Author's note: Hello! I know, killing Cas - not cool. But just give the story a shot, please! Everything is happening for a reason :)
To Tmk13 : Thank you for reviewing and no, I probably won't kill him in every chapter :)
Thanks, everyone, who following and favoriting :)
10.13.2015 Thursday (yes, again!)
Mercy, Smith County, Kansas
"Anything else, sweetie?" the nice redhaired waitress smiled at Cas as she refilled his empty cup with coffee.
"No, thank you."
"You gotta be kidding me!" Dean grinned after the girl turned away and went to serve a table across from them.
"What?" Cas asked.
"She likes you." Dean leaned across the table as if to tell him some secret. "She likes you. I can't believe it!"
Cas shrugged and took another swig of coffee.
"Wow, easy on caffeine." Dean looked at him suspiciously. "Third cup, Cas? Really?"
"I like the flavor. I haven't ..." The angel stopped in mid-sentence and his face took on a thoughtful expression.
"What?" Dean asked.
"I'm sorry," Cas shook his head, " I meant to say that I haven't tasted that kind of coffee before, but apparently I'm wrong. It is not of importance. Tell me about the case."
"Okay." Dean rubbed his tired eyes.
"Are you all right?" Cas squinted, watching his friend carefully.
"Yeah, I'm just tired." Dean opened the folder that was on the table before them, then suddenly stopped and looked at Cas with confusion. "I could have sworn we have done that before."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. I have this strange feeling of deja-vu..." The hunter rubbed his eyes again. "Probably nothing. I didn't sleep very well last night. May be I'm just tired." He took two pictures and put them on the table, "Adam McCarthy and Edward Norton ..."
Dean suppressed the strange sensation that crept persistently in his head. It was like something in a remote corner of his mind which he was trying to reach, but didn't know what exactly to look for. While he was telling Castiel about the case, faces of the pictures seemed oddly familiar to him. He thought he had memorized them while was quickly reviewing the file in the car on the way to the cafe, but what also seemed familiar was the very position of the photos on the table, the conceived look on his friend, light smile of the waitress, people in the cafeteria, and the whole situation in general.
Blame it on the lack of sleep. He remembered meaningless distinct parts of the nightmare he dreamed last night, but nothing that could tell him the whole picture.
"What do you think?" The voice of the angel tore him out of his thoughts.
"I don't know. I mean, demons kill..."
"More bloody..." finished Cas, head cocked slightly to the side, as if trying to remember something.
"Yes, that's what I was about to say." Dean shook his head, "Maybe..."
"A witch... " Cas finished again, the thoughtful expression on his face deepening, his lips pressed tightly and eyebrows furrowed darkly.
"Yeah." Dean looked at him in surprise. "You read my mind or something?"
"No." Castiel shook his head absently, his blue eyes were staring somewhere over the hunter's left shoulder, "I just..."
Last words, Castiel?
"This deja-vu you mentioned... I think I experienced it too."
The hunter's face darkened.
"Want to specify?"
"I'm... not sure." Castiel finished his coffee with one big sip. "Probably nothing, as you said."
"Yeah, we've been through a lot quite recently, right?" Dean smiled, slightly forced. "You know what helps? Ganking some witch."
"Good. Where do we start?"
"I thought to first look at the bodies, but the pathologist is out of town until tomorrow, so we will start from the first crime scene."
"The warehouse, where were found the first two victims?"
"Yeah. It's..." Dean beckoned the waitress for the bill.
"Our best option for now," Cas finished for him mechanically.
"Wow, that's getting weird. Cut it out!"
Abandoned warehouse, "Marvel Leeds Electronics," Mercy outskirts, Kansas
"We go carefully and try not to split up," Dean said over his shoulder.
Cas wanted to note that he was aware of the procedures during the hunt and didn't need to be reminded like a child. He was heavenly creature and could take care of himself, but something told him that mentioning that wouldn't give him any particular benefit. Instead, he followed Dean silently into the building.
The moment he crossed the threshold, a strangely unfamiliar sensation crept down the spine of his vessel and the hair on his neck bristled. He saw Dean blink a couple of times; the human's eyes were adjusting to the dim light. For him it wasn't an issue, his eyesight was much sharper than human's, though not as if he had his full powers.
The warehouse seemed abandoned a long time ago, everything was covered with dust and cobwebs, rusty parts from old machines stuck out from places like bony hands from fresh grave.
Last words, Castiel?
The feeling of imminent danger suddenly gripped him and he froze in the middle of the room. He concentrated and used his Grace in order to look around carefully. Invisible to the human eye, the soft blue light spilled from him, stretching his fingers and touching every hidden corner of the warehouse. His grace slipped over rusty metal, dusty windows, tangled cobwebs in corners, and gently touched the tiny life forms that inhabit it.
But the result was the same. Nothing. Cas frowned. There was no sign of people or any other creatures that posed a threat, but the feeling of danger was screaming at him and it was impossible to ignore it.
For the moment it was best to get his charge out of here as quickly as possible. Part of him was surprised that he still considered Dean his responsibility. But the rest of the angel knew with certainty that regardless the circumstances, he always will be. The man wore his Grace's print on his soul, and such a connection couldn't be easily broken.
"I think we should go," the angel said hesitantly.
"Yeah," Dean sounded almost disappointed and lowered the hand that was holding the rod, ready for battle. "There's nothing here."
"Hi, Squirrel."
Crowley stepped out of the shadows with his hands in the pockets of his black business suit.
"Damn it, Crowley!" Dean cursed. "You scared the crap out of me."
"I'm sorry," the demon replied with his habitual theatrical tone. "Feathers." He nodded toward Cas.
Castiel frowned and didn't answer.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asked.
The demon shrugged.
"Nothing special. Casting some spell."
The hunter tensed visibly, shifting the crowbar to his left hand and his right hand twitched in an effort not to immediately grab Ruby's knife from his belt.
"What spell?" he asked casually, but suspicion flickered in his tone.
"Perhaps one that involves human sacrifice?" Cas finished his thought when the demon didn't answer.
"Well, you know me." Crowley shrugged again and made several aimless steps around the room.
Castiel glared at the demon, "Are you behind all this?"
Crowley rolled his eyes, "Okay, you got me."
Cas summoned his angel blade and his fingers tightened expectantly around the handle.
"Whatever you had in mind, it's not gonna happen." Dean shook his head. "I'll have to stop you."
"Actually, I am counting on that." The demon pulled his hands from his pockets, holding a gun.
Castiel reacted instinctively and without thinking so that he stood between Dean and Crowley, directly in the path of the bullet.
"I am not interested of killing your boyfriend, kitten." The King said in a tone as if explaining something obvious to a child.
"Then you know that this weapon is useless against me," Cas remarked dryly.
"Yes, about that..."
The demon's finger tightened on the trigger and the sound of the shot echoed unnaturally loud in the room. Castiel tried to prepare for the pain that would follow when the bullet tore the flesh of his vessel. He focused his Grace around the site of the entry to be able to heal as quickly as possible.
But when the bullet went through the vessel and slammed into his true form, leaving weeping blue trace mixed with blood, which bloomed on the white shirt low on his belly. His hand pressed against the wound and his eyes stared at the demon in surprise.
"What...?" His mouth filled with blood as he tried to speak.
"Oh, I forgot to mention." Crowley still stood facing him with the gun. "I melted down an angel blade in some bullets. Clever, isn't it?"
"You fucking son of a bitch!" Dean hissed.
Dean threw the crowbar on the floor and his hands grabbed Castiel, who staggered back and fell to the ground, coughing blood. The angel dragged Dean down with him.
"Take it easy, Cas!"
Dean sat down and lifted Castiel enough so that he could lay the angel's head on his chest. "One hand pressed the wound against his friends stomach. He held Cas' hand in with the other, the grip weakening and warm with fresh blood."
"You see, the spell has one ingredient that is not easily found - the blood of the fallen angel. So I thought that, if by chance, I actually knew one."
"Blood spell with... human sacrifice," Castiel's voice was weaker and more hoarse than usual, "this is a dangerous black magic Crowley."
"Yes, kitten, that's the goal."
"You will not obtain..." Castiel coughed, his body tightened painfully in Dean's hands and he couldn't finished the sentence.
"Your blood?" The demon smiled gently, shaking a small glass bottle filled with a thick red liquid in his free hand. "Little late for that, kitten."
"Cas, talk to me! You'll be okay, right?"
"Yes," another spasm caused him to cough again. "Just... need to get the bullet out..."
Dean's face was flushed with anger.
"I'll rip your heart, you sneaky weasel!" he yelled at the demon. "Whatever you're planning, I'm gonna stop it if it's the last thing I ever do!"
"I suppose you are." The demon looked at him thoughtfully, "In that case, I need to buy myself some time."
Before Dean could ask what he meant, Crowley shot again.
"Two, Castiel." The demon smiled before he disappeared.
The sound echoed like thunder and in the split second that it took the bullet to reach its target, Dean Winchester's frozen mind had passed a number of impossible images.
Last words, Castiel?
He could swear that for a moment he thought he heard the archangel's voice, Raphael, who had scattered Cas to atoms in Chuck's house. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Also, he remembered, an angel sticking out of Cas' chest, like that time April had killed him. Suddenly, he remembered his dream from the night before, except that now it wasn't like a dream anymore.
Don't take Cas into the warehouse. Don't take Cas into the warehouse. Don't take Cas into the warehouse.
He was repeating the mantra in his mind, not sure why or what it meant.
The bullet shattered Castiel's heart and stopped its mad rush into vessel's chest, tearing apart his true form. Dean closed his eyes instinctively when the body burst into bright white light.
Tears flowed under his clenched eyes. There was no anger, only sadness and grief for his lost friend. The world was slowly disappearing around him, leaving only a lifeless body in his arms. He wiped away his tears, but his eyes remained fixed on his fingers, covered with Cas' blood. It sickened him. He choked on sobs, trying to catch his breath.
Castiel stood in the way of a bullet to protect him in the first place. Wasn't that the story of his life, his friends dying in his arms, for him, one by one, until no one was left?
Don't take Cas into the warehouse. Don't take Cas into the warehouse. Don't take Cas into the warehouse.
In a remote corner to his mind that seemed to work independently, he repeated the phrase as if in a trance.
Then the time stopped and went back.
Author's note: Please, tell me what you think for this story, is it worth continue it?
