Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! I really, truly do appreciate it! Honest! You guys are making me want to actually keep working on this story ;) It's quite fun to write, actually, haha. I think John will make an appearance next chapter, but I make no promises. It just depends on how much I want to put into that chapter, but if he doesn't show up in chapter five, he will be in chapter six, promise!
Since I haven't really been too thorough with the ages as of yet - but they will be mentioned later - I will go ahead and say the important ones.
Dean-19
Sam-18
Castiel-just turned 20
John-38
Bobby-39
Gabriel-22
Michael-25
Anna-24
Azazel-20
Alistair-24
Lillith-21
Jo-17
Those are the main-ish ones right now, or at least the ones that I really have planned to be in here. Yes, Azazel, Lillith, and Alistair will be in here ;) There is a fun twist with them. Anyway! I've rambled enough. Thank you so much for reading and please continue to review! Also, feel free to let me know if there is anything you would like me to add into this story!
Onward!
Chapter Four
Dean wasn't sure why he was still here, in this run-down house with a Blue Eye and a Hazel Eye, both of which should have hated him immediately, and he should have hated them in return. Well, the Hazel Eye disliked him greatly…that much was fairly obvious from the seething looks that Sam, as he'd learned his name was, kept tossing at him whenever the opportunity presented itself. Honestly, Dean wasn't sure why he'd stayed. It wasn't like he owned anyone anything, right?
But where else was he supposed to go? It wasn't like he could go back to the Abyss, not when so many Green Eyes were after him for helping a Blue Eye who had trespassed. Still, though, that didn't mean he had to stay here. But where else, then? He was a Green Eye…it wasn't like he could just stroll into town and strike up conversations with people, and he couldn't smoke around all the time. He would eventually have to present himself and then what would happen?
The thought of those dreaded handcuffs, the padded ones that would render him helpless, made him shiver involuntarily. He hated to think of them, of them around his wrists, locking him away from his power, his fire. Sure, most Eyes thought the fire to be demonic, but it was his. He had grown with the fire, trained with the fire…it was a part of him and the thought of being unable to feel it, of being unable to use it…the thought was honestly terrifying, to be completely helpless and vulnerable…
He shut those thoughts down quick, unwilling to think on them for too long. Instead, he focused in on the couch he was sitting on and the Blue Eye next to him. It wasn't like he was fond of the Blue Eye or anything, it was just that he liked Castiel a hell of a lot better than Sam at the moment. Sam glared every chance he got, tried to kick him out time and time again, and locked the door on him when he got the chance. If it wasn't for Dean's ability to smoke through the cracks and reappear on the other side, he would have been trapped outside, he knew.
So yeah, he liked Castiel a lot better than Sam. Castiel actually smiled around him, which was strange. He'd never been smiled at by another Eye before, and rarely even by Green Eyes, seeing as how he'd mostly just known those in the Control. Those in the Center, though, like the mothers and children…they were nice. Like a family.
He'd never known his family. His mother had died giving birth to him and his father…well, no one knew who it was or where he was, and thus Dean had been handed over to the Control at a very young age, where he'd met his best friend. The two of them had practically grown up together, and so when he was killed, when he disappeared so suddenly…it had torn at Dean's heart savagely, and he'd vowed to get revenge.
Only…wasn't this like betraying the very thought of revenge, to be helping a Green Eye and staying with a Hazel Eye? He felt like he was, but he couldn't really stop himself from doing it. Where else was he going to go?
He had no home. Not anymore.
The thought actually made something prick painfully at his eyes, something salty and wet, and he grimaced. No way am I crying. Get it together, Dean. Now, his mind snapped at him, and he took in a deep breath to calm himself as he glanced at Castiel. "Where's Sam?" he asked, even though he didn't really care to know, seeing as how the Hazel Eye hated him, and the feeling was very mutual at the moment. Still, though, it was a nice distraction.
"I think he went for a walk," Castiel replied, sighing as he rubbed absently at his broken ankle. There was a proper wrapping around it now, and it was still in a makeshift splint, but a new one. Sam had done this one, even though Castiel hadn't seemed to like the thought of someone touching him. He flinched away almost every time anyone reached for him, unless he absolutely needed it, which left Dean wondering what exactly the Blue Eye had been through.
He'd tried to ask Castiel about it earlier, a few days ago, but had received a vague answer of, "I don't really remember".
He hadn't asked again.
"Ankle bothering you?" Dean asked, opting for a change of subject yet again.
"Always, anymore," Castiel murmured regretfully. His blue gaze shifted toward Dean slowly, almost hesitantly. "It's…really starting to hurt again. Could you…?"
Dean paused and wondered why he was doing this. Then he nodded. "Sure. Prop your leg up on the table." Castiel did so and Dean reached a hand out, wrapping it lightly around the broken ankle, allowing his fire to turn into a soothing warmth that hummed through him and into Castiel's leg. He couldn't completely take the pain away, but he could soothe it, almost like a heating pad would, only this was a little more intense. Plus, if he focused, he could make it affect only one part of the body. Why he was doing this for the Blue Eye, he didn't know.
He just knew he didn't like to see Castiel suffering more than he already had. Call him crazy, but it was true.
He didn't ponder on it, mostly because he didn't really want to think about why he was doing this, why he was helping this Blue Eye when technically, Castiel was his enemy…an enemy of all Green Eyes.
Except, was that any better than other Eyes thinking all Green Eyes were demonic bastards and bitches, evil and cruel? He couldn't just place Castiel in with those other Blue Eyes who had done nothing when that rash of killings had taken place. No, he couldn't do that, or he wouldn't be any better than the other Eyes. And he didn't like that thought, the thought of turning into an animal like them.
The door opened suddenly, so quickly that Dean smoked out of there as soon as possible, vanishing from beside the couch to float in the air, near the ceiling, an incorporeal, transparent form just hovering there while he looked down near the couch, where Castiel looked confused as he searched for him. Sam stood near the door, frowning, as though he had expected Dean to be there. Cool air coursed through the room and Dean realized that the reason the door had opened like that was because it had been attacked by a burst of quick air at the exact moment it was opening.
Slowly, he floated back down to hover next to the couch, feeling as though the wind were going to tear him away from the ceiling if he stayed there any longer. Sam closed the door and moved toward the couch, frowning at Castiel.
"Where's the Green Eye?"
"Dean."
"Huh?"
"His name is Dean," Castiel said.
"Whatever. Where is he? I thought he was like your own personal watchdog."
Dean nearly scoffed at the thought, except his transparent, smoky form had no physical voice so it wouldn't have done any good anyway. He wasn't, in any way, shape, or form, Castiel's watchdog. Just the thought made him slightly angry, especially for Sam to infer that Dean was supposed to be by the Blue Eye at all times, which he wasn't. He was his own damn person.
"He disappeared."
"Yeah…how's he do that?" Sam asked, sitting next to Castiel on the couch.
Castiel shrugged slowly, wincing when he pulled at no-doubt sore muscles. Those Green Eyes had really worked him over. "I don't know."
Sighing, Dean allowed himself to smoke back into existence behind the couch, where he then walked around to face Castiel and Sam. Sam blinked at him and then scowled.
"Run off, huh?" Sam asked.
Dean shrugged, figuring it was best to just not get into it with the Hazel Eye at the moment. Instead, he looked at Castiel. "Ankle feel any better?" he asked, wondering why he was even doing so and why he even cared. This was a Blue Eye! What the hell was wrong with him?
Castiel nodded. "Yes, thank you."
Sam rolled his eyes, clearly unhappy that Dean was there and that he was actually helping Castiel. The Hazel Eye looked at the Blue Eye. "You sure you don't want me to take you to town?"
The implied because the Green Eye can't go there made Dean bristle angrily. He turned and vanished, smoking out of there and out of there house, venturing outside to just dart through the area.
Indeed, smoking was a great was to clear his head.
Castiel frowned as Dean disappeared from the room. A cool yet warm breeze shot past him, toward the door, and he sighed, looking at Sam. "Why do you do that?" he couldn't help but ask, feeling a little puzzled.
"Do what?" Sam asked, frowning. "I'm just trying to help you."
"You're very rude to him."
"He's a Green Eye," Sam said with a shrug.
Castiel's frown deepened. He knew people tended to hate Green Eyes, but he couldn't really see why…well, okay, he could see why he would dislike them…they had beaten him up, after all, but they weren't Dean. Dean hadn't been the one to hurt him. No, he'd helped him, had come back for him and had wound up sticking with him. He helped soothe the pain, and in Castiel's mind, anyone who would do that for him couldn't have been all bad.
He really didn't want to believe that Dean was evil like most people claimed Green Eyes to be. Why was it right to judge people so harshly just because they had happened to be born with green eyes instead of a different color, like gray or brown or blue? It didn't make much sense to him, but then that was probably why he had been practically neglected in his training, because he didn't share the beliefs that all Green Eyes were evil. He believed in giving people, even Green Eyes, the benefit of a doubt.
He didn't want to think of Dean as an evil Green Eye.
"Why do you judge him so harshly?" Castiel question, shifting painfully on the couch. Sure, they had been staying with Sam for around three days now, but he was still very sore. His wounds were still raw, but clean, thanks to Sam, who had helped bandage him thoroughly. Castiel's ankle seemed to always be on fire with pain, except for those occasions when Dean would rest his hand gentle on it.
"He's a Green Eye. Why wouldn't I?"
"Does he look evil to you?" Castiel muttered, narrowing his eyes, growing tired of the way Sam was treating Dean. If he kept that up, he wasn't sure how much longer Dean would stick around, and he had to admit that he didn't like the thought of Dean just leaving him there with Sam. It wasn't that he disliked Sam - no, that wasn't the case at all. It was just…he felt more comfortable around Dean. Dean had helped him, had saved him and gotten him out of the Abyss, and maybe that was just him connecting with his savior, but he wanted Dean to stay. He wanted the Green Eye around, as strange as that sounded even to his own ears.
Sam frowned. "That doesn't matter. He's just acting."
Maybe…
Only, Castiel wasn't so sure. He wanted to believe that there was good in Dean, that he wasn't cruel and cold like people thought Green Eyes to be. It hurt to think of Dean like that, and he hated the thought. Sure, Dean had been reluctant to help him at all, at first, but that had changed and he'd wound up helping Castiel more than anyone else ever had before, at least that he could remember.
There were massive gaps in his memory, even though he wasn't sure why. He remembered a few snippets here and there of his childhood, but nothing too concrete, and nothing about recently, about why he would have been hurt like that when Dean had found him in the Abyss. He had no idea how that had happened, how he'd gotten there, but he hoped he found out soon. He didn't like have missing pieces of his past.
"I don't think he is," Castiel finally murmured, leaving out the, at least I hope he's not.
Sam shrugged. "He's a Green Eye. Just like a leopard can't change it's spots."
"Why do you believe all Green Eyes to be evil?" Castiel narrowed his eyes. "Have you ever even come across a Green Eye before, to hate them so much already?"
That seemed to give Sam pause, because the Hazel Eye froze and went quiet, glaring at the ground for a long moment, before he slowly shook his head. "I know…I've never seen one before, and I told myself I wouldn't judge them, but…" He bit down hard on his lower lip, hesitating. "I guess it's just hard, when you're actually faced with the color, not to judge them like that, like everyone else."
"He's not bad."
"You don't even know him."
Castiel frowned because that was true. He nothing about Dean. But he knew enough to know that Dean wasn't a bad person, a bad Eye. "I know he's not evil, like you think him to be. Just because he's a Green Eye…doesn't mean he's cruel. He saved me. Twice."
Twice. The first time being when Dean had saved him from those other Green Eyes, and then the second time being when Dean had managed to get them both out of the Abyss. Castiel had no doubt in his mind that if he had stayed in the Abyss, he and Dean both would have been killed. Maybe Dean wasn't a bad Green Eye, but that didn't mean the others weren't.
But they've been abused and accused for so long, a voice in his mind told him suddenly. How would you react if given the chance to get revenge after so long of suffering like that, like the Green Eyes do?
He honestly didn't have an answer.
It was later that night when Sam decided to finally talk to the Green Eye. It wasn't easy, though, as he soon learned. Dean was making sure to avoid him as much as possible, probably because of the accusatory glances Sam kept sending him, but in Sam's defense, he was a Green Eye. How was he supposed to act with a Green Eye staying at his house?
He finally managed to grab Dean's arm when the Green Eye was moving to the back room, where he had been staying. It was the smallest room in the house, only really large enough for a bed, but Dean seemed content with it. Half the time, Sam wasn't even sure if he used the room or not, but he always emerged from there in the morning.
"What?" Dean snapped at him, glaring as he narrowed his bright green eyes. "I'm not bothering you."
Sam opened his mouth and then shut it again, releasing Dean's arm. "Can we talk?" he asked quietly, slowly, glancing over at where Castiel was resting on the couch. The Blue Eye didn't like to move much, but every night, he helped him into the other spare bedroom, which was actually the size of a room and not just like some closet, like what Dean had.
Dean's eyes narrowed into small, suspicious slits. "About?" he asked, pursing his lips as he folded his arms across his chest defensively.
Sam hated that he'd made Dean that uncomfortable, but then again, how else was he supposed to treat a Green Eye? I told myself I wouldn't judge them like that…but I'm just like everyone else…what an idiot… He shook his head and sighed. "I just…can we talk outside? Just real quick?"
"Fine." Dean disappeared without warning, vanishing right before Sam's eyes. One minute, he was there, arms crossed, and then the next, Sam was looking at empty air. There was no gradual fade, no sound to go with it, just a sudden disappearance that left him gaping. He knew Dean disappeared and everything, but he'd never actually seen it happen before.
Swallowing, he walked out the door and found Dean waiting for him outside. "How do you do that?" he asked.
Dean shrugged. "How do you breathe?" he shot back.
Sam sighed. "Whatever…what do you call it?"
"Smoking."
"Smoking? What do cigarettes have to do with anything?" Sam asked, frowning in confusion.
Dean's brow twisted in amusement. "Nothing. It's just what it's called. We smoke….or vanish. Has to do with the 'fire thing'."
Sam frowned. "Okay, then…um…" He shifted nervously and took in a deep breath, knowing that it was now or never. "Listen…I'm sorry for…how I've been treating you."
Dean stared at him in utter confusion.
"I mean…Castiel seems to think you're okay, even for a Green Eye, and you did save him and everything, and…I'm sorry. I guess I should have listened instead of just…judging you right away. But…it's hard, you know? I guess I was expecting to see a monster with green eyes, like people always say…"
Dean looked at the ground, hands clenching into fists at his sides.
"But instead, you're just like me…a normal person who is accused just because of the color of their eyes…" Sam sighed heavily. "I'm sorry it took me so long to…not judge you."
Dean shrugged slowly. "I'm used to it. I don't really give a damn anymore."
Except Sam could see through the lie, and he knew that his previous behavior had been grating on Dean's feelings.
A Green Eye with feelings…he's just like me. How could I have…judged him like that?
"I'm sorry," Sam repeated, feeling like an idiot, but he didn't know what else to say.
Dean shrugged again. "Doesn't really matter, Sam. I don't care anymore. I'm a Green Eye and I'm a monster. I get it."
Sam's brow furrowed. "No - I'm trying to say that you're not a monster just because you're a Green Eye. You…don't seem like a bad person…"
"Gee, thanks," Dean snorted.
"I'm trying to apologize here," Sam snapped, glaring. "What do you want from me? Don't tell me you didn't judge me the moment you got here!"
"I'm not saying I didn't!" Dean snapped back angrily. "I saw you were a Hazel Eye. I saw that your eyes were green, and I judged you. I thought you were evil, had to pay for what you've been doing to Green Eyes, just like I thought of Castiel when I first met him. Except, I got over it! I didn't keep blaming you, didn't keep glaring and yelling at you! I didn't keep hating you!"
Sam blinked, startled. "You…don't hate me?"
Dean suddenly appeared very tired, his shoulders slumping a little. "Life's too short for hate. I'm tired of feeling like that. I'm tried of…of blaming people for things that happened in the past, of grouping everyone together just because of their eye color. Sure, people have…treated Green Eyes horribly in the past. Sure, they refused to help us when we needed them the most, but…not all the other Eyes were like that, just a select few, and they are the ones who I hate, not everyone else." The Green Eye shook his head slowly. "I guess I just got tired of hating everyone."
Sam swallowed. "I'm…sorry. I shouldn't have…jumped to conclusions like that. Can't we just…I don't know…start over or something?" He stuck out his hand. "Let's be civilized like the good Eyes we are. Hi! My name is Sam."
A faint smile ghosted across Dean's face as he stuck his hand out as well, clasping Sam's in a warm grip. Sam was surprised at how warm his hands were. Then again, Green Eyes were basically fire, so… "Hello, Sam. I'm Dean."
"Welcome to my house," Sam declared, smiling.
Anyway...I hope Sam's character isn't too shifty or confusing! I'm not feeling so well right now, what with this horrible headache, but I wanted to go ahead and get this chapter done. Remember, feel free to let me know if there is anything you really want me to add into this story! A few people have mentioned that they want Sam/Gabriel pairing, but I can also make other pairings, just let me know! Please continue reviewing! Thanks!
~Muffy the Dough Slayer~
