Here is the next chapter! I couldn't get this story out of my head so you lucky ducks get an earlier posting :p I can't wait for the next episode with Cas so it looks like this will have to vent any feelings of worry.
Thank you very very much reviewers! Interesting ideas and thoughts as always. You guys are good!
The Mysterious Shadow- Haha a fish fry! I LOVED that. Especially with Dean as the cook. You hit the nail on the head with one of your insights so good hunting! Another was an interesting notion that I may very well take into account since I was planning on introducing some familiar faces once more.
Casismyfavorite- Why thank you. I really do think Cas wouldn't have done all that if he had been given a little more attention and help from our favorite hunters. Glad you have questions, hope it makes things more intriguing!
Ventorum- Thank you, I think the reason I started up with this story was due to frustration with the season 6-7 plotline. I feel like someone needs to be as spokesperson for our poor little angel! :D Good! Haha it is important for Dean to realize that they were friends and not just enemies.
IzzyGirl45- Very true. Plus the name Dick gives "rise" to a lot of fun jokes. Yup the poor thing may be lost and confused now but remembering may yet be an even greater hell. Don't worry, Dean always gets his act together when he is done PMSing! Thanks :) :) I am very grateful for the compliments since it means I am doing this somewhat right!
"Dean's Inferno"
Thunder rolled in the distance as a dry heat crept through a window. A black speck zoomed over a dusty road and away from the still night. The engine had been roaring for hours. A cassette tape was exchanged for another and the sound of it rewinding barely broke through the quiet. It was path that had heard the tape nearly as many times as the man who stubbornly fed it into the slot. Dean figured he could find the house with both eyes shut; not like he would actually try in the face of his brother's bitch face from the passenger's seat. The Impala's wheels stopped in the familiar dirt outside of the Singer auto shop.
"Here we are." Dean stepped out of the car as Sam stretched and did so as well. "Cas, are you coming out of there any time soon?" Dean peeked in the back seat and tried not to smile. The angel was asleep with his face pressed against the window with his mouth slightly open. Dean reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder before shaking him gently. "Come on Cas. We're here."
'Here' was the closest thing to a stable home that the brothers had known since the death of their mother. A peeling sign made of splintered wood welcomed them into a yard filled with half-formed vehicles. Castiel glanced over everything curiously as he took a step around an old tire. The brothers glanced at him, noting the way he looked at the place for the first time. He had never spent as many hours thumbing through the jumbled and often misplaced library that lived in pieces throughout the home. He never had dropped by for a beer after a tiring hunt or spent a Christmas waiting for an always too busy father to come home. But he still should have remembered it.
In the kitchen was the chair he once sat in as he and Ellen played a drinking game. The fireplace held the ashes of the only copy of the team freewill photograph. The home was the only safe haven he had when, bloody and upset, he came to recuperate even as the gray imprint of Rachel's wings were etched into the ground. When he could no longer tell heaven from hell he knew that the old home would likely be filled with the voices of his Winchesters and the splashing of alcohol into a frequently used glass. He did not remember, but something within the angel felt at peace as he stepped into the house.
"Hey Bobby!" Dean hollered as he steered Castiel through the often stuck door. "He still hasn't fixed the damned door?"
"No he hasn't because he has been too busy fixing your messes-" Bobby stopped short when he noticed a familiar blue eyed angel spying curiously around the living room. "What the hell is going on here?" He tried to read Dean's expression. "Would you like a drink…Cas?" He grasped a bottle of Amber liquid from a shelf after quickly removing the beaded rosary from its neck.
Dean put a hand protectively on the angel's shoulder. "Nah he's fine Bobby. This really is Cas, not a demon so don't go holy on his ass. It's him."
Bobby stared in awe at Castiel for a moment, eyebrows knotted. Everyone stood still in the tense quiet as the old hunter studied the angel who looked unsure back at him, leaning as close to Dean as possible. Suddenly Bobby got a smile on his face and he came over and hugged the perplexed angel.
"Good to see you, son." Sam smiled looking relieved and Dean let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding.
"Sam? There's food in the kitchen. How about you go and get yourself some? Cas, you are welcome to anything you want too." Sam took the hint and led Castiel into the kitchen as Bobby watched them leave and handed Dean a cold beer. "So what the hell is that angel doing here, I thought his body was ripped to shreds in that lake!"
"I don't know Bobby. He seems to have been alive for a while even after we left him. We went to see Martin at his nut house and it turns out Cas was his roommate there."
Bobby shook his head in wonder. "So this whole time he's been tucked away in a mental house, huh? How is that poor son of a bitch still alive?"
"We still more questions than answers, but Cas was tested on before he got here."
"How d'you know that?"
Dean took a sip. "He has needle punctures and incisions everywhere." Dean swallowed. "He's not right in the head either."
"Is he ever? Last time I checked that angel was out of his mind, stark mad and ready to blow up the world."
"I think he's over that. Bobby, Cas can't remember a thing. We found him at the hospital and he didn't know my name. Stupid son of a bitch didn't even know his own name!"
Bobby took a swing out of his own bottle as he leaned against the wall, processing everything as quickly as possible. "We need to find out who was running those tests and why."
Dean rolled his eyes. "And how are we going to do that, eh Matlock?"
"Watch your tone boy. First things first, we need to know what Cas knows. No, don't you interrupt. If we can get any clue whatsoever, it's going to help us. Leviathans or demons would be up to this and we need to know which ones. Torturing an angel takes power and a heck of a lot of bravery and stupidity."
Dean nodded. "I just am worried about the poor sucker."
"Yeah, that makes two of us. So how do you know this is Cas and not Jimmy? It's not like they don't look the same."
Dean grimaced. "I would know Cas anywhere. It's him. I'm sure you will be able to tell too, he's just like he used to be. Awkward and confused about everything in the entire world."
"So he's still an angel? Mojo and all?"
"I don't know."
Bobby frowned. "Looks like you idgits are sure doing some sloppy detective work. Let me get a look at him." Bobby made his way into the kitchen past Dean before the younger man could stop him.
"Stand up Cas." The angel stood, eyeing the man with trepidation. "Shirt off." Castiel obeyed and stood in the pale light of the kitchen looking uncomfortable. Bobby circled around him muttering to himself as Castiel shied away from him.
"Don't worry Cas, he won't hurt you." Castiel glanced back at Dean and looked comforted. He warmed up slightly to the older hunter as Sam shook his head in amusement. "What?"
"Nothing Dean." Dean glared. "It's just that you don't even realize the power you have over an angel. He's supposed to be one of the most powerful beings on earth and he listens to you better than a puppy would."
"Shut up Sam." Dean tried his best to fight off a pleased feeling that began to swell in his heart.
"I am an angel?" Castiel tilted his head to the side quizzically as Bobby moved him closer to the lamp.
"Yeah Cas. Can you do any of your angel stuff?"
Castiel shook his head. "I don't know Dean. I am sorry."
"Look man, it's alright. Just take your time to figure things out." Sam smiled encouragingly at the angel and Castiel gave him a slight one in return.
Castiel stood in the middle of the kitchen shaking off the feeling that he had been there before. Three sets of eyes watched him as he awkwardly tried to will his body to do something angelic. Anything angelic. He squinted at the other three before shutting his eyes.
"Cas, you still can't remember? Maybe all your mojo is gone." Dean came over and stood by the angel as he looked ashamedly up at him.
"I apologize. It seems I am not what you thought I was." Castiel's shoulders slumped.
"Nah Cas. You just have been through a lot of shit." Dean sat down on a wobbly chair and sighed tiredly.
Castiel stood in the same spot looking upset. "Dean?"
"It's okay. We will just try something else." Castiel watched as a tried shadow crossed over the hunter's face and trembled as he felt the worry eating through the man that could not be seen.
"I…" Castiel stepped over, unsure what to say. Dean glanced up at him and Castiel gripped his shoulder in the same comforting manner Dean had done to him. Something snapped behind blue irises and Castiel went rigid. The lights sparked and flashed as a terrible roar was unleashed under the hard wood floors. Shelves trembled as their contents danced off and shattered on the heaving ground.
"Cas? Cas!" Sam gripped onto the window sill as he watched light streaming through the angel's body. Blue eyes were opened wide, fear and horror widening them as wild dark hair was blown back from the angel's face. Dean's eyes were locked on Castiel's as he felt the grip of the angel's hand tearing into sensitive skin. Black wings escaped once more from Castiel's back and knocked Bobby aside as he attempted to pull the angel away. Dean hollered in pain and Bobby fought his way back over, Sam mirroring his motions.
"Get him Sam! You get that side!" Sam nodded to Bobby and crawled over to Castiel gripping his ankle. Dean's eyes rolled back a he fought to keep conscious. A whiteness at the back of his mind insistently beat against the backs of his eyes and consumed his mind.
The flames bit into every inch of exposed flesh and yet their abundance gave little more light to the darkness than a dozen matches. Back and forth the fires would burn and the darkness would swallow them. He had never felt so tired. The clanging of armies of hell rang around him forming the sounds of sharp metals tearing into soft flesh. His brothers and sisters were dying. A thin feeling of remorse washed through him as he crept forward. An angel fell beside him and he could feel the blood pool beneath his feet as it began to hiss and boil. Another cried out and yet Castiel forged on ahead. He needed to complete the mission. Assigned the hopeless task of sneaking in and procuring the Michael sword, he was not the most envied of angel's. Weaker than most and running off of orders, he had felt the slight sense of free will rear up inside him as he received his assignment. He smothered the voice and complied.
Now he was here. In the pits of hell he listened to the sounds above him quieting. Blood trailed down his body but the nerves were too exhausted and overloaded with signals of sensation to pay attention to more than one voice. Sometimes the voice of pain broke through. Sometimes something like fear gripped him as he reeled from nausea. One foot followed another and he stumbled forward with one hand scraping against a rough wall. He nearly sank to the ground when his head rang with the sounds metal.
It was in the heart of hell that he found him. His body was a mess: clothes and body shredded. Once strong arms were gripped by heavy chains and the man was not moving. Castiel stepped forward curiously. He could still see the fullness of the man's mouth. Dark blond hair was streaked with blood and the angel found himself wanting to reach out and comfort the man's destroyed body and mind. He moved forward quietly as he allowed his senses to take over his thoughts. As he neared the body a hissing of flame broke through surrounding the tormented form. Castiel frowned and waited for the flames to abate. He watched them grow hungrier as they greedily crept towards the supinated figure. Castiel took in a deep breath, knowing what he was about to do would likely kill him.
He forced his body through the flames and felt them singe over his sensitive wings. Never before had he felt such pain and it nearly destroyed him. A clump of bloody feathers melted behind him as he wrapped his arms around the man's stilled form. Agony left him weak and out of his mind as he clutched the body to his chest and broke back through the flames. He shivered in pain and collapsed outside the wall of fire as he tried to center his breathing. He pushed the screaming feeling of ruined flesh out of his mind as he set to work healing the man so many had died to save. Another lake of fire vented towards them and Castiel barely had time to grip him by the shoulder and take flight.
He nearly fell out of the air more than once. He tumbled towards them depths of the earth more times than he cared to recall, each fall bringing frustrated tears to his eyes. His tired body was about to give up on him. The man stirred and Castiel gripped him closer. Somehow he was able to push on ahead, comforted by the feeling of a now alive body in his arms. Harrow hell lay behind him hissing from its miserable flames as Castiel found his way back to the earth. He collapsed on the ground outside the gates of hell as he felt the man cough beside him. Castiel glanced over and noticed he was still asleep. He used the last of his energy to heal him and cry the message that would raise the hopes of his brothers and sisters: Dean Winchester is saved.
"Dean? Dean!" Sam towered over his brother having pulled him away from the seizing body of the angel. He held Dean up from the ground and noticed the hand print of the angel on his shoulder was as angry and red as I had been when Dean was fresh out of hell.
"Sammy?" Dean sat up on his own as he took in a deep breath. He glanced over at the ripped cloth on his shoulder and bit his lip at the throbbing pain.
"What the hell happed back there?" Bobby passed Dean a glass of water as Sam got Castiel to lay still.
Dean shook his head in amazement. "I think I was in one of Cas' memories. The one where he rescued me from hell."
"What?" Sam placed a cold cloth on the Castiel's forehead as blackness trailed like tears down the angel's cheek.
"Yeah. It was like I was in his head and…I saw and felt everything. You know, I never gave much thought to what it really took for Cas to rescue me from hell? Guess I kinda took the poor son of a bitch for granted." Dean slumped in the chair and nodded wearily over at Castiel. "Is he okay?"
Sam shook his head. "I'm not sure. The black goo is back and looks like he is bleeding too. Dean…I think the stuff is killing him."
Dean sat quietly for a moment before forcing himself out of the chair. He sat down next to the angel and lightly ran a hand over his messy hair. It was then that Dean got the chance to really look over the angel's wings. He had thought them to be simply black in color but that was not the case. Varying shades of charcoal and gray ate up feathers. Some were missing in places and others ruined beyond repair. Light scars trailed under ruffled feathers as a reminder of the pain of open wounds. They had been healed at some point but never fully recovered from the hellfire that had greedily consumed them. Dean felt a well of tears start in his throat as he ran a hand through the wings and held them back. All for him and Dean hadn't given a second thought to it.
"Damn it Cas." Dean pulled Castiel into his arms and held him to his chest. He carried him into a guest room and laid his sleeping form down on the bed. He heard Sam and Bobby whispering in the kitchen as he slipped under the covers and held the angel o his chest. His hands trailed softy over feathers. Cas nestled his head in the crook of Dean's neck as if comforted by the touch. Dean absently let his hand through the feathers of one wing until he felt a few slip into his palm. He felt the angel tremble for a moment before lying still once more. Dean frantically looked over each wing in the moonlight noticing how other areas looked to have recently shed feathers. The Leviathans had fled from his body and still something was killing him. Something was worming its way through his angel's body as it took his mind and poisoned his body. As Dean held the angel he realized he was dying. No. Dean placed a rough kiss on Castiel's cheek. There was no way anyone was taking him away again. Leviathan or demon, whoever had done this would pay Winchester style.