Chapter 2 – Lost and Found

A week and a half had passed since the first day of school. It was a Friday evening, the sun had just barely sunk behind the trees, and Cas was reading on his bed while a pleasant breeze blew through the open window. Cas finished a chapter and marked the page, yawning. A particularly strong gust of air fluttered the curtains, bringing with it the smell of smoke. Cas shrugged it off as someone barbecuing, but only a few minutes later he could hear sirens in the distance. Cas ignored them and laid back against his pillows, closing his eyes. Then he sat up very suddenly. The sirens were getting extremely close. Frowning, he went to the window and looked down at the road just as two fire trucks whizzed past, followed closely by an ambulance. He looked up and his heart plummeted as he caught sight of the house that was on fire.
"Balthazar," he gasped.
Fear clenching at his gut, Cas flew across his room and shoved his feet into a pair of tennis shoes, not even bothering to tie the laces. He grabbed a jacket from the back of the desk chair and careened down the stairs, tossing on the jacket as he went.
"Cas, what the hell is going on?" his uncle cried, coming out of the living room. "Where are you going?"
Cas ignored him and rushed out the front door, slamming it behind him. He ran as fast as he could down the street on the well-beaten route to his best friend's house. Hurrying around a corner, he tripped on his untied shoe laces and fell to the concrete, throwing his hands out to catch himself. His hands and knees stung as his jeans ripped and loose gravel ground into the fresh scrapes, but ignored the pain and scrambled to his feet, hardly losing a beat. Finally he reached Balthazar's street and came to a screeching halt. The entire house was a smoldering shell, loose beams and clusters of still-hot ash shifting and falling as the last of the flames were extinguished and a few firemen examined the ruin. Heart beating fast from the run and from fear, Cas scanned the crowd surrounding the house, but he saw no signs of Balthazar or his mother. Cas started running toward the house, determined to find his friend, but a soot-covered arm barred his way.
"You need to stay back," the fireman said.
"No, please, that's my friend's house, I need to know if he's alright," Cas panted.
The fireman looked at him pityingly.
"I'm sorry, son, but no one made it out in time. The flames just went up too fast," he said, placing a gentle hand on Cas' shoulder before walking away.
Cas swallowed hard. The fireman's words seemed to be taking a long time to register in his brain.
"No... he can't... he can't be..." he gasped.
He lunged forward again, but this time a strong, familiar arm wrapped around him from behind. His uncle had come after him.
"No, please, I have to find him, he can't be dead," Cas sobbed, struggling against his uncle's grip.
"Cas, come on, come back home. There's nothing you can do," his uncle murmured gently.
"No! He can't be dead, he can't be! Balthazar, please, you can't be dead! Balthazar!" cried Cas.
But the more desperately Cas cried and struggled, the tighter his uncle held onto him. There was a sound of quickly approaching footsteps and Cas' aunt jogged up to them, a horrified look on her face.
"Please, I have to find him! He can't be dead, he's the only friend I have!"
"Cas, please listen to me," his aunt said quietly, taking his face in her hands. "You can't save him, sweetheart. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please, sweetheart, just come home."
Cas stared at her, practically blinded by the tears streaming down his cheeks, and let his aunt and uncle lead him away. About halfway down the street, he stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at the blackened remains of Balthazar's house one last time, then followed slowly between his aunt and uncle the rest of the way home.

The next day, there were two little paragraphs in the obituary section of the paper mentioning the deaths of Balthazar and his mother. On Sunday, Michael, Cas and Balthazar's long-time enemy from school, was arrested for arson. On Monday, Cas went back to school and was completely alone. People in the hallway would whisper as they passed him; all of them knew that he was the friend of "that kid who died over the weekend". On Tuesday, everyone was called to the auditorium after fifth period for a memorial assembly. Cas wished he didn't have to go. Everyone sitting within viewing distance of him kept glancing at him periodically throughout the assembly as though waiting to see if he would break down. On Wednesday, Cas skipped lunch period because he was sobbing in a bathroom stall, and even though plenty of people knew he was in there, no one bothered to comfort him. On Thursday, people were no longer whispering about Balthazar as they passed Cas in the hallways. On Thursday, there was the news that two new kids, a pair of brothers, had just moved to Lawrence High. It didn't seem as though many people were really too interested in them – apparently they were a bit odd. But quite a few of the senior girls seemed to be at least a little interested in the older of the two, who apparently was "dreamy" in the words of the girl who sat behind Cas in AP History. Cas didn't care about new students. He just wanted Balthazar back.

Thursday was also the first day someone talked to Cas since Balthazar's death, and it was someone completely unexpected. It was lunch period and Cas was sitting alone at the smallest table in the corner when suddenly, Marv walked over to him.
"Hello Cas," he said anxiously.
"What do you want?" Cas muttered.
"Look, I know I'm probably one of the last people you want to talk to, me having been friends with Michael and all... but, you see... I never dreamed Michael would ever do something that horrible. Getting Balthazar and his mother killed..." Marv drifted off for a moment. "But my point is, I'm through with those bastards. If those are the depths he was willing to stoop to just because Balthazar banged his ex-girlfriend, then I don't want to be a part of it. And I'm sorry for everything I did."
Cas looked up at Marv incredulously.
"Are you serious?"
"Absolutely serious. I was wondering... could I maybe have lunch with you?" asked Marv.
"I... well... yeah, sure," said Cas, still flabbergasted.
"Thanks," said Marv with a smile.
He sat down, setting down his lunch tray. Cas stared at him as he began to eat his sandwich. He was thankful for the company, but the fact that Marv seemed to want to be friends, after all he had done...
"Hey, Cas," Marv said, interrupting his thoughts. "I know you've had to walk home the last few days... I can give you a ride if you want it."
"I... that'd be great. Thank you," said Cas.
Marv grinned.
"Great! I'm parked out by the dumpsters next to the bus lot, I'll meet you there after last period," he said.
Cas gave him a little half-smile.
"Thanks," he said. "Thanks a lot."

The final bell rang and Cas walked to where Marv had told him to meet, his old beige bag tossed casually over his shoulder. He got to the dumpsters and saw a car that he recognized as Marv's, but Marv hadn't arrived yet. Figuring he had just gotten out of class a bit late, Cas waited patiently. Just a few minutes later, he heard footsteps approaching and turned. It was Marv, but he wasn't alone. He was followed closely by Ralph and Naomi, Michael's other two sidekicks. Cas knew immediately that he'd been tricked and looked around frantically for an escape, but a chain-link fence blocked one direction and the busy parking lot blocked the other.
"Well caught, Marv," said Naomi as the three of them closed in.
"Oh, it was simple, really. Just gotta lure 'em in with the right bait," Marv said.
"Please just leave me alone," said Cas in a tiny voice.
Somehow he had always felt braver when Balthazar was with him. Now he didn't feel like he could take them on at all. All three of them laughed.
"No, I don't think we will," said Ralph. "Not so big now, are you, without your little British guard dog?"
"Leave me alone!" Cas repeated, a little louder this time, but his voice cracked for the first time in a year and a half and that just made them laugh more.
"Should we just toss him in the dumpster?" Naomi suggested.
"Might as well," said Marv.
Cas saw his chance and darted forward, but Ralph grabbed him and threw him into the chain-link fence. Cas crumpled to the ground and started to get up, but Ralph kicked him in the stomach before he could try. Cas whimpered and a moment later, found himself lifted from the ground by his shirt front as Ralph slammed him back against the fence.
"Hey!" came a shout from behind and the three of them turned.
A tall boy in a worn leather jacket with short, light brown hair and piercing green eyes was walking toward them and looked like he meant business.
"Who the hell is that?" Marv muttered.
"One of those new kids, the brothers," Naomi replied.
"What are you doing?" the new kid demanded.
"We were... we were just..." Marv said.
"Let go of him."
"Why?" Ralph shot back.
"What has he done to you?" the boy asked.
"Well, he's kind of a loser..." said Marv.
"Then why are you wasting your time? He's not a threat to you. So leave him alone," said the boy.
None of them seemed to have a decent comeback for that. Ralph let go of Cas' shirt and the three of them piled into Marv's car and drove off. Cas clung to the chain-link fence and massaged his bruised ribs, staring at the boy who had saved him and was now glaring after Marv's car. A little voice in the back of Cas' head couldn't help but think, "that girl was right, he is hot...", but he pushed it away.
"Thanks for that," Cas said.
"Don't mention it. People like that just need a good foot up their asses sometimes..." the boy said, turning to look at Cas. "I'm Dean Winchester, by the way."
"Cas Novak."
Dean smiled.
"Nice name," he said. "Oh, and just for the record, I don't actually think you're a loser. I just needed to convince them you weren't worth beating up."
"I didn't think you did. Although I'm not sure that'll keep them convinced for long," said Cas.
"Ah well, it was worth a shot. Maybe I oughta stick close, make sure they don't try'n jump you again," said Dean.
"Thanks..." said Cas quietly.
"Hey, do you need a ride home? I've got a car. Just need to wait for my geek brother Sam to finally get his ass out here," Dean offered.
"That'd be great, thanks," said Cas gratefully.
Just then, a slightly younger boy with rather long brown hair came jogging out of the school building.
"There you are, Sammy!" said Dean. "Sam, meet Cas. Cas, meet Sam. We're giving Cas a ride home, 'kay?"
"Yeah, of course. Nice to meet you, Cas," said Sam, holding out a hand.
Cas smiled a little and shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you too," he said.
"Alright, enough with the meet-and-greet, let's get going," said Dean.
He led them through the parking lot to his car. Cas stopped dead when he saw it.
"This is your car?" he asked incredulously.
"Yeah. '67 Impala. It was our dad's," said Dean.
"Damn..." Cas muttered, impressed.
Dean grinned and unlocked the doors. Cas got into the backseat behind Dean. The engine roared into life and they swung out of the parking space. Cas told Dean how to get to his house and they rumbled off down the road. When they pulled up in front of Cas' house, he got out of the car and turned back to Dean.
"Thanks for the ride and for, well... everything," he said.
"It was nothing, really," said Dean. "But hey, how 'bout I come and pick you up before school tomorrow? It's supposed to rain and I doubt you wanna walk in that."
"That'd be great. Thanks," said Cas. "See you tomorrow?"
"You bet," said Dean.
"See you, Cas!" Sam called from the passenger seat.
"Bye," said Cas.
He waved to the Winchesters and walked up the driveway, stopping on the doorstep to watch the shiny black Impala drive off, disregarding the speed limit just like Balthazar used to. Cas smiled a little and went inside.
"And who was that dropping you off in the fancy ride?" his uncle asked in lieu of a greeting.
"Dean and Sam Winchester. They're new to the school," said Cas.
"I see. New friends?" asked his uncle.
Cas smiled.
"Maybe."