AN: Written for the deancastiel QUICK FIRE 'Roll the Dice' prompt nr.2 Blanket
There might be a slight spoiler for 5.01 but then again it's nothing you might not have expected after 4.22
It was only 3pm, sun shining high in the sky, beautiful weather outside, but Dean was already drunk. And Sam really could relieve it. Castiel was dead. Died while defending Chuck. Slain by a fucking arch angel. Blown to pieces, spread all over Chuck's furniture. Gone. Forever. And Dean was mourning. Not that he ever would admit. So he had spent the last two days drinking. Sam did not know how long he should allow his brother to succumb to his grief. Lucifer was walking free. Apocalypse and all. And they really should be doing something against it. Fighting and stuff. But Sam too was kind of lethargic. They had not left their motel room once in the two days since they stranded here, coming directly from Chuck where they had seen the destruction themselves.
Sam rubbed his weary eyes. He was tired, hadn't slept more than one or two hours in the last two days but still he did not want to succumb to sleep, still was afraid of the nightmares that were sure to come. So he took their last Red Bull and opened his laptop. Research had always managed to get his mind off things. That's how it came about Sam was looking for a new job although they already were smack in the middle of the apocalypse.
Somewhere between the headline of Michael Jackson faking his own death and a 7 year old steeling a car (complete with the picture of a perhaps one year old baby) an article caught Sam's eye. It was not the headline about a man falling from the sky, it was not the article saying that an injured man without any kind of ID had been found in Pittsfield, MA. It was the photograph that made his heart speed up. Perhaps this was just a coincidence, hopefully it was not. Sam turned his head and was about to brake the news to bis brother when he noticed the slack form of Dean. He had already passed out, boozed himself to blissful unconsciousness.
When Dean woke up again the soft rumble of his baby went straight to his stomach and he groaned. He shifted a bit in the seat, tried to get comfortable and failed. He could not remember entering the car much less where they were going to. The last thing he could recall was starting to drink sometime around noon on his bed in their room. And now... Judging by the darkness outside he must have been sleeping for hours. "Sam?" His voice was raw and low. He cleared his throat but his brother had already heard him. "Dean? How ya feelin'?" Sam sounded tired. He probably had been driving for hours. "I'm fine. Sam, where are we?" His head hurt, his eyes hurt, his... everything hurt. This was going to be a motherfucker of a hangover. "I'm not sure, I found something. Here..." Sam produced a rumpled printout from somewhere and tossed it over to his brother. "Take a look and tell me what you make out of it." "'kay..." Dean took the sheet of paper and blinked a few times to get the blurry lines into focus when he noticed a photograph next to the text. "That's Cas. Huh? Why's he bleedin'? Fucking angel of the lord should be able to heal himself." It took Dean a few moments to process the information correctly. "Wait. This article 's from yesterday. Cas 's been dead for two days now. What the...?" Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's exactly what I thought. Let's just assume it is Cas - or Jimmy. Let's just assume somehow one or both of them have survived..." Dean interrupted him wide-eyed: "Then they have both heaven and hell on their heels." "Right." "Sam, speed up."
Hillrest Hospital in Pittsfield was surrounded by trees next to a lake. It would have been a beautiful and serene sight but the brothers had no eyes for the environment. They just grabbed their IDs and headed for the reception desk. Dean was about to flash his fake badge when he noticed he hadn't even cared to take a glance at it. He had no idea what name he should tell the woman now eying them eagerly. Thankfully Sam had not to cope with a nasty hangover. "Hello, I'm special agent Shaw and this is my partner, special agent DeYoung. We would like to talk to your John Doe." The woman glanced doubtingly at their badges and than at both brothers. Dean knew he probably looked like shit - Sam sure did - so he flashed her his best smile and just hoped. "You know, that's strange. There is already one of your kind up there with him." The brothers exchanged an anxious look and Sam answered again: "Yeah. That's strange. But sometimes things get mixed up. We'll take care of it, don't worry Miss."
They rushed the stairs up to the third floor as quickly as they could, afraid of what they would find. A real Fed they would have to distract enough to let them have this case? A demon with a bloody corpse at his feet? An empty room - sure sign of the angels 've gotten here first? Dean's heart was pumping fiercely and he felt dizzy when they finally left the stair case. Damn hangover. Whomever they would find with Castiel they sure as hell were not going to hand the angel over without so much as an fight. And Dean was tired, dizzy and nauseated. This was way too important to fuck up. "Sam", the older hunter panted, "Forget what I said about your... mind exorcism thing. Just do it if you have to." The younger Winchester didn't even glace at his brother. He knew Dean was not exactly at his best today. "Sure. You take care of Cas, I'll do the rest. No sweat." He knew that Dean liked the angel. But he hadn't known that he liked him enough to ask that of Sam, to discard his principles. But now was not the time for musings. They came to a stop in front of the door to Castiel's room. Thankfully it was still really early and there were no people at the doorway as the brothers pulled their guns and entered the room.
Castiel was not alone. There was another man next to his bed pushing the angel's cushion down on his face. Castiel did not struggle and judging by all the medical machines around his bed he sure was not able to. Something inside of Dean just clicked. One second he was standing in the door hoping he would not going to be sick on the floor before he passed out, the next moment he had the intruder pressed against the wall. He could feel him squirm under his firm grip as his brother gathered his will. The demon did not last long. Obviously who ever had sent him had reckoned without resistance
Sam was back at the reception desk. Alone. Dean had insisted one of them stayed with Castiel in case someone else wanted to try his or her luck. "Hey. You're back? Figured all out?" The young woman smiled. "Yeah... A mistake in the administration. Our case." Sam shyly smiled, too. "Why were you looking for that guy? Any idea who he is?" Sam's smile grew as he felt her interest in him, not in whatever he was going to tell her. "A candidate for the witness protection program. We'll be taking him with us as soon as the doctors agree. Meanwhile one of us is going to stay in his room." "All the time?" Sam answered by simply nodding. "So I suppose you won't have the evening off?" The younger Winchester could only shrug. "I don't know yet." "Ok, I'll make all arrangements that he'll be committed to your custody as soon as his doctor agrees."
When Sam returned, both Dean and Castiel were fast asleep. His brother's hand firmly wrapped around the angel's. Save for the nasty cuts, colorful bruises, thick bandages and numerous tubes coming out or getting into the pale body it was a very peaceful scene. Sam could feel all the tension built in the last few day slip away. While the fight against the assassin Castiel's duvet had nearly fallen off the bed so the younger Winchester tucked the angel in and draped a blanket over his brother too. Sam would now draw a few protective sigils and then let them both have a few hours together. There was a nice girl downstairs waiting behind the reception after all...
An: What do you think? Is it only a one shot or should I make a *real* story out of it? There are currently a few other WIPs I have to tend to but just drop me a line and mayhap I'll add it to my todo list :)