Notes: Explanation time! Plot and plot and some more plot for ya! Pay attention though cause there are a few little tid bits that might become relevant later in the series! *sneaky grin*
leahelisabeth: Then let us linger not! Next chapter posted without delay XD I do hope that the next story meets everyone's expectations! There are quite a few of you that are really looking forward to it :O
Anon: (just in case you didnt catch my message on chapter 2) I am so glad to hear that you are liking the story and thank you so much for the review! I will continue to do my best to keep up with the updates. I am having waaaaaay too much fun writing this XD Hearts and Huggles!
Disclaimer: * maniacal laughter* ...ten seconds later...*gross sobbing*
CHAPTER 4
The crew all moved into the dining area and gathered around the table to hear what the elder Novaks had to say. Everyone was intrigued and it showed on each face, even Meg's. Dean planted himself in the seat across from the two brothers and folded his hands in front of him, ready to listen. They better be about to explain to Dean why he had been kept away from Cas for two days, or at least give him an update on his friends condition.
"Um, where's Cas at?" asked Sam casually, glancing Meg's and then Dean's way.
"He's still in his room, totally passed out. He was up all night with…well…let's just say it was a long night for all of us," sighed Balthazar wearily.
Deciding to not go into what that meant exactly, Dean pushed on warily, "So, you've got a job for us?"
Both brothers nodded, "One that will pay for itself ten times over," informed Balthazar seriously. Neither brother had any hint of a smile on their faces. They were completely all business right now and it made everyone sit up straighter in their seats.
Gabriel reached down in his pocket and pulled out four vials, two of which Dean had seen on random occasions in the infirmary. The other two were unknown to him. The oldest Novak held out the first vial for everyone to see, "Do any of you know what this is?" he asked.
Bobby huffed from his spot to Dean's left, "It's a common immune booster called isoprovaline," he recited. It was a common enough drug that Bobby had seen plenty of times while working as a medic.
Balthazar nodded and took the vial from his brother before passing it to Chuck to hand around the table, "Correct. But were any of you aware that the street value for a dosage this size is somewhere around fifty platinum?"
Sam let out a low whistle and Dean raised an eyebrow, "Not bad."
Gabriel held up the second vial, "This one, propoxine, is probably twenty credits." He passed it to the rest of the crew to look at and then pulled out the third vial and handed it to Bobby to pass around the crew, " Maybe eighty credits for the contents of this one. It's one of the strongest pain killers out there."
The listing of the prices made Dean balk internally. He had this much cash sitting around in his infirmary all this time? The captain could see many of the others around the room mirror his internal thoughts on their faces. He even noticed Meg try to slip one of the more expensive vials into her pocket, but Balthazar moved up to retrieve it before it could disappear never to be seen again.
"And this last one, hydrozepam, two hundred. And all of this from what is floating around the infirmary and what Balthazar stole on his way out of the Host," he said while moving back to the front of the table after retrieving all the vials.
That surprised Dean, "You stole drugs from the Host?"
Balthazar shrugged, "When I found Cassy, he was half drugged out of reality. I didn't know what they had him on, and I wasn't sure if when I took him away that there wouldn't be any side effects…like withdrawal. So I took every vial and pill I saw on our dash out, hoping that they wouldn't be necessary."
Sam looked up at them seriously, "Have you given him any of these drugs since you got on the ship?"
Balthazar sighed heavily, "We didn't. At first. We thought…hoped that he was getting better and he never showed any normal signs of withdrawal."
"Normal signs? You mean that you think he might be showing abnormal signs?" Asked Chuck.
Meg sent the mechanic a withering look, "Have you even met the little freak?"
"Wait, are you thinking that his back pain is a withdrawal symptom?" Asked Bobby confused.
The brothers shrugged, "It's a possibility. We all know that Cassy get's affected by drugs different from the rest of us. Who's to say that it isn't? It might explain why Gabriel can't heal him. From what we gather, their ability only effects specific types of injury or ailment," said Balthazar.
"What does that mean? Are you talking about being unable to bring dead people back to life?" Dean hedged, wanting to learn as much about Cas as possible if he could maybe help.
Gabriel shook his head, "No, not death. Hell, Cassy has been telling me in riddles that there might just be some like him out there that could bring someone back, but that's not what we're talking about. We mean that Castiel and I have only been able to heal the body itself. Anything foreign, like a virus, and illness or bug, anything not actually part of the body cannot be fixed by us. That's why we have to take the bullet out to heal someone."
"So you mean that if there is still some sort of drug or…something else floating around in Cas' body, he can't fix it and it could be causing his all this pain," Sam clarified. Both brothers nodded.
It sort of made sense, thought Dean. Cas always talked about a glow being the source of his mojo. If this whole crazy healing shit was just some intense energy transfer or the source of human energy, then it would make sense that Cas and Gabe could only heal the human bits. If they were to try healing anything else, there would have to be some kind of energy conversion to match up. Its not like they had some special router implanted in them so link up with everything organic or inorganic.
"Well, that's just great. Tiger's got a thorn in his paw and doesn't have the thumbs to take it out himself so we have to deal with him lashing out," snorted Meg, but something else the brothers mentioned was bothering Dean.
"What do you mean by 'at first'? Have you given him something recently?" Dean said, cutting Meg off. Since the whole Bela incident, Cas was still firmly against taking drugs. Dean could only imagine what it took to get Cas to take them again.
Gabriel sighed heavily, "After the accident a few days ago, Balth and I decided to take a closer look at the drugs that he had picked up on his way out of the Host. A few of them were familiar to me from my own experience, while others were not. We were able to pry out from Castiel what he remembers taking, and so far he's named all the ones from Balth's bag and then he told us of a few that were given to him in unlabeled vials."
"Cassy was really struggling, so we gave him some of the ones we knew were safe. A low impact pain killer, super strength muscle relaxers…"
"And?" demanded Dean.
"And nothing. Well, his back stopped aching for a little bit, but it's not like it cured him or anything. In fact it only lasted a little under an hour. His system massacred it before he could really enjoy the respite," Balthazar said, disappointment in his voice.
"I'm not sure I see where you're going with this. What do these drugs and Cas have to do with a job?" asked Dean finally.
"Well it got us thinking, we know nothing about what was in those mystery vials they had given to Castiel, and we have no idea why the normal drugs we gave him worked, even if only for a little while. Hell, we don't even know what else they might have done to him without drugs involved. I heard whispers before I left about "modifications". Maybe Castiel was victim to that. All of these thoughts lead us to the idea of seeing for ourselves what had been done to him," started Gabriel.
Balthazar picked up, "That's when we got to thinking about the Hospitals on Ariel. All of them top of the notch and housing the most expensive and highest quantities of drugs within their little medical cabinets. So our proposal is for all of us to break into a hospital, we have one in particular in mind, and steal as many drugs as possible. Whatever the take is, it's bloody more than enough payment for what we have in mind."
Bobby looked up curious, "So the medvault isn't the entire job?"
"Nope! That's just the payment and incentive to get you guys in on this. We tell you how to get in, get out, and we'll tell you what's worth taking…This is all if you help us get Castiel into the hospital's diagnostic ward."
Dean leaned back and let out a low breath, "That's quite the job. Damn risky too. Do you really think that a simple hospital's diagnostic ward will help you figure out what they did to Cas?"
Balthazar nodded, "We do. I know for a fact that this hospital has a 3-D neuroimager because I remember our father's company donating money for the hospital to buy it in the first place. The dinner party was quite splendid."
"So you think this scanner will show you what's going on? How the hell are you going to work it? Or even understand what you're seeing? Last I checked, Doctor, wasn't a title in either of your names," Bobby grunted.
"Well, that's where you come in, we hope. Your medical training teach you anything about how to work it?" Gabriel asked hopefully.
Bobby sighed and rubbed that back of his head, "I suppose I've got an inkling, but I'll start up on some research and make a step by step procedure for you to follow. I can't tell you how to read the results, but you bring them to me and I can probably work some diagnosis out."
"So we get you and your brother into the whatchathing and you tell us how to clean out the hospital," Meg clarified.
"Yes," answered both brothers simultaneously.
"Um, not to be negative or nothing, but, don't the hospitals need that medicine?" asked Chuck timidly, his hand awkwardly raised.
"It's a government run facility. They'd be restocked in a matter of hours," Sam said thoughtfully. Dean could see a small smile forming on his little brother's lips as the plan started to uncoil in their heads. Sam always loved a challenge and so did Dean.
"He's right. They'll never miss it," Gabriel said while looking at Sam proudly.
"Plus, people on the rim could sure use it. We know just how stingy Garrison is with their expensive drugs," Sam commented thinking of those people from their train heist.
That's when Dean ripped himself away from this growing fantasy, "Yes, this is all very sweet, stealing from the rich and selling to the poor, but we are talking about breaking into a highly secure Garrison facility in a fed infected city. How the hell do you plan on getting around security when our key players, namely you and your brothers, have big red letter wanted signs on your backs?"
Both Novak's flinched, "It's not going to be easy, but it can be done," said Gabriel.
"Oh?"
"Dean-Bean. Are you forgetting that not only did I break out of the Host, all by my lonesome, but that Balthazar here also broke in to the Host and then broke out again with one of their most prized possessions? We know how to get around feds and we know how to break into high tech facilities," Gabriel said as he leaned forward on the table, his eyes meeting Dean's.
They stared at each other for a moment, waiting for the other to give in first. Dean was the first to blink, "Fine. Go ahead and tell us the plan, but if I don't like it or I think it's too risky, then the heist is off. No arguments."
Both Novaks tried to stifle their twin smiles, but failed miserably.
"As we said before, this can be done. You see, like all Core hospitals, St. Lucy's has its own dedicated security force…"
Bwah ha ha! And so begins the real plot! Oh how I love a heist! XD