A Couple Months Earlier
Castiel glared at the two men who fasten the anklet around his right leg and then tired to fasten the collar tightly around his neck. He jerked away from the man, but sent then a volt of electricity pulsed through him with a silver cattle prod held by one of the two nameless men. Castiel felt his knees buckle and he was then submissively kneeing in front of one of the men with no name. That man then grabbed a fist full of his hair yanking his chin up and exposing Castiel's neck, while the other nameless man fastened the collar tightly around his neck.
Castiel blue eyes flashed with rage towards the pair of men, but he kept perfectly still. He no longer wanted to be shocked by the rod. After the one man loosened his grip, Castiel's head lulled down falling towards his chest as he stared darkly at the floor listening to the men's complaints about they had about him and how he wasn't like the other angels.
"I feel for anyone who gets this piece of shit angel. He is a defiant piece of shit. The only thing he has going for him are his wings." One of the guys muttered to the other, who just grunted in agreement. After that they secured the rest of the angels who were also confined in the cement prison used to contain monsters.
This room was a make shift monster cell that had sigils scrawled across the wall to hold angels, demons, various types of vampires, and spirits. Castiel kept kneeling long after the men had left his side, but he down casted his gaze up from the floor as they left through the one and only exit. They had just been doing their job. They weren't the one Castiel loathed.
Castiel had never hated anything more than the human, who had captured him just a few hours ago. The hunter had been ruthless and had shot him a number of times with bullets that were etched with Enochian spells that had paralyzed him. He wished he had gotten a better look at the hunter. The blurry figure wasn't enough for Castiel. Castiel wished he had a face to loath, but he had seen nothing more than the hunter's blurry outline before he succumbed to unconsciousness and all he could deduct in those few moments was that the hunter stood tall and held only hatred towards the angel.
The man spat a derogatory name, but Castiel hadn't heard it and then the next thing he remembered was the black nothingness of unconsciousness. Then a sudden pain erupted throughout his body and Castiel was forced awake from a white hot pain continuing to shoot all over his body until he screamed in protest. His eyes flew open and there had been the two nameless men, standing around him with their cattle prod forcing him to stand.
"STAND!" A disembody voice sounded, making the silent room erupt into loud sorrowful whimpers of other angels. Castiel then realized that he wasn't alone, he was among his kin and he could feel the tense emotions radiating from them. Whatever was going wasn't good. As he stood he gazed down the line at the other kneeling angels as stood up slowly gazing about themselves. They all looked scared and disorganized, much like what Castiel was currently feeling himself. A bright light then suddenly illuminated the prison cell blinding Castiel making him squint as his eyes began to adjust.
Then Castiel heard 'them'. He heard the 'collectors'. These collectors were admiring the merchandise that was standing before them. Castiel heard them talked amongst themselves chatting and comparing the traits they were looking for among the group angels. Castiel tried to ignore their voices. He had no interest in the people who talking at him. He watched them behind the glass partition since most of the collectors had remained their behind the glass as if they were frightened by the angels, but then the only entrance and exit to the room swung open and a man along with young girl with brunette hair stepped inside.
The man was tall and held his head up confidently as he walked down the line of angels stopping here and there to talk with the young women who followed behind him like a lost puppy. Castiel casted his gaze to the ground as the couple inched their way down the line and closer to him. Finally the man's nicely polished shoes entered into his line of sight along with a pair of stylish three inch tall leather boots.
"I like this one." The woman's sounded gleeful as Castiel just cringed at his feet.
"I like this one too. I can tell he has a lot of spirit. Not to mention his wings are beautiful. They will come at a good price." The man's voice was bright and playful as if he was child at the toy store picking out a brand new toy to take home and play with. "Tell the auctioneer I want this one Meg."
The leather boots vanished from Castiel line of site. Then a boney hand gripped his chin and forced his head up so the man could analyze all of Castiel's facial features. Castiel's eyes widened in alarm as he noticed that the man's irises were pure white, showing no pupils. Castiel suddenly struggled against the man's grip in alarm, but the man's gripped just tightened and a sneer grew across his lips. He was having a wonderful time tormenting Castiel and loved just how terrified the angel was of him.
"I think you'll defiantly become my new favorite. Oh and how disappointed Uriel will be when you come home with me." The man said in a sing-song voice that made Castiel skin crawl "What's your name?" The man cooed as Castiel bit back the rage that was beginning to well up inside of him.
"Like I would tell the likes of you." Castiel retorted darkly to the man, who just cocked his head to the side in an innocent fashion.
"You do have a lot of spirit. It's just going to be wonderful breaking it. I can just see us playing all kinds of fun games now." The man's voice dropped to whisper the longer he spoke. Castiel felt the air catch in his throat as he felt the man's cold hand trace down his jaw line. Castiel shivered and the man's sneer widened.
The voice that belong to the woman named Meg sounded again as the thud of her boot's footfalls drew nearer to them. "Good news he says that the angel is all yours, but he wants to double price then." Her voice sounded irritated and annoyed.
The man's hand dropped from Castiel chin as he turned to stare at his partner. "Well that's annoying. He must have known I would pay anything." After he had finished speaking, he then casted an evil smirk in Castiel direction. "Write him a check and get him ready for transport." The man said with a dismissing wave of his hand as he nodded curtly to Castiel and waltzed out of the prison room without even casting a glance at the other angels.
The two nameless men from early were standing beside him once again as they forced him to his knees once more. They gave him condescending smile as if they thought they were better than he was. They jab him with the rod once more for good measure and he yelled out in agony. They yanked him to his feet and dragged him out of the prison. He had never felt this hopeless ever. He looked back at the other angels and only saw looks of terror spread across their faces. They were scared for him.
The men shoved him in the back of a black pickup truck that had a tall canopy covering the bed. He snarled at them and they threatened him with the rod once more.
"Damn Bastard. I can't say I am sorry to see this one go." One of the men says as he shut the tailgate and the canopies door with a loud resounding bang.
Castiel was finally alone. He had never been so relieved to have solitude ever, and slowly he went to work. It took a lot of tried and a lot of banging into the bed of the truck to finally get the red tracking light on the collar to stop blinking but once it did, the collar immediately slackened and Castiel yanked it off not even caring if it felt a mark.
He now had limited use of his angelic powers and he used them to pop the anklet off with ease. Finally after all that he had used most of the energy he had left to slam himself into the tailgate and canopy door. It popped open after his second full force collision with it and he landed upon the pavement skidding slightly from the momentum of the truck.
He groaned in pain, but he could have careless. He had back his freedom and that was enough. And only then did he realize that he was out of the city so desperately needed to be in.
The Present
Friendship: n, 1: a state of being friends 2: the quality or state of being friendly: FRIENDILNESS
Castiel shifted in his bed, trying to get comfortable, after being nearly jerking himself from his sleep. Though now after finally slowing down his racing heart he was finding it very difficult to fall back asleep, when one has two rather large oppressive wings jutting out your back. He sighed and sat up. He hated having those vivid nightmares. That man haunted him when he was awake and now he was even doing it in Castiel's sleep. He pushed his hands through his hair as he reached for the lamp that rested on the bedside table. It was just past three thirty in the morning and Castiel was nearly one hundred percent positive that he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep that night.
He stood up slowly his wings feathers ruffling slightly as they stretched themselves out. Castiel thought for a brief moment about cloaking them, but decided that at three thirty in the morning he was warranted a bit more freedom then other times of the day so he felt his room without hiding his elegant wings.
The Winchester mansion was extensive. It was well over seventy five acres, but the mansion only covered about one fourth of the Winchester entire acreage. While one half was wooded area that consisted of a rather large dense forest that Dean and Sam used to train in during the times they weren't on hunting trips. That was where the small make shift cabin that Castiel had stayed in for couple of days. Castiel was positive that he could have never found the cabin again even if his life depended on it. It was that well hidden among the maze of trees and undergrowth.
On the last fourth of the estate was the holding facility. It was where the Winchester kept the monster's they had captured before they sent them off to auction. When Castiel first arrived on the main part of the estate he had been curious about the rather large cement block of building, and when Dean told him what that building contained all Castiel felt was his first wave of intense guilt. At that very moment he had wanted to be sick, but right now he pushed the building out of his mind. He had more important things to worry about.
Castiel was still concerned about the man with the white irises. And he couldn't seem to shake his fear no matter how many days went by.
"Hello?" A gruff voice sounded making him jump, then panic. He struggled quickly to conceal his wings, but since he had been so flustered his concentration was lacking so he just took a step back.
"Dean?" He answered back with a question hoping the voice would confirm his assumption.
"Cass? What are you doing up? I heard rustling and thought you were someone who wanted to break in." Dean said in an exasperated tone as he took a step forward towards Castiel who promptly took a step back. "Cass, what's wrong?" Dean asked slowly when he noticed Castiel evasiveness.
"I…umm haven't hidden my wings." Castiel muttered knowing his answer would make Dean give him a long scolding lecture about being careful and not wanting to get caught.
"Oh, that's okay. No one is here, but you, me, and Sam." Dean said with a shrug which took Castiel by surprise.
"You aren't going to lecture me about being careful?" Castiel asked in a surprised tone.
"Well only if you want me too. It's like three in the morning; I am not all that worried about you blowing our secret. I do want you to be careful and all, but I also understand that there has to be a little wiggle room." Dean said in an understanding nature.
Castiel just stared at him for a long moment, until he realized Dean was becoming uncomfortable so he looked away at the floor.
"What are you doing up anyways?" Dean asked breaking the silence.
"I had trouble sleeping." Castiel muttered as he became the one that felt uncomfortable.
"Why?" Dean asked making Castiel raise his head up once more and stare deeply at Dean.
Dean had never, not once asked him about his troubles. Castiel stammered for a moment trying to find the words that would explain everything so easily, but couldn't find any of them so he just scratched the back of his neck in a nervous state.
"It was a nightmare, about a man I once met." Castiel muttered looking away from Dean who just seemed to have a sad expression on his face.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Dean asked slowly
"No!" Castiel snapped defensively. Dean flinched at Castiel harsh response, but nodded his head up and down as if he understood.
"Oh, okay." Dean muttered sounding slightly hurt. "You should probably get back to bed." Dean muttered turning away from Castiel
"Dean!" Castiel said abruptly making Dean turn abruptly to Castiel as if he was expecting something profound. "Why didn't you turn me in?"
Dean opened his mouth to speak, but no words left his lips. He brushed his tongue against his lower lip as he thought about his answer.
"I don't know? It just seemed like it was something I needed to do…. I guess." He said finally as he turned on his heel and felt Castiel standing in the middle of the hall. Castiel watched as Dean disappeared into the darkness. He wanted to yell at Dean. He wanted to demand that Dean tell him the answers, but he just stood there watching the place where Dean had stood long after Dean had vanished from his field of vision. He just wanted to know the answers he thought Dean obviously knew.
"Why can't you just tell me?" Castiel said under his breath to the empty hallway as he turned and walked back to his room.
He had really thought that he and Dean were moving forward, but here Dean just seemed to take two steps back. Was Dean hiding something? Or was what Dean said really true, did he really not know why?
"Does Dean do everything his father asks?" Castiel asked Sam as they sat across from each other, the chess board back between them.
Sam looked up from the board for a moment then nodded curtly, then looked back down. "Yes pretty much. For some reason he believes he needs too. That's probably the only reason he agreed to marry Lisa." Sam muttered as he moved a chess piece then beckoned to Castiel to make his move.
Castiel looked down at the board for a brief second then made his move. "Checkmate. So your father pressured him into getting engaged to Lisa?" Castiel said as he looked up at Sam who was still staring down at the board in disbelief.
"Yeah I guess. I mean as far as I know Dean and Lisa actually like each other so that's a plus, but yeah Dad did pressure him into it." Sam muttered as he shook his head still perplexed at what the outcome of the chess board showed. "I think I am done playing chess with you for a while Cass." Sam sighed as he stretched and stood up. "We should go out; since Dean barely lets you leave the house." Sam said suddenly making Castiel eyes widened in fear.
Dean had been very specific as to not to go out especially without him, but he didn't want to look suspicious in front of Sam either.
"I don't think so Sam." Castiel said slowly as he watched Sam's face fall in disappointment. Sam was doing exactly what Dean said he would. And damn the puppy eyes were working. Oh was it working. "Okay fine, but we have to get back before Dean gets home from his date with Lisa." Castiel replied sternly as Sam gave him a broad smile and a nod of his head in agreement to Castiel demands.
Sam smile widened as he yanked Castiel into an overly clad nightclub called Sirens. The name was literal due to the fact the club owner was a collector, one who held special interests in the monsters referred to as sirens.
Castiel glanced away from the male and female Sirens that were swinging their hips in rhythm to the techno music that was reverberating from the DJ at the center of the dance floor. Castiel felt instantly claustrophobic as he and Sam squeezed in through all the other night clubbers that were dancing, drinking, and socializing with one another.
Sam was grinning from ear to ear as he stepped into the crowd leaving Castiel to fend for himself. Castiel immediately felt over whelmed as a nearly a dozen girls start grinding against him. He was slightly panicked as he frantically pulled away from them and hurried over to the bar. He was breathing heavily when he finally sat himself down on one of the bar stools.
The bartender was in front of him in a flash with a bright white smile spread across his face.
"What would you like to drink?" He asked sweetly as he pulled up a glass and placed it on the bar. Castiel stared at it for a long moment then shook his head.
"Nothing thanks. I'm not much of a drinker. I was here with a friend of mine, but I seem to have lost him." Castiel said the last part with a chuckle. How do you actually lose a freaking giant anyways?
The bartender cocked his head to side in confusion, and then shrugged as he walked down the bar to another customer that was ready to order. Castiel slouched down farther down on his bar stool. He observed the fellow night clubbers with reserve. He was fascinated by the girls who clung to the guys and the guys, who clung to the Sirens.
After awhile Castiel spotted Sam dancing next to a girl with blond ringlets. Castiel was surprised to see a collar around the young female's neck. Castiel could tell that she wasn't a Siren due to the fact that Sam seemed to be the only one of a few males interested in her at that given moment, while the other Sirens had throngs of men clinging to them all the time.
Castiel waved over in Sam's direction and Sam saw him and waved back. Castiel's eyes then locked with the girl's, and for one brief second her eyes widened as she realized exactly what Castiel was. All at once he felt panic well up within him. She then suddenly gave him a small smiled and his angst and worry eased right out of him as he smiled back at her. After the song had finished both Sam and the girl made their way over to the bar to where Castiel was sitting.
Sam was all smiles as he approached Castiel, his fingers laced with the girls. Instead of sitting beside Castiel he leaned on the bar and waved at the bartender while the girl took a seat on the empty bar stool next to Castiel. She looked at Castiel up and down, then looked over at the DJ as if to avoid Castiel's sudden and intense gaze.
"Castiel." He said firmly as he stuck out his hand in the normal human response that Dean had showed him for greeting others properly.
"Kara." The girl replied brightly as she took Castiel's hand in her own. Her fingers were slender and her skin was smooth. She had a pretty face and her blond tussled ringlets hung limply around her face. She was out of breath, which meant she had obviously been dancing a lot longer than Sam had.
"Here" Sam's voice sounded making Castiel jump, but Kara's hand was already out accepting the beer Sam had brought her. Castiel blinked in surprise.
"Thanks Sam." She muttered before she took a sip. Sam nodded as though he was suddenly nervous and uncomfortable.
"Yeah, I'm going to go take a leak." Sam said slowly as he back away cautiously and vanished into the crowd leaving Castiel and Kara behind.
"I noticed you have a collar." Castiel said gesturing to the clunky accessory that clung around Kara's neck.
"And I noticed you don't." She said flatly in between sips.
Castiel went white as he looked away from her, suddenly feeling uneasy.
"It's fine. I won't tell anyone. I have no reason to tell anyone anyways. The only question I have is where are your wings, angel?" She asked sternly as she gave at Castiel a dark look.
Castiel bit his lip as he thought of how to explain his angelic magic. He really didn't know how to explain it and he was starting to become nervous.
"That's fascinating. How does angel magic work in cloaking your wings?" Kara said suddenly making Castiel jaw drop suddenly.
"How could you possibly know I use my magic to cloak my wings?" Castiel demanded still in shock.
"The reason I know, is the same reason why I ware this collar. I can read humans minds and a few select species of 'monsters' minds." She said with a shrug as if what she had said was no big deal.
"That's amazing." Castiel murmured as he examined Kara by giving her a long once over.
She had long slender legs and she was wearing a short leather mini skirt and a bright pink tube top. She looked like an average human. How had she ever been caught because Castiel doubted she was hiding a pair of wings? Her smile was pretty and her eyes had a sparkle that Castiel had only previously seen in Dean's.
Castiel was about to say something, but Kara quickly began shaking her head vigorously from side to side as she mouthed out the word 'Sam'. Castiel snapped his mouth shut as Sam returned to Kara's side. She looked up at him and smiled brightly, but Sam's return expression only showed pain. Castiel watched her smile fade as she looked away from Sam and to the floor.
Castiel's suddenly felt that his previously unstated question had been answered and Kara nodded her head slightly in confirmation. She must have read his mind again.
"KARA!" A voice shrieked as Kara flinched and stood up from the barstool.
"I'm sorry." She muttered in a passive tone as a huge thug of a man materialized next to her pushing Sam back and off to the side slightly.
"Bitch, I told you to stay close. I need you to monitor the guests. That's why I bought you." The man snapped loudly making Kara cringe.
The man was tall, but not nearly as tall as Sam. He wore tight jeans and a white t-shirt with a leather jacket hanging over it. He reached out and gripped her forearm and Kara winced. Castiel noticed a tattoo of a half moon on the back of his hand as he began to drag Kara back into the depths of the night club.
Castiel wanted to confront the man, but thought it would me much too risky for someone in his situation. He then thought of pushing Sam into saying something, but all he did was observe, while Sam remained silent and passive as he watched Kara vanish into the hoards of people that were at the nightclub. After they had both completely disappeared from sight Castiel saw Sam looked away out of shame and disgust. Castiel had never seen Sam be so hard on himself. Just what had he done?
"Let's head back home." Sam said suddenly as Castiel just nodded. Castiel knew he should have probably said something comforting to Sam, but he thought his words would be useless when Sam felt so low of himself and having no knowledge of the situation anyways would dredge up memories Sam obviously wanted to keep to himself.
"SAM! What the hell were you thinking taking Castiel to a club?" Dean yelled as both Sam and Castiel hung their heads in shame.
It had been an unfortunate turn of events that when Sam and Castiel returned home, to find Dean was already there. Dean's date with Lisa had obviously ended earlier than planned by Sam so finding him at home had come as quite a shock. It came as even more of a shock as he ranted about how he had searched every room in the mansion looking for them.
"Dean. It's fine. Castiel is fine, why are you so concerned anyways?" Sam demanded, tired of being scolded by his brother.
"I….I….I don't have to explain myself to you." Dean stammered, as both Castiel and Sam's eyebrows rose in confusion. "Just go to bed. You guys smell like stale beer and sex." Dean muttered as he turned and left Sam and Castiel behind.
Castiel turned to look at Sam who seemed to be just as confused as he was. Guess there would be no answers that night. Castiel reached down and pulled up the sleeve to his shirt and sniffed it. He didn't smell like sex, but he would have to agree with Dean about the stale beer.