1.
Castiel kept readjusting in his seat. He just couldn't get used to his lack of wings. This is what it must feel like, he thought, still feeling his phantomed feathers against his back, to lose a limb... He decided to move to the edge of his seat so he didn't need to think about it. Looking across the table, he notices Dean watching his fidget around.
"I'm fine, Dean." Cass muttered
All Dean did was frown and reply "I don't believe you." He didn't like thinking about what happened to Cass. Mostly because he knew he could have helped him, but he was too late. The guilt tasted sour on his tongue, so he tried sweetening it with a bite of pie. His stomach rejected it.
Dean pushed the plate away, "You done?"
"Yes. We should go see Sam now." Cass paused to watch Dean's eyes go hollow. "He'll be fine, Dean. The doctors say he should wake in a day or so."
Dean's hand clenched into a fist. He stood up and threw his cafeteria tray at the trash and walked away. Castiel rose, still shifting awkwardly, to follow him. Dean looked over his shoulder at Cass and felt a pinch of regret. He turned back and walked to the elevator and the angel came with.
As the silent elevator opened, a flood of noises came from Sam's hallway. The two sprinted to the room expecting something going wrong. And they were right.
Even though the noises weren't coming from Sam's bedroom, something did happen. A man was there.
Crowley.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean instinctively pulled out the Colt and Cass reached for the angel sword. The demon held his hands by his head.
"Hello there. I won't hurt him." He took a seat in the chair beside the reclined bed with an unconscious Sam lying on it. "I see Moosey isn't all that well."
"You guess right." Dean was pissed. He stepped towards him. "Now answer me before I put a hole in your face. Why are you here?" He couldn't see that Cass was staring directly as Crowley and Crowley reciprocated. "Answer my question." Dean enunciated every words.
Eyes locked on Castiel, he said "I overheard the little mishap with your brothers, Castiel." He tutted. "An angel without wings? Well isn't that-"
"You leave Cass alone, you hear?" Dean had cut him off, "Or I'll-"
"Dean, stop." Cass put a hand on Dean's shoulder to calm him, if he could. "I'm not a child." Keeping his hand there, he looked back at Crowley. "Yes, it's true. It's quite a strange feeling, actually."
"I'd imagine. You're missing a part of your body! Oh, I'd hate that. So immobile." He chortled a bit, "Anyway, I'm here for you boys." He gestured around the room, ending at Sam. "Now I'd hate for you to go through with this again, but it isn't looking swell for Sammy-boy. And I do love the old school ways" Dean realized what the dealer meant, as did Cass.
"No, Crowley. Sam will be just fine." Dean was getting louder. People were starting to stare in. He had enough sense to put away the Colt. "He will be just fine. He'll wake up in a few days and we'll kick your ass straight back into hell. Where it belongs."
Castiel took his palm away from Dean and looked to the ground. "Dean, I'd-"
"You'd what, Cass? You aren't going to do anything on my watch. Nothing." Dean glared at Cass then back at the demon. "No one is making any deals."
"Alright, alright. I see how it will be." Crowley put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "See you in a few days, then." Faster than Dean's blink, the demon was gone.
Dean jumped to his brother's side and placed a hand on the coma-induced boy. "It's okay, Sammy. I got you."
Cass stayed in place, watching Dean hold his baby brother and repeat that mantra.
"It's okay." "I got you." "You can't leave me now, Sammy."
Cas wished he could spread his wings and leave them alone. To go without notice. To escape to some park in someone's mind.
But his family disowned him.
He'll have to walk for now on.