Hey, sorry this took a while but I have three sets of coursework at the moment…AHHHHH! I hope you enjoy this chapter…please let me know and review at the end, it took me ages to write this…11 pages! I do not own the boys or the song lyrics.

I'm Not Ok, I Promise – My Chemical Romance

But you really need to listen to me
Because I'm telling you the truth
I mean this, I'm okay!
(Trust Me)

I'm not okay
I'm not okay
Well, I'm not okay
I'm not o-fucking-kay
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
(Okay)

Dean rounded a corner, narrowly avoiding a desk and giving the room a quick cursory glance over, although he was not particularly hopeful. This was the fifth identical work area that he had searched, each room just as clinically clean as the last, and the next. Dean swore, he couldn't find a bloody poltergeist in a building practically made of glass, the privacy barriers between each desk not really offering any privacy at all.

He grabbed a rubber band ball and threw it against the wall a couple of times to release some tension before nicking a couple of pens and pencils and leaving the room. Never turn down free stationary, especially is Sammy is your little brother and you spend your life writing in a hunters journal and doodling demonic symbols to be sent off to Bobby.

He saw Sammy searching through a drawer in the next room over and decided to join his younger brother. There was nothing suspicious going on, even though Bobby thought it was a poltergeist, the EMF signal was so weak that Dean was certain the thing was busted.

"Heya Sammy." Dean chucked the rubber band ball at his brother, who caught it with one hand without even looking up.

"Show off."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

"Hey, check this out." Sam passed over a set of business cards held together by another elastic band.

"Hell yeah, look at the chest on her!"

"Dean, that's Julia McGee."

"As in…"

"The one that is currently six feet under."

"Oh, guess I'm not taking her out for a drink then."

"No. See anything important on there?" Sam continued to search the drawers whilst Dean flipped the card over and read the fancy lettering advertising Julia's excellent typing skills, dedication and hard-working attitude.

"Nope, nada. Hey check this out!" Sam looked up to see Dean perched on the photocopier with his legs wide open, one hand propping him up and the other slowly unbuttoning the collar of his shirt. He then pouted, giving his best blue steel look and flicking his head as if he had long hair like Sam or a girl in a shampoo advert.

"Cut it out Dean, someone died here!" Sam had to bite back his laughter and attempted to put on a stem voice, but when Dean began to lean further back against the photocopier and began to groan Sam couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Save it for Cas."

"Don't you worry, I will." With a wink Dean hopped down from the photocopier and headed out of the room.

"Coming little brother?"

"Yeah, what's the hurry all of a sudden?"

"I'm worried about Cas."

"He's with Bobby, he'll be fine."

"I hope so, I just feel bad for leaving him so soon y'know. He's still only just getting over everything and Bobby's a bit well, y'know…Bobbyish."

"Well we can head back now, there's nothing here so we might as well head home."

"Yeah, I could so do with a beer. Or two."

"You could always do with a beer or two…or three, or four."

"Bitch."

"Jerk." Sam and Dean made their way back down the stairway, which smelled of overpowering cheap detergent and went out of the backdoor and managed to get a few paces out of the door when an explosive force sent both Winchester brothers flying across the car park, all the way over to another office block which was under renovation. The brothers found themselves falling down a deep hole leading to one of the concrete foundations of the building, neither had the opportunity to think about cocking their salt-loaded guns, let alone pulling the trigger.

Dean was only vaguely aware of his world turning black.

When the sensation of flying finally stopped and Sam found himself crashing into something soft he groaned and tried to make sense of what just happened. At least being thrown across a car park into a hole revealed why they had not found any EMF readings inside the office block, it seemed to be the outer block that was haunted, which in itself would suggest that they were dealing with a ghost rather than a poltergeist.

"Dean, are you alright?" Sam shifted and tried to look around but it was difficult in such a dark, confining space was not easy.

"Dean?" Sam shifted fully when he realised that his landing had been soft because he had landed on his older brother, who was showing no signs of moving.

"Dean!" Sam quickly scrambled for a pulse on Dean's neck and let out an audible sigh of relief when he realised that his brother's heart was still breathing.

"Dean wake up!" Carefully lifting Dean up a little in an attempt to check out his brother's injuries, Sam gave him a gentle shake, relief flooding through him when he saw an emerald eye flitter open and blink at him.

"M'fine, was just resting."

"Sure you were Dean." Sam allowed himself a small smile, if Dean was well enough to laugh and joke then his injuries couldn't be too bad. "Seriously man, are you alright?"

"Apart from feeling like I have been hit
over the head and side with a brick, I'm Peachy." That was as good as a written confession to Sam.

"Dean, let me take a look."

"It's not that bad, just bruised. Hurts like a bitch though. Anyway, how are you doing?"

"Apart from being stuck in a hole with my idiot of a big brother, I'm great."

"Good, now then, how are we going to get out of here?" Sam gesticulated at the hole above them with a roll of his eyes that dean barely saw due to how it was getting even darker ridiculously quickly.

"Thank you Captain Obvious. Yep, that's how you got into Stanford. Any other wise suggestions?"

"Can I rephrase my statement about being stuck in a hole with my idiot of a big brother to idiot of a big brother that keeps asking stupid questions?"

"Bitch, do you think you can climb out if I give you a leg up?"

"Dude, I ain't that tall!"

"The one time I need you to be a gigantor and you aren't tall enough. Typical. Maybe we could stretch you out a bit."

"Ha, ha. Very funny." The sarcasm was dripping from Sam's tone and he looked as if he was either about to laugh or shout at Dean for being an idiot.

"Well?"

"We'll have to call Bobby."

"But he's looking after Cas."

"I'm sure he'll be able to make up an excuse for going out and then we can make our own way back a couple of hours after him so Castiel doesn't expect anything, we need to do some research on these grounds anyway so we know who to torch, I guess this is a ghost rather than a poltergeist considering the fact that it seems to be haunting a certain area rather than just randomly causing havoc and moving things."

"Yeah, I think I'll classify a woman jumping from an office block being a bit more serious than some spirit hell-bent on harassing people by hiding their stapler or moving the photocopier while someone is having sec on it!"

"Dean, I hate to ruin this for you but nobody actually does that, it is only in the movies."

"A man can always dream dude, anyway, I'm glad we're agreed then." Sam pulled his mobile phone out of his jeans pocket and flipped it open, groaning when it revealed that he had no signal. He then reached into another pocket and pulled out a second phone. No signal. By the time he had emptied the jacket pockets of three more phones did he sigh in resignation, watching slightly amused when Dean, who was battling his own mobile, began to swear at it and hit it against the side of the hole, threatening to shoot its sorry ass if it didn't wake up and do what it was made to do, no he did not want to do a Sudoku or track his period, he wanted to make a damn phone call.

"I thought I told you not to mess with my other, other phone anyway."

"I didn't?!" Sam attempted to pull the puppy dog eye look but realised that a) it wouldn't work, b) Dean couldn't see him and c) it was true, he had installed a period tracker on Dean's phone in revenge for when Dean had left his laptop frozen on Busty Asian Babes. com a few weeks ago. In fact he was surprised that Dean hadn't noticed earlier.

"Sure, my phone installed an app on its own; it developed a conscience and everything and starts ringing phone sex lines of its own accord. This thing's new Sam, the only time I indulge in modern technology and you piss around with it."

"Stranger things have happened to us! And, you piss around with my laptop all the time watching Asian cartoon porn."

"No I don't! And it's called anime."

"Whatever."

"Sooooo…"

"I guess we're just gonna have to wait for Bobby. He'll come looking in a couple of days."

"Well that's just peachy." Dean shuffled around and drew his knees to his chest in an attempt to get warm.

"What are you doing? Are you ok?" Yeah, sure I'm ok, my side hurts like a son of a bitch and I am stuck in a hole.

"Of course I'm ok, just getting comfy, by the looks of things we're gonna be down here a while so I for one am gonna get some shut-eye."

Castiel sat at the dining room table flicking through one of the many old books he had seen lying around. Bobby had told him not to touch anything but Cas didn't see what harm could come from reading a book, so he did just that. After reading the first three pages a baffled look passed across Cas' features and he tilted his head in confusion. It seemed to be about something called a Wendigo, whatever the hell that was. Cas was about to find out when Bobby entered the room and snatched the book from his hands, making Cas jump violently.

"What did I say about not touching anything?"

"I-um, sorry. I just thought…sorry."

"Why don't you come and help me with the cars, I am fixing up a right beauty at the moment."

"Of course, I'd be happy to help." Cas followed Bobby out into the yard and passed over whatever tools Bobby called for, glad to be of some use for once. He was fed up of being a burden, or a waste of space as Lucifer had enjoyed calling him. He just wanted Sam and Dean to get back from killing that bear quickly so that they could leave this place and more than anything he wanted his side ot get better so that he could join them on the hunts. He didn't really like the idea of hunting, but anything was better than being confined in one place or another. Cas had spent years imprisoned in a hole in the wall, and now he was as good as trapped in a stranger's home. The only time he truly felt safe was when he was with the Winchester's and he couldn't be out with them until he had properly healed. It was a ridiculous situation in Cas' mind.

Soon Castiel's attention began to drift and Bobby had to ask him for a wrench four times before the tool was handed to him.

"You alright lad? You look a bit peaky, not gonna pass out on me again?"

"No, I was just thinking."

"Too hard by the looks of things, do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm just worried about Dean…and Sam. I just, they make me feel safe."

"Yeah, they're good kids. They'll be fine and back before you know it, I'd enjoy the peace while you can if I were you."

"Hmmm. I just have a bad feeling, that's all. It's as if something is wrong and I can't do anything about it."

"There's nothing wrong. The boys have faced a lot worse in their time. They will be back tomorrow. You're probably just tired, go inside and get some shut-eye. I'll let you know if they call or anything." Castiel was about to protest that it was only seven in the evening but decided against complaining, at least it was an excuse to be left alone.

With a small sigh Castiel stripped down to his boxers and curled up into the bed, which seemed surprisingly cold when he didn't have Dean's arms wrapped around him. In an attempt to make up for it Cas hugged a pillow tight to his chest and closed his eyes, imagining that it was Dean beside him rather than a bundle of confined feathers. There was something sad about a feather pillow in Cas' mind, to him it felt as if they should belong to a bird, or an angel. They should be soaring weightless, high in the sky. It seemed wrong for the wings to be clipped, so to speak.

Soon Cas was asleep, but his dreams were plagued by flashes of his parents, then Lucifer and then Dean.

"Go on Castiel sweetie, why don't you play hide and seek with us, you hide and I'll count." Castiel nodded up at his mother, giving her a quick cuddle before hurrying into the hallway, which was suddenly narrower and darker than usual, and covered in a mix of dust and cobwebs. Fear mounting inside him, Cas crawled into a cupboard, leaving it ajar so he could still hear his mother's soft voice.

"Five, four, three, two, one…I'm coming, you can't escape me now." Mid-sentence Castiel's mother's voice seemed to change, it deepened and all traces of love in her tone had vanished.

"I'm coming to get you, you filthy waste of space. Where are you? I'm going to find you." Castiel realised that the voice he was hearing no longer belonged to his mother, it was Lucifer's and now the cupboard door swung wide open.

"Ah Cassie, shall we have some fun?" Lucifer leered at him, pulling a sharp, bloody knife out of his jacket pocket and twirling it between two fingers.

"Please don't!" Castiel began to cry and closed his eyes in an attempt to block out the pain, his hands reaching up to protect his face.

"SHUT UP. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR VOICE." Cas heard the swish of the knife being bought down and then a loud bang…what?

The cupboard door had slammed shut and Cas was plunged into darkness, apart from a circle of light above him. Castiel desperately tried to reach the light, scrambling up to it and letting out a distressed cry when it seemed to grow further away.

Suddenly, Cas' vision flipped and he was standing in the light, looking down into a deep black hole and at the bottom he could see a wide pair of emerald green eyes staring up at him. Dean.

"Cas, Cas you've got to help me. I can't get out."

Castiel nodded and began to climb down the hole, trying to find footholds in the sides of the hole. After an eternity he reached the bottom of the hole, only to find a skeleton at the bottom, dressed in a leather jacket and a pair of jeans that hung limply from the stiff frame.

"No!" Cas could just about make out a letter on the ground, and finding a lighter in Dean's jacket pocket he began to read.

'You should have saved me. You should have got me out Cas. I was trapped down here and I waited for you. I kept waiting and you didn't come. You never came. I'll never forgive you for this Casitel. Never forgive. Dean.'

"NO!" Castiel jerked awake with a start and stared confused around the room. Where am I?

"Dean! Dean, where are you?" Castiel swung out of bed frantically searching for Dean, but there was no sign that he was there. Then Cas remembered that the Winchesters were out hunting somewhere.

"Hey, quit yelling boy, it's six in the morning! What's wrong? Dean's hunting." Bobby was about to continue on a tirade about how he hadn't gone to bed until 4 and had only had two hours sleep, but the look on Cas' face stopped him in his tracks.

"It's Dean, he's in trouble. Something's happened."

"What do you mean? Did he call?"

"No, I…I had a dream. He's trapped somewhere dark. He needs us."

"A dream?" Bobby looked incredulous, god he was too old to be dealing with idjits having psychotic meltdowns.

"I'm not kidding you. It's true…I just know he is hurt."

"Cas, I think you need to lie down." Bobby raised his hands in a placating manner and Cas realised that the older man though that he was having some sort of emotional breakdown, that he was cracking up.

"I'm not mad. I´m perfectly sane, but then 94% of psychotics think they are perfectly sane, so I guess we have to ask ourselves what is sane...but that's not the point. You've got to believe me. Please! Can you just call them, I need to hear that he is ok, and then I promise I won't mention it again."

"Fine, ok. I'll call them. Just, uh, lie down ok. You look like you're going to collapse…again." Castiel frowned but nodded, noticing that his hands were trembling violently. Bobby pulled out his mobile phone from his shirt pocket and dialled Dean's first number, then his second and then finally started on Sam's numbers.

"Balls."

"What?"

"The idjits aren't picking up." Castiel blanched.

"We have to go and find them. They are trapped somewhere…somewhere dark. They need us, we have to go and get them."

"Fine, I'll go look for them. You stay here and get some rest."

"No way. I'm coming."

"No you're not. You look like the living dead, trust me. Get some damn sleep."

"No!" Castiel got up and walked downstairs, opening the front door and waiting expectantly for Bobby to follow.

"I'm not coming until you go back upstairs."

"'ll just…wait here then."

"Balls." Bobby accepted defeat and grabbed his bag, storming past Cas and throwing it into the back of his truck.

"Thanks."

"You better not faint on me."

"I won't." Bobby drove in silence, pulling up at some office blocks, which earned him a confused look.

"I thought they were hunting a bear."

"Uh…yeah but then they got a call from a security company asking them to check out this office. They have a few family businesses, security is one of them." Well, it wasn't a complete lie.

"Oh, shall we go in then?"

"I guess. Just don't do anything stupid."

Bobby entered the office first, checking each room and pulling out an EMF reader when Cas was looking the other way. From what he could make out, the readings were higher nearer windows and fire exits, by the looks of things the poltergeist was not a poltergeist, but a ghost haunting the grounds. Balls.

"Right, well they ain't here. Let's check outside." Bobby drew out a couple of salt loaded guns and passed one over to Castiel, who dropped it in shock.

"Just in case." Bobby waited for Castiel to pick up the gun, but he didn't.

"I-I cant." Images of Lucifer's bloody body flew through Cas' mind and he took a couple of steps back.

"Tough, you have to." Castiel felt tears well up in his eyes.

"I don´t participate in aggressive activity, not anymore. I killed my brother, I can't shoot anything or anyone else. It is wrong."

"If something comes at you, you shoot it, boy. Understand?" Bobby grimaced. He was tired and didn't have time for this.

"I don´t want to fight."

"You did before, and you will again."

"Oh, I-I don´t fight anymore."

"Yes, you do. Come on." Bobby then braced himself and walked out of the fire exit.

Dean groaned when he first woke up and checked his phone. 5am. Great, Bobby won't go looking for us at least until tomorrow.

"Dean?"

"Morning Sammy, rise and shine sleepyhead."

"Ugh, what time is it?"

"Five."

"Well, how are we going to pass the time."

"Eye spy. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with S."

"Soil."

"Fine…you're turn."

"Dean, we're in a hole, there is nothing down here."

"Don't be a bitch."

"Fine, D."

"Dean?"

"No."

"Dirt."
"Yep…wow this is a riveting idea Dean."

"Quit it with the sarcasm, it isn't very becoming…something beginning with…"

"There is nothing else down here."

"Fine…

Sweet talkin' people done ran me out of town,

And I drank enough whiskey to float a battleship around,

But I'm leavin' this game one step ahead of you,

And you will not hear me cry 'cause I do not sing the blues.

Gimme back my bullets,

Put 'em back where they belong.

Ain't foolin' around 'cause I done had my fun,

Ain't gonna see no more damage done.

Gimme back, gimme back my bullets,

Oh, put 'em back... where they belong."

"Really Dean, Lynyrd Skynyrd?"

"I could sing you some Metallica or Black Sabbath if you prefer…how about Paranoid?"

"NO! No, this is fine."

"Good." Dean continued to sing and Sam buried his head in his hands. God, Bobby could not come quick enough.

"Do you hear that?"

"What, Cas, what do you hear?"

"Singing." Bobby frowned and listened hard, finally picking up the lyrics to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man.

"Looks like we found them. I told you to enjoy the peace while you could." Both men hurried over to the source of the noise, Bobby looking incredulous when he saw a deep, dark hole. Castiel had been right, the Winchesters were trapped somewhere dark. Well I'll be damned.

"Hey idjits. How the hell did you get down there?"

"Bobby?"

"The one and only. What happened?"

"We fell down a hole."

"We got pushed down a hole."

"Hey Sammy."

"Hi Bobby, can you get us out now that we are done with the pleasantries?"

"How do you suggest I do that? What do I look like, a fireman whose going to lift you out? What do you think this is, ?"

"Look, just get us out before I have to listen to another rendition of Simple Man…please!"

"Fine…Cas, can you pass me that rope over there?"

"CAS IS HERE?!"

"Tell me about it, boy wouldn't take no for an answer. He's stubborn like you, a match made in heaven!"

"But he could have…"

"Well, the ghost isn't here now so…" Bobby shut off when he heard Castiel approach.

"Here you go." After a lot of huffing and puffing Bobby and Cas managed to haul Dean out, deciding that he should get out before Sam as he weighed less and he could help lift Sam's oversized body out. Soon both ashen faced Winchesters, along with a gasping Cas and Bobby, were sat in the car park.

"Guess we'd better head off before anyone comes then."

"I guess." All four men stood, Castiel resuming his rightful place beside Dean and they began to head off, the three hunters holding their guns close just in case.

"Personal space Cas!" Dean joked, he was in high spirits now that he was out of that hole…and talking of spirits…

Castiel stared in amazement when he saw Bobby and Sam beign flung in the air, by nothing.

"Dean! What?"

Everything went cold. Castiel felt as if he had just walked straight into a freezer, but he hadn't. He was outside in a car park and the sun was beginning to rise. When the black and white image of a woman materialised in front of Castiel and wrapped her hands around his neck Castiel knew he had lost it. Bobby had been right, he must be in that 94% of psychotics who didn't realise they were mad. But now he did, he had joined the other 6%. He was mad, there was no other explanation for the fact that he was seeing dead women in torn clothes trying to kill him. But if it was just a vision, then why did Cas' throat hurt and why couldn't he breathe?

Questions ran through Castiel's mind but he couldn't process any more information, his brain was shutting down, through lack of oxygen or madness, he didn't know. For a brief moment Castiel saw Dean point his gun at him, maybe he was a hazard now that he was mad and then there was a gunshot.

Castiel fell to the floor.

"Cas, Cas are you ok?" Castiel stared in bewilderment at the empty space in front of him where he had imagined a ghost to be. All that remained in her place was a sprinkling of white fairy dust…or salt, Castiel couldn't tell. And to be honest, he didn't care. He was mad, insane and Dean would never want to spend the rest of his life with an insane person, no matter how good and pure his heart was.

"Cas?"

"What…I…" Castiel stared up at Dean and began to cry when he heard those dreaded words.

"Cas, we need to talk." That was it; Dean was going to dump him.

"Please don't." Dean looked slightly confused but carried on regardless.

"Cas, the thing is, um...there is no easy way to say this. That was a ghost."

Yes, I am insane. Barking mad. I wonder if they will lock me up in a white padded room, chain me to a bed or something. I guess it won't make much difference either way… I should be used to it by now, I have spent enough time being locked away to adjust.

TBC

Please let me know what you thought! Reviews are my life and I really would love some feedback/suggestions for anything you would like to happen next. I will try to update by Tuesday at the latest xxx

Also, please check out part two of 'A Better Father.' It would mean a lot!