Hell and Back- Chapter 1
Dean listened as the car door slammed. It didn't matter. Let him take the damn car. He knew better than to trash it. The cabin was quiet without Sam tapping away at his half-dead laptop. The wind whistled outside, rattling the glass in the windows. Dean sighed, reaching for his beer. It was slightly warm, and flat. One of the many downsides to no power.
He clicked the TV remote without thinking. Dammit. He glanced at the pile of burger wrappers on the table. He started to get angry. Stuck on the couch, bored to shit, and Sam didn't even bother to get food in. What the hell was he supposed to do for four weeks?
Dean scratched at his leg cast absently. He grabbed a pencil off the side and slid it into the cast, itching at the skin.
"Sam told you not to do that."
Dean growled and threw the pencil behind him, where Castiel had appeared. "Yeah? Well, you try sitting here like a potato while he gets to drive off in MY car."
Cass was silent.
Dean glanced behind him. "Still there? What's up, Cass?"
"Tuesday."
"What? What the hell are you on about now?"
Castiel examined Sam's laptop. "He's gone?"
"You tell me. You're the angel."
"He'll be back."
Dean sighed. "Yep. And I'll still be stuck here." He paused. "What's Tuesday then?"
"You don't recall?"
"No, sorry, I don't recall. Had a lot of Tuesdays."
Castiel walked around. He stared at him seriously. "Tuesday was another day Sam had left. You had no companionship. I believe you were 'lonely'."
Dean flushed, realising what he was getting at. "Shut it, Cass." He finished his beer, catching his lip on the pull-ring. "Shit."
Castiel watched him. "Are you embarrassed by that event?"
Dean looked him in the eye. "I was fucking drunk and fucked up by a lot of shit. Let it go."
Castiel stayed quiet. He looked out of the window at the woods. "The weather is the same."
Dean remembered. It'd been a while ago. Not long after meeting Cass, when he was still quite abnormal. Not exactly human. By that, Dean had put it down to a one-off and not some huge life-changing experience. He hadn't forgotten, not ever, but he didn't try to think about it. In this business, you needed your wits. It wasn't an option. What the hell was the option anyway? After all, he was still an angel.
"You've dwelled on it."
Dean looked up from his cast. Cass was blocking the window, staring at him intently. Dean scowled and tried to hobble to the kitchen. He tripped, Cass catching him just before he hit the floor. Cass carried him back to the couch, sitting close. Dean mumbled thanks, looking away.
"Are you still lonely, Dean?"
Dean clenched his jaw. "You know what? When the fuck am I not? Half the fucking time I'm killing shit, the other half I'm dealing with Sam! The best I've got is my car and now I can't even fucking use it! This ain't no job that comes with a timeout, no me-time." He laughed shortly. "I'm always, always working! I don't know how fucked up my head is, so you know what? Screw it! Add another problem to the list. Not like I can fucking help it!"
Cass leant towards him and gently bumped Dean's lips with his own. He pulled away, a worried expression on his angelic face.
Dean blinked. "If you're consulting your angel fucking moral code- don't."
He seized the back of Cass' neck and pulled him back, desperate and hungry. An entire mountain of responsibility and worry fell from his shoulders, making him feel free, comfortable. He kept his grip on Cass, kissing him, nipping him, thirsty for more. His lips grazed the soft fuzz of Cass' stubble, breathing in the strange, exotic scent of the angel. Cass was like butter, completely fluid as Dean pushed him down.
Almost savage-like, he took control of Cass, needing him, taking him. He moaned softly. He held Cass' wrists tight, kissing him and moving to his neck, biting the flesh. Cass gave a small breath. He let one arm free to slide Cass' trench coat off. Cass froze and pushed Dean away abruptly, slamming him half-way across the cabin.
Dean hit the solid metal desk, his cast leg at an awkward angle. He looked up dizzily, his head thumping. "What the HELL!"
Castiel stood, his coat rearranged. He seemed confused, his face creased. "I- I- I don't know. I don't-" He paused. "I don't think I am allowed."
He looked skyward. "God's word. He won't allow it. "
Dean stared. "Shit."
He blacked out.
…
Dean woke with a start. He narrowed his eyes, glancing around the cabin. He was back on the couch. The empty beer-can was in front of him. Cass was gone.
"What the FUCK?"
He swallowed. Maybe it just some crazy dream. Least Sam wasn't here. He tried to wipe his thoughts clean, to never think of Castiel like that ever again. He concentrated on monsters, running through his weapon inventory in his mind, his Impala, anything.
Dean put his legs up on the edge of the couch, scratching his head. He stopped. The leg cast had gone, the leg completely healed.
"Well, I'll be damned."
The atmosphere in the cabin changed. Dean spun around. "Cass!"
Castiel ducked his head. "I believe I should apologise."
Dean gaped at him. "This was you?"
"I healed your head as well. My way of apologising. I'm sorry."
"Well- er- apology accepted. So what- that- that really happened?" Dean asked, not meeting his eyes. He crumpled the beer can and tossed it near the trash. "You damn near knocked me out."
"Sam will return soon. We haven't got long." He knelt before Dean, a hand pressed tenderly on his leg. "It was not God that stopped me."
"Cass-"
"I know you are lonely, Dean." His blue eyes were full of empathy. "I have spent enough time on Earth to see pain."
Dean flicked his hand away. "Yeah? Why'd you push me away then?"
"I'm not human, Dean."
Dean laughed. "Damn, Cass, I knew that from day one."
Castiel sighed heavily, frustrated. "I do not share the same needs as you. I do not sleep. God's love is the only love I know."
Dean stood up quickly. "Man, look, I'm not-"
"I know. I am offering what I can. Anything."
Dean took a long look at the angel, in his neat suit and coat. Castiel gazed at him earnestly, both innocent and ethereal at once. A rush of blood went to his head, his arms tingling.
"Alright."