Marked – Ch 2

Chapter 2 – A Bright White Light

"NO!"

Castiel frowned in perplexed confusion as Bobby fell to his knees where he'd once stood. Bobby stared in horror at the empty space where Dean once stood. His eyes searched frantically for any evidence of Dean. Bobby hadn't heard the snap or seen the explosion of blood and body parts but Dean was gone.

Somehow, that heartfelt sound had gotten through to Sam who managed to finally regain control of his body. He gasped in shock and quickly searched the room, trying to find out what he'd missed while he was gone. He noticed Bobby on the floor almost immediately but couldn't find Dean. He surged forward and grabbed Castiel by the lapels of his trench coat then yanked the small man forward.

"What did you do? Where's Dean?" Sam snarled angrily, panic making him reckless.

Castiel grabbed Sam's wrists and forcibly removed Sam's hands from him but actually took care not to actually hurt the man, much. Castiel snapped back and sneered, "I did nothing. What did you do? Isn't this part of your plans?"

Sam shook off Castiel hands angrily then stammered in confusion, "What? Plan? What? I . . ." Sam turned and looked at Bobby who was now slowly standing. "Bobby?" Sam asked, hesitating to hope.

Bobby raised his eyes to meet Sam's. Bobby's eyes were shining with unshed tears while he slightly shook his head. "No plan, boy. We . . . we were just trying to stop it. There was no escape plan," he admitted thickly.

"What the hell happened then? What did I miss?" San snapped. "Where the hell is my brother?"

Castiel continued to frown at the two men with him then looked at the spot that used to contain Dean as he recounted somberly from memory as he searched it for clues, "Dean was telling me his answer when he slumped forward and . . ." Castiel's frown deepened.

"And what?" Sam prodded impatiently.

Castiel stared at him and finished haltingly, "There was this . . . bright . . . white light."

Sam frowned heavily. That wording. He knew that he knew something about those words. Pain shot through his head and he gripped his head between his head as he tried to work through the pain.

"Sam?" Bobby called as he hurried over to the pained man. "What is it, Sam?" He gripped Sam's shoulders tightly, hoping to support the man while giving comfort at the same time.

Sam gasped and panted against the pain. "Think . . . know something . . . sounds familiar. Can't . . . can't . . ." Sam started to go down but Castiel touched his forehead and all the pain disappeared.

Castiel fought within himself as he tried to sort out what had happened to Dean. Most of him wanted to hunt Dean down to smite him because he knew that Dean had rebelled against his command. The other part, the part that was still Cas, also wanted to hunt him down to make sure he was okay. Either way, he was totally on board with searching for Dean.

Sam's voice was still grating but the broken speech was beyond annoying. As soon as Castiel figured out that Sam knew something, he put the wall back up in Sam's mind with a slight modification. Since he didn't know if this event happened before or after Sam got his soul back, he figured that they needed access to everything in Sam's mind, minus the locked in the box time, and he now had the power to actually fix Sam's mind to a workable solution.

With Castiel's touch, most of Sam's box time was put behind the wall that was no longer drywall. Instead he put it behind a steel wall that was much stronger and wouldn't fall. The improvement was that Sam now had complete access to the memories of souled and soulless Sam.

Sam gasped and breathed in wonder as he stared up at Castiel. "What did you do?"

"I fixed you. Now tell me. What about the light?" Castiel insisted impatiently.

Sam blinked then acknowledged thoughtfully, "The light. Right. Okay. When I didn't have a soul. Oh, God, Dean got abducted and I had sex while he was still missing. How . . ."

Castiel gave a frustrated growl and grabbed Sam's chin to force Sam to look him in the eyes. "Focus, Sam."

"Right," Sam agreed and shook Castiel's hand off. "Dean was abducted by what we thought were aliens but they were actually fairies. Apparently they only abduct first borns and they got Dean."

"No one comes back from that," Castiel remembered from history. "Unless the abductee didn't pass fairy inspection. I don't see them giving Dean back and if they did, they wouldn't have taken him now."

Sam shook his head. "When they took Dean, he fought them. Guns and knives. He said that they actually seemed surprised. They couldn't get him to the . . . you know, . . . table." Castiel stared at Sam for a long moment which caused Sam to fidget like always. He couldn't take it and couldn't stop asking since he didn't know. "Um, what was his answer, Castiel?"

Castiel eyed Sam coldly for a moment then answered honestly, "He was taken before he finished. It did not sound promising."

Bobby scoffed without humor, drawing Castiel's gaze. They both knew what Dean's answer was going to be. There was no way that anyone listening couldn't hear where Dean was going with his rant.

Sam glanced at the two of them and admitted softly, "I figured as much." He swallowed hard against the grief that he knew was in his immediate future.

Castiel griped Sam's right shoulder and Bobby's left shoulder.

"What the . . ." Bobby started as he jumped.

Castiel observed dryly, "I have two choices. I could finish this with you two and then find Dean but it would be easier for me to take you both with me to rescue Dean. I can distract Oberon while you two free Dean."

Sam's shoulders dropped and he reached up to grab Castiel's hand. He tried to remove it, causing Cas to look at him. "I'm not freeing my brother just so you can kill him, Castiel."

"Sam," Bobby urged, thinking that they could get Dean free and maybe escape Castiel in the process.

"No, Bobby," Sam argued reluctantly. "It's not worth it."

"What the hell, boy?" Bobby snapped irritably then narrowed his eyes but Castiel caught on quicker.

"What aren't you tell us, Samuel?"

"Don't call me that," Sam hissed angrily. The name bringing up memories of their treacherous grandfather. "Never call me that. And it doesn't matter anymore. You wanted him dead," he growled irately then added with soft sadness. "Now he is."

"They don't kill the people they abduct, Sam," Castiel informed him firmly.

"He knows that," Bobby countered slowly. "He's talking about something else. What did your idjit brother do now, Sam?"

Sam bit back, "He did nothing. Crowley did it."

"Did what?" Bobby returned with a sharp snap.

Sam bit his lip for a moment, debating what it mattered anymore. He figured it really didn't. He sighed heavily, "Remember the demons Crowley sent after us in that cabin a few weeks ago? When Cas saved us, before the holy fire?"

"Yeah," Bobby confirmed quickly.

"Well, the one on Dean was talking the whole time and I later asked him about it. He deflected until we went hunting for Lisa and Ben. He was way too reckless and gone so I confronted and he finally told me."

"Told you what?" Castiel prodded impatiently.

"The demon cursed him. He's dead after the eclipse which I figure is over in about thirty more minutes or so. We won't get him back in time with the time lag between realms," Sam finished solemnly then shrugged and added without much hope. "Maybe being in a different realm will save him."

Bobby hit him on the head with his hat. "Why the hell didn't you tell me so that I could look it up, you stupid ijdit?"

"Because he didn't know what he was cursed with and couldn't remember any of it, except the word cursed and the ending," Sam explained with frustration.

"I seriously doubt that," Castiel sneered. Sam gave him bitch face number four so he amended, "I'm sure that's what Dean told you but we all know he hides things. A lot of things."

Sam moved his head slightly in acknowledgement but Castiel wasn't interested in that. He kept hold of the two men and warned them, "This will be different than normal and landing in the other realm will be more disorienting. I will send you to where Dean is as soon as we arrive. When you get him free, I will send you something that will get you back here. Use salt or sugar to distract the fairies. Try not to harm too many so that they don't hunt you down after this."

"Sounds like we're doing all the work," Bobby observed with concern as he patted his pockets, searching for some salt rounds. He passed a handful to Sam. "Where will you be?"

"Distracting Oberon."

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