***Author's Note: Here is another scene with Serena and Cas. Oddly enough this was written while listening to Paramore's The Only Exception. Not sure why my mind felt like that was fitting for this when really I wanted to write a cute scene between Serena and Castiel where she either shows or tells him how she feels and he pretty much reciprocates. I do know that at another time I will sit and write that scene down because it's clawing it's way out of me and I've not been able to listen to any other song because of it. I suppose I was just more interested in see what exactly Dean did to Serena's family. He mentioned it in Forgiven and I knew the gist but not the details. Sorry it's not more detailed, I'm crap at action. Now I need to get to bed since I only got 4 or 5 hours of sleep last night. Hope you enjoy this...somehow :P***
Something wasn't quite right as Serena walked up the steps to her front door. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but deep in her gut she felt...off. When her fingers lightly touched the door knob she half expected some sort of shock or burn but the handle was completely normal. It turned like it always had in her hand and the door opened without a sound- testament to her father religiously WD-40ing every hinge in the house. She stopped with the door halfway open when she realized the door had been left unlocked. Her parents never left the door unlocked, even when they were home. Quickly, she stepped back out onto the porch and checked the driveway, tucking her ember-colored hair behind one ear as locks of it fell forward. Sure enough there were her parents' cars.
It was stupid to go in, she knew, but the thought that her parents were in trouble sent adrenaline rushing through her system, urging her onward. She remained silent as she eased into the house, trying to keep from making any noise on the old hardwood floor, using her knowledge of which floorboards creeked when she used to sneak out of the house as a teenager. Her lips were parted as she breathed through her mouth so she could hear better, her blue-green eyes searching every nook and cranny as she moved through the living room first, then the dining room and kitchen.
Soon she reached the stairs, her heart pounding so hard she could barely hear anything else except for the thudding in her ears. She didn't want to go up those stairs. Her mind raced with every cliche horror movie moment when someone went up the stairs instead of leaving the house. Slowly, her hand shaking somewhat, she reached out and touched the bannister.
"Serena, so we finally meet," a deep voice from behind her said as a hand clasped her shoulder tightly, making her wince, turning her around forcefully. She was face to face with a dangerously handsome man. A strong jaw coming together at a chin with a slight dimple in the middle. Full lips curled into a sardonic smile below a dusting of freckles that sat beneath eyes so hazel-green Serena lost herself in them for a moment before they turned black. Then she gasped and her surroundings disappeared.
When she was aware again she was tightly bound to a chair, her mouth gagged. In front of her her parents were strapped to standing Xs, also gagged. They struggled against their ties and muffled cries filtered through the rags in their mouths. Their eyes shown with tears and her father's face grew red with rage as he struggled more than her mother. Serena jiggled the ropes around her own wrists and ankles. Of course, had they even been tied by toddlers, she was sure she wouldn't have the strength to free herself.
Then a door opened and in walked the man who had abducted her. The grin he gave her was leering and Serena made a disgusted noise against her gag. The man tsk'd and shook his head.
"Castiel sure does know how to pick 'em," he said conversationally as he stood there next to her parents, his eyes appraising her. "Though, you're not quite as feisty as Meg or that little reaper." He walked closer, his eyes seeming to bore into her. "What does he see in you, I wonder." A hand caressed her cheek and she lunged at him, her eyes glaring daggers. She would have bit him if she had her mouth free. He stood back, his hands in the air as if in surrender. "Whoa!" he said with a chuckle. "Well, you do have a little bit of fire in you after all."
Now he turned away from her to study her parents, one hand at his chin in thought. "So, how to go about this exactly..." he trailed off as he took a few steps closer to her father. "This one put up a pretty good fight," he said with a smile, as he turned slightly back to Serena and shook a finger at her father. Then he suddenly turned back. "You. You're going to watch," he said to the bound man. All eyes turned to speaker, wide and frightened.
"So that means ladies first, sweetheart," he said to Serena's mother. He now stood next to her and turned halfway to Serena. "This is for you, Serena. This is what happens to those who get mixed up with the likes of angels and demons." As he left Serena to wonder what the hell he meant by 'angels and demons' the man pulled out a knife and began slowly carving into her mother. The woman's screams reached through her gag, piercing Serena deep in her soul. Serena and her father screamed back and struggled once more to get free.
The light coming in through a window somewhere in the room behind her had faded, which meant Serena had been there for several hours while she was forced to watch her parents' slow deaths at the hands of this beautiful stranger. It felt like an eternity longer. Her legs ached from the time she had to hold her feet up to keep the pooling blood from touching her, but she'd given that up ages before when her legs began to shake violently from the effort. Now she sat in the chair, slumped over, her eyes staring unblinkingly at the red river flowing into the drain below her chair. Though it was completely quiet in the room now- and had been for a few hours- Serena could still only hear the horrible screams that had been ripped from her parents. She'd tried to look away, to shut her eyes, but something was keeping her facing them, keeping her eyes wide to take in every cut.
The man had left her not long before, sniffing when she didn't respond to him after he'd dealt with her mother and father. She was left alone in a room filled with the remnants of their blood and their flayed bodies hanging there before her.
Suddenly she arched her back and screamed into her gag. Every muscle in her body tense. She screamed, took a breath and screamed, again and again.
"Serena!" a gravelly voice called out to her. When Castiel stooped before her, his hands on her shoulders, his face inches from her own, she continued to scream hysterically. "Serena, calm down!"
The door burst open and there was the man again. Serena began shaking her head and trying to get away despite still being tied to the chair, her screams still coming as her chest heaved with each breath.
"I thought this might attract you. Though, it took you long enough," the man said casually.
"You obviously didn't care whether I found her or not, Dean, seeing as you warded the place thoroughly," Castiel retorted as he stood and turned to face the man, one hand protectively still holding onto Serena's shoulder.
The man, Dean, shrugged with a boyish smile. "What can I say?"
"I won't be fooled into staying longer than I should, Dean. I'm here for Serena and you will let me leave," Castiel growled.
"Do what you want, Cas-" Dean started, but before he could finish Castiel and Serena disappeared with a sound of wings rustling.
Sam had been sitting in the motel staring at the wall while nursing a beer when Castiel suddenly appeared, a hysterical woman cradled in his arms, her shoes covered in blood.
"Whoa!" he sputtered and nearly spilled his beer as he jumped at the sudden intrusion.
Castiel paid Sam no mind as he sat the woman on one of the beds and tried to stand, but she wouldn't let go of him, her hands wrapped in the lapel of his coat, hanging onto him for dear life. Her face was buried in his chest as she cried hard. That's when Castiel looked at Sam half in apology, half in a silent request for help. Sam only replied with his own look of, "Sorry, buddy, this is your deal."
Sighing, Castiel gently removed Serena's hands from his coat and eased her back. She gulped great lungfuls of air in, hyperventilating. Sam noted that she was shaking like a leaf. Serena looked into Castiel's crystal-blue eyes, her eyes chaotic as she continued breathing too deeply.
"Uh, Cas, she's going to pass out if you don't help her."
"What?" the angel asked.
"She's hyperventilating. She'll pass out in a few-" He stopped when the woman's eyes rolled back into her head and she fell limply to the bed.
"Oh..." Castiel looked down at Serena for a moment, then he gently eased her up to place her head on the pillow and carefully pulled the covers down under her then pulled them back up over her. Sam looked on with a quizzical expression that Castiel didn't answer when he saw it. "Keep an eye on her," Castiel told him instead, leaving before Sam could get a word in.
Hours later the woman still slept and Castiel returned. "Would you give us some privacy, Sam? I don't think she would like a stranger to be privvy to her current condition."
"Her...sleeping condition?" Sam said, somewhat condescendingly.
"Her emotional condition," Cas replied, his tone telling of his shortened patience for Sam's condescension. "I'm sure when she wakes she will be very unstable and she should wake soon."
"Alright," Sam said with a sigh as he stood. "Guess I'll go catch a movie or something."
"Thank you," Castiel said to Sam's back as the man left the motel room. The angel then sat down on the edge of the bed, his back to Serena, not wanting to irk her by her waking to him watching her. He'd learned his lesson about that years ago.
Just as he said, Serena began to wake within minutes of Sam leaving. The more her senses awakened, the more frantic she became until she sat up with a silent scream and more tears. She saw Cas and threw her arms around his waist. He held her, stroking the back of her head slowly.
"It's alright now, Serena. You're safe." He repeated this several times before the woman calmed. When she had finally stilled, he let her go and leaned back to look at her. Her eyes were swollen from crying and her nose ran. Castiel leaned over and pulled a tissue from the box next to the bed and handed it to Serena. Her breaths came in shuddering gasps as she cleaned herself up as best she could.
Then she tried to speak but nothing came out when she opened her mouth. Her eyes grew wide and she began to panic.
"Hush," Castiel urged gently. "You probably screamed your voice out. Here, let me get you some water." He stood and went to the sink and pulled a cup from the cabinet and filled it with water from the faucet. Serena gulped it down when he handed it to her. She tried to speak again and her voice was nothing more than a raspy, halting whisper.
"My pa-parents," she said shakily.
"I saw." He hung his head. "I can't even begin to apologize for what you went through. I tried to get there before anything happened."
"H-e sa-id an-ang-" She couldn't get it out, but Castiel put it together for her.
"Angel?" Serena nodded vigorously then croaked out something with a D. "Demon?" She nodded again to Castiel's guesses. He sighed. "I had hoped to save you from all of this, but I suppose I have no choice now." For a moment he paused and looked at her, some part of him afraid of what would happen when he told her what he was.
Still, he took a deep breath and said, "I am an angel, Serena. Dean is a demon. Though he wasn't always that way. I'm afraid your involvement with me made you a target for him to get to me. For that I am truly sorry." He'd taken her hand at some point and now sat there with his large hands wrapped around her small one. When he looked up at her through his lashes, Serena nearly began crying for him, but she was still recovering from his admission.
She'd known something was different about him but she could never figure out what it was. Now that he'd said it, the puzzle that was Castiel began coming together in her mind. Then she grew suddenly angry and yanked her hand from his grasp. She gave him a look of admonishment.
"I know what you're thinking. If I am an angel, then why couldn't I have done something sooner?" He sighed as she nodded. "The tuth is that while angels are powerful, we do have our limits and right now mine are...mine are many. Dean knows far too much about angels- me in particular- so he was prepared for my interference. I knew when he had taken you but he had warded where he was keeping you so I had difficulty finding it and getting in. "If you dislike me now, I understand." Castiel looked away, unable to bring himself to look into her eyes, not wanting to see the hatred he expected there. But then he felt a weight on his arm and when he looked, Serena had leaned forward and laid her cheek against him, tears streaming down her face.
"Believe me, if I could have, I would have stopped him before anything happened. There are special circumstances regarding Dean, of which I'll tell you about later. For now, I want you to recover. You went through something traumatic. With your condition I don't want you working yourself up anymore," he said as he took her hand again and idly stroked his thumb over her knuckles. She still managed to amaze him with her compassion. Of course she had been angry with him, she had every right to be, but her anger was quick to fade as her heart reached out to him. It was something he found utterly mesmorizing about her.