Chapter 4
May 26th, 1837
Dean tossed and turned as he slept. His nightmares were filled with images of a sword piercing his father's body. He saw his father drop to the ground and scream his last words, though he never heard them. Castiel had only told him what they were. Dean built up a cold sweat as his nightmare became more vivid. He watched blood spill across the floor to activate the spell that turned Castiel human. Castiel fell to his knees along with Raphael. Dean watched his father's death over and over and over.
Dean sat up and gasped whilst trying to scream. Pained noises escaped his throat as he scrambled around unaware he was awake. He looked around to see that he was in a room in the bunker; it was only a dream. His eyes began to fill with tears. But it wasn't. It did happen. Dean ran his fingers through his hair. He wanted to scream; he wanted to cry, but more than anything, he wanted his father back. He put his face in his hands. "It's all my fault. It's all my fault!"
"Dean," said Castiel. Dean's head lifted and saw Castiel standing in the doorway. Castiel looked shaken. His eyes were wide and he had sweat gleaming on his forehead. He looked as bad as Dean did. "Something happened."
Dean stepped out of his bed and walked over to Castiel. "What happened?" Castiel had begun to shake barely enough to be visible.
"I saw images," Castiel took a step closer to Dean, "terrible images. I closed my eyes and they were everywhere. I don't understand."
"You've never dreamt before?" asked Dean.
"Is that what happened?" asked Castiel. Dean put his hand on Castiel's back and led him into the room. They both sat down on his bed. "I don't understand, Dean."
"It was a dream, but when they're bad like that, it's called a nightmare." Dean could now feel Castiel shaking. "Hey it's okay. It wasn't real." Dean placed his hand on Castiel's shoulder.
Castiel looked down, "But it was real. I saw my brother pierced through the heart."
"Your brother?" asked Dean suddenly very worried.
"Raphael," replied Castiel. "You didn't see, but right before I brought you here, Aaron stabbed my brother through his heart. Without his angel abilities, Raphael was vulnerable to human weapons. And there was nothing I could do about it." A tear dripped down Castiel's cheek. "I had to save you." Dean felt his heart drop into his stomach. How many people's deaths were on his hands? "I've been around a very long time, Dean. And I have never seen one of my brothers lose their life."
Dean lightly rubbed Castiel's shoulder. "What happens to angels when they die? Don't they just go back to heaven?"
Castiel nodded his head. "Yes. They simply go back to heaven. But they can never leave. They can no longer guard a human. Raphael would have never been able to protect your father again, and I will never see him again until I return to heaven."
"When do you return?"
"I will return when you die, Dean. I can't leave you, ever. It is my duty." Dean began to feel absolutely horrible. People died because of him, and now Castiel couldn't see his brother because of him.
"Cas," Dean's voice cracked, "this is all my fault. I am so sorry…"
Castiel looked up into Dean's eyes. He felt so much sympathy looking into the emerald irises that were filled with pain. "None of this was your fault. Aaron is the one responsible, and he will receive justice. Just as soon as I am able, I will kill him. But until then, we both need rest." Dean nodded his head in agreement. "I don't suppose I can…" Castiel stopped.
"What?" Dean suddenly realized that Castiel was still shaken from his first ever dream. "You can stay here." Dean waited for Castiel to stand up, and he got under the covers. He turned over and closed his eyes. His eyes shot open when he felt the mattress move next to him. Not what I meant… Dean suddenly felt awkward, but he didn't have the heart to tell Castiel to sleep on the floor. Castiel soon fell into a deep sleep. Dean turned over and looked at Castiel. He wondered if he looked that peaceful when he slept. He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep comforted by Castiel's close presence.
Jun 3rd, 1837
A week away from the kingdom and Dean had never felt more homesick. He found cooking was a good way to pass time, but he couldn't do it without a purpose. For some reason, the entire wardrobe in the bunker was strange, so he and Castiel stayed away from the public as much as possible. Unfortunately, both were becoming a little stir crazy.
Dean was pacing in the main room, and Castiel was sitting in the chair with a book open on the desk. Castiel found his entertainment in reading. Dean had already made them lunch, so now he was bored out of his mind again. He had found a stress ball in a drawer in his room; he squeezed it and ran all possible scenarios through his mind. Castiel wasn't meant to be human, he was struggling with it. Dean squeezed the stress ball to the point where his knuckles turned white. If it wasn't for that damn spell, none of this would have happened. Dean's eyes slowly widened. This was all because of a spell. His mother's entire side of the family was capable of spells, which meant so was he. He whipped his head around. "Cas!" he exclaimed.
Castiel's head shot up from his book. "Dean, what is it?" he asked with urgency in his voice.
"This place has books for spells, right?" Castiel nodded his head. "Help me find the right one! There has to be one with the spell!"
Castiel stood up and looked at Dean confused. "Dean, what spell?" Dean was already scrambling around the bookshelves picking out all the ones that indicated sorcery.
"The spell used to turn you human! If I can find a way to reverse it I can change you back! I can't believe I didn't think of it before. If my mother could use sorcery so can I and I can-"
Castiel cut off Dean, "Wait! Dean, no I can't let you do that. You don't know how to control your abilities. It's far too dangerous. We just need to wait." Dean's excited smile faded.
"Cas, look, I know I'm not an expert. But I have to try. You're struggling as a human. I have to try to help you." Castiel looked at Dean with sadness in his eyes. Dean wondered if that sounded too personal. "P-plus if I can turn you back, we can go back to London."
"Dean, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but you want to do this for the wrong reasons." Castiel walked over to Dean, and looked up into his eyes. "I know we have already formed a profound bond, but I am not worth you risking your life to try to change me back. The time will pass, and the spell will break on its own." Dean opened his mouth in protest only to be cut short by Castiel placing his hand just below his left shoulder. Castiel gently squeezed Dean's left shoulder. "Where my hand is right now, I want you to look in the mirror." Dean nodded and quickly went to his room.
Dean approached the mirror in his room. It hadn't occurred to him that he hadn't looked in the mirror in a very long time. He had no need. He rolled up his sleeve and quietly gasped. Right below his left shoulder was a red handprint. It wasn't full, only the mark of fingers and the palm of the hand missing the middle. It was like a burn. Dean turned away from the mirror to face Castiel whom followed him into his room. "Cas, what is this?"
"It's my handprint. It was burned into your skin when I first touched you when we met. It always is burned on that particular spot. Your father had a handprint just like it that belonged to Raphael," replied Castiel.
"Why did you show it to me?"
"To prove to you that there is a natural bond between humans and their guardian angel. And also to prove that I was meant to protect you, not the other way around. I don't want you to worry about me, Dean. You need to stay safe, and you will not be safe if you begin to practice witchcraft." Castiel took another step closer to Dean. "If you truly care about me, you will not try to reverse this spell." Dean looked into Castiel's blue irises and couldn't help but to feel a sting. Castiel's eyes had changed so much since he became human. They were still beautiful, but Dean no longer saw an angel staring back at him. Despite this, he surrendered and nodded his head. He went back to the main room and began to put all the books back in their rightful place.
Night fell over Kansas swiftly, leaving both Dean and Castiel ready to sleep. Castiel had already fallen asleep on the couch in a different room. Dean didn't know what half of the items in the room were. There was a box with a glass center connected to the wall with strange string. He saw a button titled "on" at the bottom, but never felt the need to see what the box did; he just left it alone.
Dean was about to wake Castiel to tell him he could move to his room, but Castiel looked so exhausted. When he saw Castiel begin to shake from the chill in the air, he went to go get a thick blanket from another room. He covered Castiel and smiled. His smile quickly vanished when he started to have thoughts about how Castiel's exhaustion was because he was human. He knew he wasn't supposed to let this bother him anymore, and that it was Castiel's job to worry about him, but he couldn't help it. He cared about his angel, now former angel, and wanted to do something about it. He turned off the light so Castiel could rest better, and went into the kitchen.
After turning on the light, Dean walked over to the counter and popped a piece of cheese into his mouth. He quickly realized he ate when he was upset. He leaned against the counter and tossed around a tomato in his hand like a stress ball, minus the squeezing. Suddenly the lights began to flicker in the room. The room began to violently shake knocking Dean off of his feet. He tried to stand up but couldn't do anything besides hang onto the counter. "Cas!" All the surrounding windows exploded sending shatters of glass across the kitchen. Dean felt his left cheek get cut. He continued to scream for Castiel, but his voice was lost among the sound of continuously shattering windows. Dean felt more and more of his body get cut and stabbed with glass.
The windows stopped shattering, the room stopped shaking, and the lights stopped flickering. Castiel came running at Dean. He got on his knees to meet Dean's height. "Dean, you're hurt," he gently removed the glass that was stuck in Dean's cheek. He knew he couldn't heal Dean with a single touch, so he quickly started to look for a cloth. He found one and soaked it in water. He swiftly started cleaning Dean's wound before Dean could register what was happening around him.
"What happened, Cas?" asked Dean in a daze. He felt dizzy and his body was stinging with pain. Castiel gently wiped away the blood and held the cloth to the wound to try and numb the pain with the cold water.
"I don't know, but something is here," replied Castiel looking around the room. He was starting to panic. His heart was racing and his stomach churned; he could only assume he was experiencing true fear. Castiel helped Dean to his feet, and had to help him walk. Dean had many other wounds from the glass that Castiel could now see. "We need to get you somewhere safe immediately." Castiel helped Dean walk as fast as he could to the panic room at the far end of the bunker. He opened up the door and made sure Dean was safely inside before closing the door behind them and locking it tightly.
Dean nearly fell completely over only to barely catch himself. He fell to his knees and cried out in pain as glass dug into his hands. Castiel helped Dean over to a bed in the room and forced him to lie down. He ran to the back of the panic room to get a first aid kit. He returned with all the medical supplies they had and set to work.
Castiel continued to apologize to Dean; he had almost no idea what he was doing, but he couldn't let Dean lay and bleed. He made sure to carefully remove all of the glass before attempted to bandage the wounds. Dean tried to stay quiet despite the pain. He didn't want Castiel to apologize any more than he already was. He knew Castiel was trying his best. Castiel continuously turned his attention to the door. He knew they were safe in the panic room, it was warded from every threat, but the fear wouldn't leave him.
There was a loud thud against the door to the panic room. Dean and Castiel both turned their heads and held their breath. There was another thud, and another, and another. Something was trying to break down the door. Before Dean and Castiel could react, the door to the panic room fell to the floor. In the doorway they could see a man. He had light brown hair that fell just under his ears, and golden eyes. He was dressed different from other people. He wore blue denim jeans, a black shirt, and a brown leather jacket. Castiel stared at him in complete disbelief, it couldn't be, "Gabriel?"