NOTE: Thanks to all who reviewed and put this story on alert. Hope you're enjoying it so far. This story is dedicated to all my fellow Casochists, who are hanging on to the hope that our angel will return.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own SUPERNATURAL. Kripke does and I honestly hope he loves all his characters as much as we love them.
THEN
"We can stick the pig till he squeals," suggested Bobby.
"I may have reaped God but the natural order is far from being restored. There are more monsters loose in this world. You and your brother will have to clean up this mess you and your friends made," said Death.
"He's human now," said Tessa.
"You remember anything yet?" asked Noreen.
"A name," said Cas. "Dean."
NOW- A month later
Castiel started noticing the townspeople acting strangely about a week ago, when he went to town with Noreen to pick up some supplies. At first it was only one or two people who seemed out of sorts. Then the numbers increased. Most seemed dazed and forgetful. Many were irritable, while others were delusional. There had been a few scuffles and some suicides.
Today was no different. The cashier at the grooming store, where they had gone to pick up supplies for Noreen's mare, was listless, her eyes dull. She did not bother to greet them. Based on Noreen's expression, Castiel gleaned this was not the girl's usual behavior.
Castiel was enjoying his new life, even as he remembered more about what had happened. Many things still escaped him, however. Other than Dean, the man with the green eyes, he remembered two other men, Sam and Bobby. He felt love for and protective of all three, as well as sadness and anger. The strongest feelings were for Dean.
He had told Noreen that he thought Dean was his brother. But then he realized it was more. He felt protective towards the man, as if the man was a child he had rescued. He also felt respect and admiration, as if the man was his comrade and guide. And he felt disappointment and grief, as if the man had abandoned him.
With the three men, he had tortured and killed the sheriff, his fingers digging into the man's eyes, while Castiel squeezed his head, harshly asking him for a location. But the man wasn't a man. Castiel remembered the sheriff was "wrong," but he could not tell what.
It made him wonder what he was in his past life.
Noreen put her items on the counter, startling him out of his reverie. The cashier looked at Noreen, but her eyes did not register the woman.
"Hey, Mandy. I'm ready," said Noreen, waving her hand in front of the cashier.
Mandy didn't respond. Castiel frowned, perplexed. Something didn't feel right. He moved closer to Noreen.
Noreen didn't notice his concerns and gave Mandy a gentle shake and a "Hey, you OK?"
Mandy's dull eyes finally registered Noreen. She screamed, bringing up her hand; in it was a pair of scissors. She stabbed Noreen in her arm, screaming all the while, spittle flying from her lips.
Noreen fell back in shock and pain, her hand holding her injured arm. Castiel moved in and for some strange reason, touched Mandy on the forehead.
It did nothing to her, other than shift her attention to him.
Hands hooked as claws and still screaming, she lunged at Castiel, transversing the counter to land on top of him. They fell to the floor. Eyes furious, Mandy clawed at Castiel, drawing blood. He grabbed her hands, holding them away from him, using his body to push her to the floor while he sought to get on top. He finally succeeded, pinning her to the floor and banging the hand with the scissors against it. They fell from her grasp.
She still kicked and screamed expletives at him, until finally, Castiel slapped her, hard. Her head hit the floor and she went still.
Breathing heavily, Castiel got to his feet. He had scratches on his face and arms; the shirt doing nothing to protect him from Mandy's attack.
Noreen rushed over to the cashier, checking on her. She turned wondering eyes to Cas.
"Is she -" asked Cas.
Noreen shook her head. "She's fine. You just knocked her unconscious." She took out her cellphone.
"We should probably call - hey, what are you doing?" she asked, surprised. Cas had grabbed the cellphone out of her hands and was now hauling her to her feet. Firmly, he pushed her towards the door.
"Mandy's hurt. We have to ... Cas, are you listening to me?"
He ignored her and, practically carrying her 5'8" frame, deposited her into her truck. He took her keys and got into the driver's seat. Noreen told herself the only reason she didn't run out was because she was curious to see Cas take charge suddenly. And because Cas in charge was too fascinating.
"You don't have a license," she pointed out.
"I've observed you driving this contraption. How hard can it be?"
She raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Cas didn't notice it; instead he was more concerned with her arm - it was still bleeding even though she had wrapped her handkerchief over it like a tourniquet. "Will you be all right?"
"I'm fine. I'm more worried about your driving."
He grinned at her; an actual grin. He looked as shocked by it as her. A bit confusedly, he started the truck and drove out.
Somewhat to her surprise, Cas's driving was just fine. In retrospect, she guessed she shouldn't be. She was amazed at how quickly he picked up things; even though he had described riding in cars as "slow" and "confining." He didn't have the same issues with horses, though. He loved riding and taking care of them; he was "a natural" as her father had commented.
"We shouldn't have left Mandy," she said, suddenly remembering why they had gone to town.
Cas gave her a sideways glance but kept his eyes on the road. Only when they were out of town and heading back to the ranch, did he speak again.
"There's something wrong with the town," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"The humans. They were acting ... strange."
Noreen mulled his words. Humans, she thought. Like he didn't think he was one. She shrugged off his odd choice of words and considered what she had seen.
Truth be told, she had noticed the people around town acting strangely. Old deputy Parker was sitting on the bench, staring into space; it was unlike the busybody. Mandy had attacked her. Horace and Lilly were making out in front of the store, and they were old. And married. To other people. Others were more forgetful, angry.
She wondered why no one at the ranch was affected; not that she could see anyway. Maybe it was just a matter of time.
***
The next night, Castiel woke up to the sound of scratching on his door, like someone was trying to get in. He had chosen to stay in one of the rooms adjoining the stables to be close to the horses. He also felt they would warn him if something was wrong.
He listened closely. The horses were not reacting to the scratching, so the late-night visitor probably wasn't supernatural.
Now, why did he think that?
"Cas?" he heard Noreen's voice. He unlocked the door and opened it.
Noreen stood outside, swaying slightly in her filmy nightgown, her eyes bright, rimmed with red. She took one look at him, clad only in his trousers and smiled.
Quick as lightning, she put her arms around his neck and planted her lips on his, her body curving into his.
Castiel was taken aback. At first, he did nothing and accepted her kiss, even enjoying it, but then sanity intruded. He grabbed her hands, untangling them from his hair and held them, breaking the kiss in the process.
He touched her face. She was not feverish, but her eyes were overly bright.
"What's wrong? Why won't you kiss me back? Are you gay? Is this Dean your boyfriend?" she asked breathlessly.
"I'm very happy here, yes."
She looked at him in confused surprise. "Huh?" Then her mind laboriously made the connection. "Oh, no, no, no. Gay is not happy. I mean, gay does mean happy, but happy, happy - it's not what I meant."
Castiel gave her a puzzled look. Gently, he guided her to his bed and sat her down there. Avoiding her hands, he took the chair opposite the bed.
Pouting, she lay on the bed. But her eyes stayed on him, as much they could. She seemed to have a hard time focusing. He thought she looked exhausted.
"When was the last time you slept?" he suddenly asked.
Noreen blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Slept. When was the last time you closed your eyes?"
She grimaced. "The day before yesterday."
Castiel went to her and undid the bandage on her arm, exposing the deep cut Mandy had made when she stabbed Noreen with the scissors. His eyes took in the scratch marks along the cut; they stood out in ugly contrast to the wound. The scratch marks looked almost black while the cut was reddish-brown as it was healing.
He looked at her, lying in his bed. Tenderly, he caressed her cheek.
"I think you're infected."
***
Castiel didn't know how he knew, but he knew with all his being that whatever was ailing the townspeople and now Noreen was a monster. He had kept her in his room, deciding it was best to keep her isolated lest she infected someone else at the ranch. No one really cared; it just seemed to confirm their suspicions that Noreen had a crush on Castiel.
He was not concerned about himself; he seemed to be immune from whatever disease that Mandy had passed on to Noreen.
Castiel knew to help Noreen and everyone in town, he had to find out more. He decided to start with Deputy Parker. Just in case, he took Noreen's rifle and a hoof knife with him.
As he neared the police station, Castiel was struck by new memories. In one, he was being threatened, and Dean had come in and beheaded the officer threatening him. In the other, he was trying to get information from an officer. Dean was there too.
Gunshots nearby startled him out of his reverie. Running to the source, he saw Deputy Parker with his gun out. The man had just shot a squirrel.
Sensing Castiel behind him, the deputy turned, the gun still in his hand.
"Did you see that?"
"See what?" The gun is the deputy's hand made Castiel nervous, a feeling that was still alien to him.
"That thing came at me out of nowhere! Its teeth and claws; it was an evil apocalyptic zombie squirrel, man."
Parker slumped against the wall, muttering, "It's just like the nightmares I used to have as a kid."
"You have nightmares about squirrels?"
The deputy flushed. "They're like tiny, furry Sarah Palins without the looks; they come out of nowhere and get you. And they won't go away, no matter how hard you try."
Castiel wondered how many more people were acting out their nightmares and dreams. He studied the deputy and saw the black scratch on the deputy's arm. It looked older than Noreen's but not by much.
"How did you get that scratch?" asked Castiel.
Parker looked at his arm. "About two weeks ago, I guess. From that gun nut."
"What gun nut?"
The deputy looked dazedly at the stranger; Noreen's college buddy, he hazily remembered. "Couple of gun nuts outside of town. Went nuts ... well, nuttier ... and decided to do target shooting on each other."
"They're dead?"
Parker shook his head. "One was still alive. We were calling the doc out, but this guy went Rambo on us. We took him down, but I'm telling you, it wasn't easy."
He slumped agains the wall, closing his eyes. "I'm so tired."
"Where is he? The .. uh ... the gun nut."
"Dead."
***
Sam Winchester read the news article carefully. He and Dean were in their motel room, in yet another nameless town. They had arrived here a week before to follow up cases involving several mysterious deaths by drowning.
After a few days, they found out it was a water sprite, who got her jollies by drowning anyone she thought was abusing the lake she had made her home. They had killed her and sent her back to Purgatory.
Before that, they had gone after a banshee. They had never encountered one before, but Dean had the bright idea of playing back her scream at her. It was tough since they had to go around with mufflers over their ears the whole time. It was a gamble but it worked.
Bobby had told them other hunters were after the monsters from Purgatory as well. So far, they had managed to keep their involvement in releasing the monsters quiet, but it was a matter of time before the other hunters found out. And blamed them.
For people who worked hard at saving the world, they sure were great at breaking it first.
On top of that, they had Ellen and Jo in Hell, and newly-souled Cas at the back of their minds.
Sam was feeling tired. It seemed like they did nothing but chase monsters all day, every day. Every person they met while on the road was a single-job friend; no lasting attachment. The only constant in their lives were Bobby and Cas, and now, they didn't even have Cas.
"What are you reading? Did Blair get back together with Chuck?" asked Dean. He was sitting in the motel's ratty couch, cleaning his gun.
Sam made a face. "I don't know if I should be worried that you even know those names or that I know what you meant."
He showed the news article to Dean. "It's a report about a bunch of suicides, accidental deaths, some assaults."
Dean read the article and whistled. "Someone lace the town well with pcp?"
"Dunno."
"Where is this place?"
"It's a few miles west of here. Some place where they raise horses."
