Dean felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, jolting him out of his half-sleep. He groggily pulled it out and checked the caller ID, Cas. He flipped the phone open, with a funny feathery feeling materializing in his stomach. "Hello? Watcha need Cas?"
"Dean."
"Yeah? I'm here. What's up?"
"Dean... I need your help." He sounded vaguely embarrassed.
"Okay, I'm at Bobby's right now."
"That's the problem. I can't. Just..." Cas seemed as if he was debating just hanging up and dealing with the problem himself.
"No, no, no, Cas! You can't what? You can't come to Bobby's?" There was a strange rustling noise on Cas's end.
"No. I don't think that I can."
"Okay, then, why not?" There was a long pause,
"Well..."
"Spit it out.
"There's nothing in my mouth Dean." Cas's voice told him that he didn't know what Dean was talking about, and that he didn't really care about the answer.
"Just... What's wrong, Cas?"
"...I'm stuck."
"Oh?" Dean seemed to be on the verge of laughter
"It's not funny Dean." Cas growled into the phone
"Okay, okay. Where are you stuck? I'll get my coat."
"... I'm stuck in a tree." Cas paused for a split second, "Don't laugh."
"I'm not" (He was), "This is very serious." (Dean didn't seem to think so).
"Dean. Could you stop laughing? This is very very painful." Dean stopped laughing now. He grabbed his coat and car keys.
"Cas! Where are you?"
"Well I have to assume I'm somewhere in that forest near Bobby's house. I was flying from that town on the other side to Bobby's. All I know is that it's a really tall tree and-" There was a rustling of braches, and a muffled scream, when Cas came back on the phone, he seemed slightly out of breath, "Dean... come quickly. Please." Dean could hear the pain in his voice. "Right, Cas, I'm going to need you to get off of the phone for just a second, and turn on your GPS on the phone."
"It's done, Dean. I can just use... my Grace. Dean. Please hurry."
"SAM!"
"NO, Dean, please don't get Sam involved in this!"
"I just need to use his computer, Cas. It's okay. Hang in there." Even as he said it, Dean winced, and Cas made a weird hissing noise. Dean could hear Sam's response from across the house,
"WHAT DO YOU NEED, DEAN?"
"I NEED TO BORROW YOUR COMPUTER! Just hold in there for a second, Cas. I'll be there in a few minutes. I just need the GPS to tell me around where you are in the forest. It shouldn't take long. Just... it'll be okay."
"Thank you, Dean." It was so quiet that Dean almost didn't hear it.
"It's good, dude. We're good. That's what family does for each other."
"They get each other out of trees?" Cas's response was tainted with sarcasm, which made Dean glow with pride.
"See, you're getting a hand on sarcasm." Cas smiled at Dean's praise
"DEAN WHY DO YOU NEED MY COMPUTER?"
"I'M NOT LOOKING UP PORN IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE WONDERING. I JUST NEED IT, SAMMY!"
"FINE. IT'S IN THE LIVING ROOM!" Dean walked into the living room, and found Sam's laptop quickly. He pulled up the tracking data, and spoke to Cas again
"Right, I've got Sam's laptop, and I know what section of the forest you're in. I'm coming."
"Thank you. Quickly."
Dean stayed on the line the entire time that he drove to the forest, but he had to get out of the car once he got to the edge of the forest. It was a thick forest, and there was no way that he would be able to drive Baby through it without getting her all scratched up. There were rocks and broken tree branches everywhere, so while Dean couldn't run without tripping and spraining his ankle (which would be worse than normal in the this situation. He had no idea what was wrong with Cas, and he didn't want to take the chance that if he sprained his ankle, he wouldn't be able to get Cas out of whatever trouble that he was in).
"Right, you're... left. I'm heading for you. It's okay."
"Dean... I know that the GPS won't be entirely accurate..."
"Yeah... What are you trying to say?"
"Well, you'll be looking for a huge black thing stuck in a tree."
"What? But you're coat's tan." There was a pause on the other end of the line,
"Just... Large black thing, Dean. That's what you'll be looking for. And please hurry!" The urgency in those last three words made Dean quicken his pace, still not running though.
"I'm in the little dot now, Cas. I should be near. Can you see me?"
"No. But you could be behind me; I can't really see much of anything behind me, or to my sides."
Dean decided not to question it. "Listen, can you say something really loudly, so that I can get a better idea of where you are?"
"No."
"And why not?"
"It hurts, Dean. It hurts so much." Dean quickened his pace again, "Can you see me now?"
"No." It was just a whisper, and Dean could hear that the energy had been sapped out of him.
"Just hold on, Cas, I'm coming. I'm comin' for you." Suddenly he could hear- not on the phone, but from the forest- a branch cracking, and a loud, heartbreaking scream. Now Dean started sprinting. He didn't care about the fact that he could trip over a tree branch, or a rock. Cas was in trouble. And Cas needed him.
"Cas, are you okay? I could hear that. Are you okay? I'm coming for you. I'm coming for you. Cas? Are you okay?"
"No. Dean, please. Help." His words weren't anything but a light breath of air, and Dean could barely hear him.
"I'm coming. I'm coming for you. It'll be okay."
"Thank you, Dean."
"Hush, don't speak unless you see me. If you see me, say. You're in pain, Cas, so don't speak."
"It helps when you talk to me Dean." Dean paused at that,
"Okay. Okay, I'll keep talking then, I really don't know what to talk about Cas. God. Please let you be okay. Okay. What to say, what to say... Just... hang in there. I'm not joking. I'll get there, and everything will be okay? Are you bleeding?"
"Yes."
"Okay. That's... not good. Will you be in any condition to fly?
"No."
"Okay. Is taking the car okay?
"I don't know."
"... You don't know. Cas, it's okay if you bleed over the seat. I can fix the seat. I don't care."
"That's very nice of you, Dean. But I don't think that that's the problem." Dean could hear him wincing.
"Cas. It's okay. It's going to be okay. I can't see you."
"Dean I- I'm feeling very tired all of a sudden."
"Did- are you-?"
"If you're wondering, I'm still an Angel. I haven't fallen."
"Okay. You need to stay awake. Just, listen to my voice, okay? Uh, just listen to my voice okay."
"I don't know if I can for very much longer." So Dean did the only rational thing that he could de at that point. He started to sing.
"Hey Jude. Don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart. Then you can start, to make it better. Hey Jude. Don't be afraid. You were made to, go out and get her. The minute you let her under your skin, then you begin to make it better. And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain. Don't carry the world, up on your shoulder. For well you know it's a fool who plays it cool by making this world a little colder. Na na na na na na na... Hey Jude. Don't let me down. You have found her, now go and get her... Remember to let her into your heart. Then you can start to make it better. So let it out and let it in. Hey Jude begin. You're waiting for someone to perform with... Hey Cas, still there?"
"I am. Your singing is very beautiful, Dean."
"It really isn't" Dean could feel heat rising in his face
"Yes it is." His voice was a little more forceful than it had been, "Please continue, Dean."
"And don't you know that it's just you, Hey Jude, you'll do, the movements you need is on your shoulder... Na na na na na na na na... Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song, and make it better. Remember to let her under your skin, and then you begin to make it better..." Dean trailed off because there wasn't much left to the song, except four minutes of 'Na na na na na na na. Hey Jude'
"Why did you stop?"
"Cause there's no point to the rest of the song."
"There's no point to the beginning of the song." Dean's singing seemed to have helped, Cas seemed to have calmed down considerably. Plus Dean heard that he'd shifted as he sang, and probably gotten himself into a more comfortable position.
"Listen, Cas. The laptop says I'm right on top of you. I'm obviously not. Can you see me."
"No, I told you that I'm very limited as to what I can see right now."
"And I still don't get that, but hey. Whatever. I'm going to shout, and I want you to tell me if you can hear me, and if you can, what direction it's coming from."
"HEY! CAS! CAS!"
"I can hear you. It came from the Northeast. You need to head Southwest."
"That's... oddly specific."
"I'm still an Angel, Dean."
"Okay then. Didn't know that they could weirdly sense directions, though. Checking on the laptop, I'm heading Southwest now. And not talking about the airline here."
"What-"
"Southwest, Cas, it's an airline."
"Oh."
"Yeah." A couple minutes as Dean looked around for a mysterious 'large black thing' that apparently was supposed to be Cas (He still didn't get why Cas would appear to be a large black thing, because the largest thing on him was his coat, which, last time Dean saw, was definitely a tan trenchcoat).
"Dean!" Cas suddenly shouted into his ear "Stop, I can see you. Okay, now walk forward. A little to your right. Too far right, go a smidge left. Go around that tree there, I can't see you if you stand behind the tree. Okay now could you turn to your right? No, other right, Dean. See that tree that's got the broken branches underneath it? No the other one. The other one."
"Cas, there's a lot of trees with broken braches under them."
"I know that Dean, but the one that's got large broken branches under it, live broken branches. Most of the ones on the other trees are dead. Yes! Yes that one. Okay, look up that tree." And Cas could tell the exact moment that Dean saw him because suddenly, Dean dropped the laptop, and the phone onto the soft, mossy forest floor (neither were hurt, thankfully).
"What the f-"
"Dean don't freak out please, I need you to dislodge me. I'm stuck, and it's still very painful. I was able to put one foot on a branch while you were singing, and take off some of the weight, but I'm still dangling, it's still painful, so could you please just climb the tree?"
Dean seemed to compose himself somewhat, "Yeah. Yeah of course." He started up the tree, and was able to quickly climb the tree and get to where Cas was.
"That was fast."
"Yeah, well, I have a lot of experience climbing trees. I have no clue what to do."
"Right. Get that branch there out of the way. And... even if I'm in pain, don't stop. It's the right one's wrenched, and most of my weight is on it. Just keep going." Dean nodded, and paused for a moment. "Cas. Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"You have wings."
"Yes I do."
"I can see them, though."
"I know that you can. Could you just untangle them now? I'll explain- Dean! My foot is slipping. Please, just... get that branch there."
And so Dean got to work, breaking branches, and pulling braches back with Cas instructing him what to do with gritted teeth.
"Dean. It's okay if you touch them. I don't really have much choice right now do I?" Cas looked at him, and Dean flushed. "Yeah... I just... I dunno, I thought it'd be sensitive or something."
"And as I said, I don't have much choice. Alright, if you pull up on my left wing there, I should be able to dislodge myself."
"But you'll fall out of the tree."
"You don't know that, Dean."
"I do know that. I'm not doing it. You're in enough pain as it is. Here." Dean wrapped one arm around Cas's chest protectively, right under his arms, and with the other arm, he gently started tugging on the wing. His feathers were smooth and silky to the touch. Cas shuddered, and Dean immediately stopped.
"No, Dean, keep going. It's just... No one's ever really done that before..." Dean flushed again, and started tugging again. The feathers were warm, but cool at the same time. He gave a firm but gentle tug, and the wing broke free from the entanglement of branches. Cas started to fall, but Dean wrapped his other arm around him and pulled him back onto the branch that Dean had been sitting on. "There we go. You okay?"
"I think that my left wing's come out of its socket."
"Does it work the same way as an arm out of its socket?"
"Pretty much."
"Then I'll try to help." He put his hand on the base of the wing, and Cas winced.
"What direction should I push?" Dean said gently, trying to calm him down.
"Up." He whispered.
"On three. One, two-" Dean pushed the wing firmly, and he could feel it snap back into its socket. Cas let out a loud screech of pain before hissing at him, "You never got to three."
"Do you think that you can get down from the tree now?" Dean ignored Cas's hissing, but something hurt Dean to hear Cas scream in pain like that. Cas nodded reluctantly, and fluttered his wings experimentally. He winced, but nonetheless, he started sliding down onto branches lower.
Cas eventually made it down with Dean's help. Cas was able to tentatively heal some of the worse scratches on his face, and stomach.
"So, what," Dean said, "You can't heal your wings?" Cas shook his head.
"Can you walk?" Dean was genuinely concerned. He had no clue what to do. He'd never done anything like this before.
"I think so." Cas fluttered his wings again, and grimaced again. "It still hurts, It really really hurts. I think that I can walk though" He took a tentative step forward, and immediately stumbled. Dean rushed forward, and grabbed his arm for support. "It's okay. I've got you. Come on."
They walked like that the rest of the way back to the car, with Dean holding Cas's arm and shoulder, and letting Cas lean on him. When they got to the car, Dean decided that Cas should probably lie down in the back seat on his stomach, so that, maybe his wings could fit without too much pain. And Dean would also follow every rule of the road, so that there was no chance that the police. Because with a winged Angel in the backseat, that might go very badly very quickly.
A/N: So here's the first chapter. I love it personally. Had a bunch of fun writing it. And don't expect the next chapter to be so long. This is a long chapter for me. I don't write long chapters. This was special. Next up, Bobby's house! Pleas like and comment. Thanks!