The following days didn't get much better. He'd gone through every single relevant book in the library, and, as expected, came up with nothing, and during the entire time, he'd barely spoken with anyone. Castiel didn't like how much that affected his mood, but there wasn't much to be done about it.
Sam and Dean were too busy between going through the bunker's vast collection of artefacts and taking care of everyone. There was barely a moment when they weren't in proximity of the people from the other universe, so Castiel had stopped trying to find an opportunity to speak with them, especially since he had nothing useful to add.
Walking out of the library, Castiel's eyes scanned the war room almost against his will, quickly spotting Dean, who was talking with Charlie, looking relatively happy for once. Although, that wasn't too surprising. Castiel knew Dean loved Charlie like a sister, and he'd missed her a lot. This might not have been the Charlie he'd known exactly, but it was close enough.
Castiel wanted to join the conversation, but he knew he'd just make things awkward and unpleasant, and he couldn't do that to Dean. There was no way Charlie wanted to him anywhere close to her.
The angel ducked his gaze when he noticed Brian watching him, and as quickly as he could without actually running, he made his way to where the artifacts were. There were many rooms filled with them, but Castiel remembered one in particular which contained various tools and weapons usable against angels, so that was his best bet. Not that he wanted to be in a room filled with things that could hurt or even kill him, but it wasn't like he had a choice.
As soon as he stepped inside, he twitched as the power of the sigils painted all over the walls washed over him. Most weren't meant for angels, but some were and that was enough. Castiel wasn't even sure why they were there, but as long as the door stayed open, it wasn't that much of a problem.
The angel let out a tired sigh and started going through the various artefacts, trying to work as fast as possible because some of the items in the room were making him more than a little nervous. Particularly the metal muzzle that he supposed was meant to keep an angel both quiet and unable to leave its vessel, or the set of restrains mounted on a wall, clearly meant for manifested wings, that would keep them spread, immobilized, and vulnerable.
A few minutes later, though, Jeremy showed up, leaning on the doorframe, and Castiel glared at him.
"Pretty nice arsenal against angels, huh?"
"I've done as you asked and stayed away from your people. Now let me work," Castiel snapped at him, looking at the collection of swords again.
"Can't do that," Jeremy said, strolling into the room, and picking up a pair of Enochian handcuffs lazily. Castiel gave the man a challenging look, daring him to try and put those on the angel. "How can we be sure you're not just looking for weapons that can be used against Michael, so you can hide them from us?"
"I am not working for Michael," Castiel growled, watching with slight apprehension as Jeremy ran his fingers over the muzzle.
"If you were, you'd say the same thing, so that doesn't really convince me, y'know?" Jeremy replied, pocketing the handcuffs and folding his arms over his chest. "But don't worry, I'm not like you. I'm not going to torture you just to make sure you're telling the truth."
Castiel suppressed a wince at that. He knew Jeremy was saying this only to get to him, but it still hurt to hear.
"But I am going to do this," Jeremy said, and ran out of the room, slamming the door shut before Castiel could stop him, and locking it. The angel's eyes widened as he felt his grace lock down almost completely, and he quickly ran to the door, trying to force it open, but he wasn't strong enough like this. Maybe even at full power he wouldn't be strong enough.
He'd been so stupid. Why had he left his key in the lock?
"Now you can work with no distractions," Jeremy's muffled voice said mockingly from behind the door. "I'll let you out in a few hours, and I'll make sure you're not trying to take anything with you."
Castiel punched the door angrily, immediately regretting it as pain shot through his hand. He didn't want to spend a few hours locked in a room full of things that could kill him while depowered like this, but not only he wasn't willing to lower himself enough to ask, or even beg, Jeremy to open the door, the man was definitely already gone.
Castiel glared at the door, and then at the sigils when he got an idea. He could just scratch them with one of the weapon lying around here, or even use his angel blade, and if that didn't help him get out of this room, at least he would feel less powerless.
He grabbed the nearest blade, which was a bronze dagger, and without further ado started to scratch at the nearest sigil on the wall next to him. Castiel frowned when it seemed to have no effect at all, and applied more force, however that didn't do anything either.
Then suddenly Castiel cried out as the dagger turned red hot and burned his hand. He let the weapon fall to the ground with a loud clang, staring at the angry red mark it had left on the palm of his hand, which he couldn't even heal now.
He wondered if this had happened because of the dagger or the sigil, but he wasn't willing to try again any time soon with a different weapon.
It suddenly came crashing down on Castiel that he was powerless and trapped, and he hated feeling that. He shouldn't feel like that in the bunker. This was the closest place to a home he had left, and he didn't even feel welcome here anymore.
Castiel quickly reached into the pockets of his trench coat, pulling out his phone, and praying that he would get a signal here. He breathed out when he saw that he indeed was getting a signal, although it was very weak. He quickly typed out a message to Dean, asking him to come open the door.
Once he sent it, Castiel realized a problem with this, however. He didn't want Dean or Sam to involve themselves in this…whatever Brian and Jeremy thought they were doing – the brothers had enough to deal with already.
Thankfully, he came up with a somewhat believable lie just as he heard the door being unlocked. However, he was taken aback when instead of Dean, it was Sam who opened the door.
"You okay, Cas? What happened?" he asked, clearly noticing how nervous Castiel had become in just a few minutes of being locked up here. He quickly healed his hand to avoid that question, and smiled at Sam slightly.
"Yes, I'm alright, thank you, Sam," the angel said, his smile becoming slightly less convincing. "I seemed to have triggered some sort of a trap when I went inside, and the door locked on its own."
"Huh," Sam replied, looking like he did believe Castiel, but also found it surprising. "I mean, I've been here a few times, and that sure didn't happen to me, but maybe it's 'cause you're an angel?"
Sam patted Castiel's shoulder. "Anyway, don't worry about it. I'll go through this stuff later. You should get some rest, you've been working for days."
"I won't rest until we find something to use against Michael," Castiel said firmly, and Sam frowned a little, taking his hand off the angel's shoulder. Castiel sighed tiredly. Even if he wanted to rest, he had no place to do so now. His-the guest room was currently in use by someone else, and he couldn't approach most of the main rooms of the bunker because he'd be going against what Brian and Jeremy had told him.
But it seemed it didn't really matter – even when he stayed away from everyone, they refused to leave him alone. And the only way to move forward was looking through these artifacts. However, the notion of being trapped again was so unappealing that the angel just wanted to get away from this part of the bunker.
"C'mon, Cas, you need to relax. You can go to my room and watch Netflix for a bit," Sam suggested, looking kindly at the angel, who nodded after a moment. He wasn't strong enough to resist such an offer.
Castiel followed Sam to his room, avoiding making eye contact with any of the people they passed as much as he could and only relaxed when they reached the right door and walked in. Castiel smiled slightly at the familiarity of the room, immediately feeling a little more at home again.
"Right. The TV remote is on the bedside table. You know how this works, right?"
Castiel smiled at Sam. "Yes. Thank you, Sam."
"Sure thing," the taller man grinned back, patting Castiel on the back, and then walked out of his room, waving at the angel before closing the door. Castiel let out a long breath, and took off his coat before lying down on the bed with a content sigh.
On one hand, this was pretty selfish of him, because it helped no one but him, but on the other, it seemed Sam had been right – Castiel needed to relax for a moment, and this was the perfect way to do it. He closed his eyes, intending to rest them for a few minutes and instead ending up falling asleep.
However, his sleep didn't last long because about twenty minutes later, he was woken up by someone dragging him off the bed and pushing up against the wall. He automatically pushed the person away, blinking as he tried to get over his sleep-induced confusion.
Castiel groaned in annoyance and exhaustion as he finally realized that he was face to face with Brian and Jeremy again. He let them push him back into the wall, grimacing as the back of his head collided with it.
"What do you want from me?" he asked tiredly.
"How did you get out of that room?" Jeremy snarled, tightening his grip on Castiel's arm.
"I sent a text to Sam, and he let me out," Castiel replied passively. The two men exchanged a look between each other before looking back at Castiel.
"Did you tell him?" Brian didn't need to specify what he was talking about.
"No. And you should be grateful for that. The Winchesters don't take kindly to those who threaten their family." Even to him that sentence didn't sound convincing, and he curled into himself slightly when the two started to laugh at the angel.
"Jesus, an angel that thinks two humans are its family. That's rich," Jeremy said, pretending to wipe away tears of laughter. "Then if you're so sure about that, why haven't you said anything, yet?"
Castiel scowled. "They have enough to deal with already."
"Mm-hm," hummed Brian sarcastically. "Or maybe it's because you know deep down that you deserve this and much worse. I mean, I'm no psychologist, but you're way stronger than us, and still you let us do this, so…"
Castiel flinched, shaking his head, despite agreeing with what Brian had said. He did think he deserved everything they threw at him. He might not be as far as his alternative self had been, but he still had the potential for such evil. He had caused so much pain and suffering already…
"Search the coat," Brian told Jeremy, who let go of Castiel's arm, but Brian quickly gripped it instead. Castiel squirmed as Brian went through the pockets of his suit jacket and pants while Jeremy did the same with his coat.
"You're not going to find anything," Castiel said, but he was firmly ignored. Once Brian was done with his search, having indeed found nothing, he turned to Jeremy who was now holding Castiel's bunker key and phone. Castiel's heart sank at the sight.
"This the key to this bunker?" asked Jeremy, looking pleased at Castiel look of badly hidden panic.
"Yes. Please, don't take it," Castiel said, ducking his head in shame. He knew it was silly because if he knocked Sam or Dean would open the door, but that key was pretty much the only symbol that showed he could come to the bunker. That he could stay with Sam and Dean.
"What? Afraid the Winchesters won't let you back in if you leave?" Jeremy mocked him, pocketing the key and the phone. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of it."
With a laugh, Jeremy left, however Brian stayed where he was, still holding Castiel up against the wall.
"Now, listen here, angel. You don't need to sleep or rest, so you don't get to sleep or rest. You said you wanted to help our universe, but actions speak louder than words. If you don't start pulling your weight, you might as well leave. I know a lot of us would sleep easier without you here."
Brian let go of Castiel and turned around, leaving, while Castiel remained standing in front of the wall, feeling even worse than when trapped in the room downstairs.