sand and rock sprayed behind Castiel and clattered and thunked against the tree trunks, sand, and rock of the narrow beach. Dean ran to the right of the spray. Dr. Teddy Bear floated on all fours, just ahead of Castiel.

Dr Teddy Bear drifted the short distance down the sloping rocky beach to the water and headed out over the choppy waves.

Sand and rock flew out from underneath Castiel's bare feet, then a spray of water that soaked the shirt wrapped around Dean's waist. Dean raced across the beach and into the water, following Castiel.

Dean stretched out his left arm and caught two round stones flung up by Castiel's run. Ahead, Castiel's head sank into the water and disappeared for a brief moment, then the minion master thrashed a path back towards Dean. They met where the water levelled out at waist-height.

Dr. Teddy Bear floated further away over the waters of Teddy Bear Cove.

"Give me your hand," Castiel ordered coldly. Castiel's body, naked under the bright astral moon, looked strange and unfamiliar, as if the teddy bear had lasered Dean's brain again. Castiel's hand was cold on his left wrist.

It felt as if Dean did not know Castiel, but he knew what Castiel wanted. Dean tossed the extra stone into the air and whipped his body and the stone into a fastball aimed at Dr. Teddy Bear, caught the stone in the air, and pitched a second time.

The stones sped towards Dr. Teddy Bear.

Dr. Teddy Bear had excellent super speed, he would dodge—

Without his volition, Dean's right arm raised the limbless teddy bear. The little bear's eyes flashed red. The light crossed the water as Dr. Teddy Bear dodged the stones.

Dr. Teddy Bear's body tore in half under the red laser eyes of his teddy bear. The fabric of his body burned and split apart. The pile of stuffing and fabric fell into the water. The small teddy bear went limp in Dean's hand, transforming back into a child's toy.

He and I. I didn't feel his call.

"At last," Castiel said. "And now you're free to leave this place."

"Yeah," Dean said, stunned.

They stood and watched Dr. Teddy Bear's remains extinguish and sink. The waves would wash up a portion of the remains on the shore, but most would be scattered by the action of the water.

"Why are you wearing a policeman's shirt around your waist?" Castiel asked sharply.

"The blast. The back of my pants were torn up and fell off when they dried. Larry gave me the shirt at the hospital," Dean answered.

"As the only article of clothing on your body, the shirt wrapped around your waist looks more indecent than if you were naked," Castiel said dramatically. "Come. We should reconvene and clothe ourselves before another instance of public indecency is put on our records. Yours in particular, has an excessive number of these incidents."

Castiel and Dean ran through Teddy Bear Cove. Castiel extinguished the fires and Dean contained the astral emissions. Got to get to Uncle Lou, call in a suppression gas spray. Castiel waiting for him along the road. In the darkness of early morning, Dean ran home to Uncle Lou's place. Lights in the windows blurred in houses as they passed by normals getting ready for work; the rhythm of their daily lives was reassuring and satisfying. He'd protected this town for fifteen years.

Becky's bedroom window was lit and her shape moved inside, behind the drapes. As a young teen, she'd been Containment's super-fan and still was, the crazy girl. He hadn't discouraged her as much as he should have. She was useful.

Dean fell back and Castiel slowed his pace.

"What is it?" Castiel asked.

"Becky, going to have a chat with her," Dean said.

Castiel scowled. "I don't understand the appeal."

"She could be useful in emergency response," Dean said.

"Very well, it's not up to me how you interact with your super groupies. I advise extreme caution. She could attempt to take scantily clad photos of you and post them on the internet," Castiel enunciated carefully.

Like you or I have the energy reserve to worry about that.

Castiel didn't answer and ran on with his ridiculous, high-stepping gait.

Becky had her window cracked open to let in the cold morning air. She said it helped her wake up. Dean called out, "Becky."

She didn't respond for long moments, then her backlit figure approached the window and her head peeked out as she slid the window further open. "Dean?" she asked, pulling the drape away from her face.

"Yeah. I was at Teddy Bear Cove," Dean said.

"I've got work today, should I call in sick?" Becky whispered urgently.

"If you want to rest up," Dean said. "Give Lou time to call in a suppression gas spray."

"Okay," Becky said. "See you, Containment."

Dean ran home.

Uncle Lou's House

Dean slumped on Uncle Lou's couch watching the morning news coverage of the 'accidental' emergency super landing from the International Space Station. Uncle Lou had been out when Dean and Castiel reached his house; he must have business to take care of with the media coverage and managing the Super Network's PR in Pacific Northwest-BC Super Region.

Rocket's take off had been worse than his landing: both parking lots and the shopping center were obliterated leaving a crater and the blast-off explosion of his wings interacting with real objects had kicked up a burning cloud of dust and debris and sent a shockwave through town center. The blonde anchor with too much make-up on was talking about the health hazards of inhaling fine particulates and toxic airborne gases.

Strange world.

The blonde anchor on T.V. was now talking about how lucky Bellingham was to have a resident Super, Superhero Containment, to respond to the emergency.

Heh. The emergency alert system worked, got people settled down.

From around the side-wall to the kitchen, Castiel said, "What were you thinking? The beginning part of your explanation was the worst beginning part of an explanation I have ever heard!"

What's he talking about?

Dean muted the T.V.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Your explanation to Ruby," Castiel said. The minion master was out of sight, noisily grating carrots by the sound of it.

"What explanation?" Dean asked.

"The one last night, wherein you completely failed to convince Ruby to call for air support," Castiel said. "I was hoping not to have to reveal myself."

That?

"It's done now. She doesn't believe we're boyfriends. Told Atlantic Field Command it must be side effects of minionization or mind control," Dean said.

"How did she get in contact with Atlantic Field Command?" Castiel asked.

"She called her," Dean said.

"Yes, I realize this. Why would she have Superhero Justice's cell phone number?" Castiel said patiently.

I don't know.

"And why was she discussing us with Atlantic Command?" Castiel asked.

Huh.

Dean thought for a moment. "She didn't believe it was Papaver in the pod, dunno who she thought was in there. She and Superhero Justice were catching up like old war buddies."

"Yes, go on," Castiel said distractedly.

"Rocket and Justice opened the pod and Mercury's Satellite gave Papaver lethal radiation eleven K kilometers from Moon Base Two," Dean said.

Castiel's clipped voice floated out from the kitchen: "I felt as much before I disentangled myself from Papaver's thought streams. This is disturbing news. Supers, even known supervillains, are to be tried by a jury of peers and mind-controlled or imprisoned according to the Agreements. Since when does the Super Support Network take justice into its own hands? Command and the founders of the Super Network have always obeyed their own rules, even the stupid ones which I have no qualms breaking," Castiel said more calmly.

"It's all I got, buddy," Dean replied. Uncle Lou always was a stickler for rules.

"Unbelievable," Castiel snapped. "I've been away too long." He continued in a different, almost wistful tone of voice, "And now it's unnecessary to pretend to be boyfriends."

"You disappointed?" Dean asked curiously.

"Actually, yes. I have a brilliant theory about why normals fall prey to bizarre and personality-altering emotions such as sexual desire, which I plan to elucidate at great length," Castiel said.

"Do I get a choice—

"No," Castiel interrupted. "I'm practicing for a potential upcoming book tour and need feedback on my delivery. My theory is … unlike we who have stepped outside of time and have no need to feel sexual desire, normals are like cucumbers: they grow, ripen to maturity, and then need to be plucked or they rot on the vine. Their time on this planet is limited and in order to complete their life cycle, they must reproduce. At the correct stage in their life cycle, they enter a mindless state of reduced ability to reason and increased emotional reaction and aggression, increased concern with social comparison, and immense self-entitlement and selfishness to better compete with members of their own sex and to take advantage of members of the opposite sex. Normals begin to fully participate in the human dominance behavior system and it is an unpleasant cycle to observe. Since her physical health is paramount in child production, the mating strategy of female of the species is to obtain a trustworthy mate with resources to give her access to optimum nutrition and an enriched environment to improve the quality and the reproductive success of her relatively limited number of children. Males have two mating strategies: in the first and increasingly common strategy, he falls in love with a mentally and physically healthy companion to reproduce, feels love for a few years, and then falls out of love in order to abandon the companion when the children are old enough to toddle around themselves, thus clearing the way to fall in love with a younger woman in the ideal childbearing age in order to produce more children with a different geneline, maximizing reproductive success in this manner. In the second strategy, he settles with one female and assist in caring for the children, increasing the reproductive success of each individual child in a matching strategy with the female. Love is purely a selfish desire dependent on provision of services by the other sex. Calling sexual desire by the name of romantic love is a socially destructive meme, one I will make sure to free normals of. These reproduction-driven emotions and motivations ends only as their life cycle wanes and protection of their grand-children drives a deeper concern with society and support of their grandchildren. An extended period of romantic love is ultimately destructive to society; it causes a skewed view of reality, engagement in romantic activities is costly and social signaling is wasteful. The earth has finite resources; the exclusion zones on arable and habitable land have grown ever more extensive. The population again approaches 2 billion and soil erosion and global climate change are increasingly a concern...," Castiel blathered on. The minion master finished making the salad and started to eat, but it didn't slow down his talking.

When will this end?

The words drilled into Dean's ears like ice picks driving into his brain. He was sure this wasn't true, or at least that people didn't think of it the way Castiel said it.

"Friendship, on the other hand, is superior to romantic love and leads to genuine caring and con…," Castiel continued dramatically.

Dean tried to distract himself. Ruby had gotten the number on the NOAA buoy from him and given him a brief, but no less annoying lecture on not disrupting NOAA's important work in gathering data for weather forecasting, monitoring oceanic conditions and cyclones, and climate modeling. He was sure she was planning to give him a citation for destruction of federal property, and she'd threatened him with community service, not like Containment's working life wasn't already an act of service, but it wouldn't be as painful as listening to Castiel's talk. No … no, think about something else. What else?

"…to Sapolsky. Social conditions would be greatly improved if we killed the more aggressive, less pro-social members. There are a number of cultures on earth which could be improved with an intervention. Perhaps I should take them outside of time; that would resolve the issue for the most part. It's after the personality changes of puberty and during the final myelinization that most issues arise. Of course, it would be easier to kill them," Castiel said.

Finally, it's over ... that last part. When did he start thinking that?

Listening to the disembodied sounds of Castiel eating without seeing him didn't feel right. Dean got up and walked into the kitchen; he leaned back against the counter, looking out into the backyard, and watched Castiel eat directly from the salad bowl while standing in the middle of the kitchen and with his back to the patio door and the kitchen window. There was a perfectly good table with two chairs, but Castiel was standing and eating and facing inside with his back to the patio door.

Castiel looked hopefully at Dean.

"It … it sounded great, buddy," Dean mustered weakly. "You couldn't," Dean waved his hand helplessly in the air, "Modify their personalities?"

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Crunch. "Too much trouble. Easier to kill them. Why are you staring at me?" Castiel said. Crunch. Crunch.

Dean looked past Castiel into the backyard. The pale, early light revealed messy grass, a ramshackle shed, greenhouse, an overgrown vegetable garden, and an outdoor work area with firewood piled on the east side of the covered back porch.

What about world kindness week?

"The remaining normals will all be voluntary participants and past participants in World Kindness Week," Castiel said smugly.

Cas-

In the grass, a tiny plastic robot peeked out of a small mound of dug-up dirt in the rough grass.

"Stop," Castiel cut in. "Don't look directly at it." Castiel stopped eating, but didn't put the salad bowl down.

"Weaponry?" Castiel asked.

No.

Crunch. Crunch. "I'm almost done refueling," Castiel said. Crunch.

Dean felt exhaustion settle into his bones as Castiel's minionization call slipped.

"Obviously, another minion master is in town. It defies belief, three-no two-minion masters in a single location. Of course, I only minionize humans. Dr. Teddy Bear and this new super minionize anthropomorphized objects." Castiel finished the salad and set the bowl on the counter next to Dean. "Small robots, in this case. I find it bizarre that I don't recognize the power signature of this minion master. I keep track of all minion masters."

Nervous talking. Haven't heard that from him before.

"Yeah," Dean said.

Castiel turned, snatched a flat, plastic googly eye from the table with his other hand and glared at it, facing the back yard. "And there is no plausible scientific explanation for why Dr. Teddy Bear's teddy bear minions can fly and shoot red lasers out of their plastic eyes," he said angrily.

Huh. Dean was sure that there was a scientific explanation for how Dr. Teddy Bear could fly and shoot red lasers from his eyes: it was in the Grand Unified Theory of Astral Sorcery, though he didn't understand the specifics of it himself. The things that Castiel thought of to say.

"And claws!" Castiel said. "What kind of sick, deranged person puts claws on teddy bears?! And Valentine's Day teddy bears! I heard of the incident during which Dr. Teddy Bear created a biohazardous spill in Whatcom Creek."

Dean's heart sank. Uncle Lou'd had big plans for those teddy bears. Each teddy produced two liters of O- blood when the heart was pierced, but the blood had tested positive for Hep C and couldn't be used for transfusions. Luckily, no one had contracted the disease from the spill in Whatcom creek. "The toy designers didn't mean any harm," Dean said. "Dr. Teddy Bear buys teddies worldwide."

"How dare you speak to me defiantly," Castiel drawled as he turned to face Dean. Castiel reached up over Dean's head and took hold of the back of Dean's neck and lifted him. Dean curled cooperatively into a ball and Castiel shook Dean wildly.

The little robot crawled a smidgen closer, out of the mound.

"I'll—

Castiel threw Dean out the patio door.

Dean rolled with Castiel's throw. The double layer of glass shattered on Dean's back; Dean landed on his feet behind the robot.

Dean twisted and pounced. The little crab jerked away: not far enough to escape Dean's speed and reach. The flimsy plastic clamshell broke apart in Dean's hand and the sensors and legs turned into a fine sand and dust that puffed out of the broken toy and trickled onto the grass.

Crunch. Squeak. Click.

Castiel opened the broken glass patio door over the shattered glass and slid the screen door open. He stepped outside and strode casually to Dean.

"I tasted his power when you touched his minion and he is weak. If we leave now, we are likely to escape without further interference," Castiel mouthed the words without voicing them.

I need to fix up Uncle Lou's place and the base.

"Excellent, we can leave town after you fix 'Uncle Lou's place' and the no-longer-so-secret lair which you are going to abandon when you come with me," Castiel said. "It would be ideal to leave before more normals are about their daily business and potentially in harm's way."

Later, after the town's sett-

"I have a better idea. We'll leave now, before this minion master can move against us," Castiel said.

Rapunzel.

"Who you killed when I specifically asked you to remove him from play temporarily, while I was busy handling a rogue."

That again.

"We will speak more of this later. His corpse will continue to be frozen as it has been for over a year," Castiel said flatly.

I need to sleep.

"Go ahead and sleep. I will carry your useless, slug-like body out of town." An edge of forced patience creeped into the minion master's expression.

The base.

"We have more important things to worry about right now," Castiel said exasperatedly.

Need to return to base.

"Go to sleep," Castiel ordered.

….

"Fine, don't sleep. Whatever you do, do not sleep," Castiel said flatly. "Do not sleep. You must not sleep."

….

"Do not sleep," Castiel ordered.

….

East Slope of Whatcom Lake

Dean woke to the curly, sarcastic tone of Castiel's voice in his ear, weighed down with exhaustion and a numb disconnection from his body. He didn't think he could muster the volition to move even if Castiel wasn't holding his body physically and from inside of his thought streams.

"So, we've reached your limit," Castiel said. "How do you accomplish your duties as the town's superhero if this is as far as you can go?"

Dean's body was almost normal. He was lying on top of a damp boulder.

"I didn't notice this difficulty leaving when we went to kill Papaver," Castiel commented mildly. "What changed?"

Castiel's voice was cold and alien, not warmed by his kindness, dry wit, and generosity. The smooth, hard surface of Castiel's cheek brushed Dean's. The closeness was threatening rather than comforting.

Dean opened his eyes. Castiel's flat, expressionless face was the face of a stranger. His staring eyes - repugnantly intrusive, and his wet fingers on Dean's flesh formed the cold bars of a cage. Castiel crouched next to Dean on the west slope of a gentle hill looking over Lake Whatcom. A large tree had fallen and the roots had pulled out of the earth, creating a cavity in the ground and an opening in the forest canopy.

Castiel? Dean couldn't feel Castiel's call.

"Your superpower of containment is immensely useful and even more so paired with a minion masters powers. I kept you minionized without your consent and I should have released you," Castiel said calmly, as if he was explaining a question that Dean had asked. "It's my fault. I break stupid rules, and the rule about not minionizing people without consent is a good rule, which is why I made it and modified the personalities of any super who disagreed with me."

Castiel had released his minionization call and was holding Dean's thought stream actively.

"How long have you been working against me?" Castiel demanded.

Haven't, Dean thought.

"I find myself unable to proceed further from your secret lair as long as my thoughts streams were entangled with yours. Let us solve this mystery. Who do you think Dr. Teddy Bear is?" Castiel asked.

No idea, buddy.

"You've been fighting him in a mid to small-sized town for fifteen years, you'd think you would have figured it out by now. Unless something is preventing you," Castiel said.

Lucifer.

Dean couldn't speak. He looked down. It looked like Castiel had impaled his fingers into Dean's torso, piercing the lungs and abdominal cavity. Fluid leaked out and his lungs twinged a little when he breathed.

"Lucifer," Castiel said. "…is on ice. You and every person he came into contact with that the Super Network could track down were examined personally by Witness—

Like that's going to catch—

"…one of the strongest mind-controllers active," Castiel said loudly.

Dean forgot what he was thinking about. His physical body was dying and Castiel had released his minionization call.

Castiel, what's happening?

"…and cleared of mind control, put on ice, or held in a secure residential facility," Castiel finished.

Lucifer.

"I'm not sure I believe you. You are lying and hiding your thoughts from me."

Dean sucked in a breath.

Ouch.

"I wouldn't believe it possible, except that clearly, it is happening," Castiel said tightly.

Uncle Lou, he would help. He could explain whatever's going on.

"Uncle Lou. His recent death might get in the way of that," Castiel drawled.

What? Uncle Lou's out. He's fine.

"Where do you think he goes? He is wheelchair bound, works at home, does not possess a car with hand controls, which I find odd, yet he wasn't in the house when we arrived after killing Dr. Teddy Bear." Castiel enunciated the last words carefully. "Even now, it is a little early for business in town."

Whatever you're hinting at, I'm not getting it.

"Fine, if you won't answer, or cannot," Castiel said.

Doesn't sound like you're asking.

"Your body dies as we speak," Castiel said.

Doesn't hurt.

"I'm not cruel. I've blocked the sensations of pain from your thought streams, as much as possible" Castiel said. The marbled blue slate of Castiel's eyes stared beyond Dean. The minion master shimmered with an aura of astral energy that colored the space between their bodies.

"You've delayed me too long," Castiel said. He held Dean's head in his cold hands, his fingers locked metal claws on the plates of Dean's skull.

Becky:

East Slope of Whatcom Lake

A small clearing in the woods. Becky stumbled to a stop. Her petulant mouth opened in a fish-faced gasp. She was dressed in cheap business clothes and carried a bulging, battered garbage bag wedged awkwardly behind her shoulder and head.

The woods were decorated with chunks of red flesh, bone, and viscera ripped apart and thrown carelessly in all directions, smeared over a large boulder and the roots of a fallen tree than had pulled out of the ground.

With shaking hands, Becky opened the garbage bag. A yellowing square of stuffing floated out, carried by a light breeze. Becky ran after it and hastily poked it back inside the mouth of the garbage bag. She stooped and picked up a small piece of red meat. She hesitated and looked around for a place to put it, then for lack of a better place to put it, she dropped it inside the garbage bag.

She searched the hillside carefully. The body was spread out. Breathing hard, Becky gingerly pulled pieces of flesh off a rock, twigs and branches, and the bark of trees. She scraped gristle, flesh, and organs smeared over the ground: the earth scraped down to the harder packed soil beneath the tuff, inextricably mixed with bark, humus, and pine needles. A twig bound with tendon, she put whole inside the garbage bag. She stopped to stare at a soft piece of greyish tissue, wondering which part of Dean's body it came from, it didn't look like muscle or bone. The horror of it made her freeze for a few moments.

She pulled herself together. She had a job to do.

The sun set as she worked. There was flesh, bone, and viscera further from the clearing. Holding a pile of pieces of flesh and a small bit of brain and skull in her cupped hands, she walked back to where she had left the garbage bag.

The garbage bag wasn't in the same place.

It had deflated.

"Ahh!" Becky screamed as she broke into a run, her hands held out in front of her. With the sole of her loafer, she began to tease open the rumpled garbage bag.

Snap.

Becky looked up. A small, naked boy stood beside a pine tree, looking at her.

"Who are— Containment?" Becky asked.

The boy walked up to her. He looked young, five or six years old, or young elementary school, Becky guessed.

"Containment, is that you?" Becky asked.

The boy looked back at her.

"Dean?' she asked.

The boy thought about it and then didn't answer.

Becky looked in the garbage bag. It was definitely empty.

"Come on, I'll take care of you. Containment told me," she said. "A long time ago. Don't worry. I'll take you away and hide you. You'll be safe," she said almost pleading with the child.

He looked up at her. "'Kay," he said in a clear, quiet voice. "Thanks Becky."

Becky crouched and put the flesh into the bag. She left it and took the child's hand. They walked down the hillside.

Notes:

Sorry about the wonky voices. I switched over from an RPF, so Castiel might sound a tiny bit like Misha and Dean a tiny bit like Jensen, maybe. If you find typos, I have no compunctions about editing things to fix them! Please let me know, thanks for reading.