Okay time for some Arthur action up in this Fanfic. Dean Chapter. I enjoyed writing this one, especially the end. :D
-C
Chapter 7: Unanswered Prayers
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"Sure, give me some dental floss, a bottle of some fine grade whisky and a sewing needle I can clean a gun wound in five minutes flat." Dean winked. "So that's Queen Guinevere huh? Hollywood doesn't do her justice-"
…
"GAIUS!" A voice shouted from behind the door, cutting off Dean's thoughts. A man swung opened the flimsy wood banging hard against the stone wall. He had blond curly hair and was dressed very similar to Percival, except with selves.
"Sir Leon?! What has happened?" Gaius asked dropping everything and rushing towards the door.
"There's been an accident, at the old tavern and inn, a fire!"
"Of course something like this today. Merlin grab—." The old man started and then stopped himself looking over to Dean instead. "Dean grab the medical bag over there, and stay close to me."
Dean didn't hesitate, the call for help was one of his primal instincts, so this time he hulled the very heavy bag over his shoulders and helped the old man steady himself as they tried to hurry out of the room. They ran down the stairs as fast as they could. Which opened up into in a castle courtyard now, and Dean could see the smoke rising not too far away.
First day in ancient Camelot, and there was already trouble. Dean wondered if he really was a magnet for these occurrences or if Camelot just had a lot of problems to…he was hoping on the latter.
"Where is it again, Sir Leon?" Gaius asked as they rushed towards the screams.
"The Old Tavern and one of the conjoined houses, we managed to get everyone out but a few are suffering from extreme burns and head wounds we did not think it wise to move them. The villagers are trying to put out the fire but it is as if it has a mind of its own."
"Has the King been informed?" Gaius heaved as he tried to make his old legs move faster. Dean wondered if it would just be easier to carry the old man.
"Yes, I sent Sir Elyan to him just as I went to fetch you."
They turned the corner and Dean had to cover his face as a blast of black smoke struck them. Coughing the three hurried towards a clearing where a few people had been laid out on the grass. There were about twelve wounded in all, some were suffering from very nasty burns on their arms and hands while a couple had a few head wounds. Dean was no stranger to blood but he felt his gut twist when he saw a little girl whose hands looked like they were smothered with raw hamburger.
"Dean, I need my bag hurry." The old man set out to the most severe burns first. Dean put the bag down next to him and grabbed a handful of linen cloth bandages, handing them over to a few of the volunteers who had offered the old physician help.
"Gaius! What can I do?" Gwen appeared next to them, faint smudges of ash on her skin and her dress completely ruined by mud and dirt.
"My Lady! Are you hurt?" Gaius stopped bandaging an old man to stare at her.
"No, I was just passing by when it happened. Here give me that." Gwen reached past him and grabbed some wrappings out of Dean's hand.
"I don't think this is a job for a Queen-." Dean started but the look Gwen gave him stopped him cold.
"I will have none of that. Fetch me some water to cleanse the wounds." The queen addressed an un-injured villager who ran towards the well immediately. "These are my people, not too long ago I was one of them. Becoming Queen will not stop me from helping." She said confidently, and Dean couldn't help but admire her resolve. She knelt down, uncaring for the mud and blood that was smearing on her dress, and inspected a few of the burn victims nearest. Dean nodded when he was sure she'd be fine before returning to Gaius and helping him hold down a man who was flaring his arms in pain from a severe head wound.
"It was like an Explosion!" He heard a villager next to Gaius muttering as he helped them hold the man down. "There was a scream and some kind of wail the likes I have never heard. It set chills in your bones, Gaius."
Dean looked over to the three houses on fire. One was a Tavern connected to what looked like a lodge, and the last was a small house. The fire was acting odd, the water being thrown at it did nothing to slow it's consumption as it edged closer to the neighboring houses. He felt a tug on his pants, looking down Dean saw there was a little boy covered in black soot and ash clinging to his leg. His eyes were wide with fear but he looked relatively unharmed. "Hey bud, are you okay? Where are your parents?" Dean asked, funny how he found it so easy to go into concerned adult mode around kids. He use to hate kids…
The boy was about to speak when a loud commanding voice filled the square causing everyone to stop in their tracks.
"GET SOME MORE WATER ON THAT FIRE! Anyone who is not injured should be helping put out that blasted fire! We have to stop it before it causes further damage to the upper city. Everyone! Man, Woman and Child! NOW! Gaius, how bad are they?"
Dean looked over Gaius's shoulder curiously at him. He was broad shoulder, average height, with a fair deal of muscle. He was at the most ten years younger than Dean, but it was clear that he had just as much experience, which literarily radiated confidence from his blue eyes. His hair was blond, and shone gold in the sunlight. Dean didn't need introductions to know who the hell that was. King Arthur. He shook his head in disbelief. This was the Mighty King from all those legends. Dean thought. This was THE King to rival all Kings.
Damnit. He's just a kid.
"It's not good Sire, these wounds will require quite some time to heal. And the fire it seems refuses to go out." Gaius sighed moving on to his next patient.
"Where is Merlin? Shouldn't he be helping you?" The King snapped, looking around.
"He is sick Arthur." Gwen said coming out from around Dean and cleaning her hands on her dress. Dean tried to meld into the crowd more, forgetting for a moment that the boy still clung to him.
"Guinevere!" Arthur shouted, his face melting at once from King to concerned husband. He pulled her close and inspected her hands, reassured that the blood was not her own. Dean watched as the King turned from his wife to stare at the fires now growing in massive height. The same amount of concern still etched on his face. He was obviously bred to be a leader, and he definitely was compassionate. But seeing the real life King Arthur in the Flesh, Dean couldn't help but feel like the boy King was missing something.
The little boy tugged on Dean's pants again, this time wailing like a police siren. Dean knelt down at once and tried to comfort him by rubbing his shoulders. Arthur, who had been passing by with a bucket about to join the others, stopped and walked over to them. "Is he alright?"
Dean looked up, about to tell him to mind his own business before he noticed it was in fact the King talking to him. Instead he looked from the boy to Arthur, unsure. "Uh, I'm not completely sure." Dean looked back to the boy. "Hey Bud, listen it's going to be okay. Why don't you tell me where your mum or dad is, 'kay? Can you take me to them?" The boy suddenly made a mad dash right towards the burning house at the edge of the street. Dean and Arthur both saw that the boy was heading towards the door to the crumbling house, and they both made a mad dash to stop him.
"ARTHUR NO!" Gwen screamed grabbing Arthur's arm jerking him to a stop. But no one was there to hold back Dean however. Dropping everything in his arms, He covered his mouth with a red handkerchief in his pocket and rushed in after the kid.
The whole place was about to fall over. Dean could practically hear the wood supports groaning over the effort to keep everything aloft. Coughing Dean followed the kid's trail into a back room where a girl had been concealed under a fallen cupboard. "Fuck." Dean hissed as he grabbed the kid by the collar and threw him towards the exit shouting for him to leave. "I've got her now go!" He growled his throat already raw twice in one day; thankfully the boy listened and ran out screaming.
It took some effort but Dean was able to lift the cupboard off of her and free her leg which was obviously broken. Luckily for her, she was unconscious. So she wouldn't feel it if he jarred her leg carrying her. Dean froze, however. The fire was blazing all around him, eating up the wood and stone structure with blinding hot haste. But in the room that should feel like an oven Dean's stomach lurched as he felt a sudden wave of freezing cold air hit his back.
"Double Fuck." He hissed. He didn't have to look far for the source. A young woman stood in the doorway he had just come through. She was average looking, but obviously dead. Her ghost flickered in and out and circled Dean and the injured girl on the floor. Dean didn't have time for this, he rushed forward and grabbed an old iron frying pan off the wall, just as the ghost screamed and lurched for him. He swung, and she faded into thin air.
Quickly Dean reached down and grabbed the girl and swung her over his shoulder, hurrying out of the burning building. Just in time, as the second his foot touched the ground outside the three buildings behind him crumbled and the fire blazing within went out with an eerie hiss that left the entire crowd of townsfolk silent.
He was coughing like mad now, starring behind him in shock. If he had been a second longer…A flicker of light caught his eye. Looking over into the deserted ally-way near him, there stood not one ghost or two, but a sea of flickering after images of haunted and gaunt faces. They were only there for a second, all starring accusingly at him, before fading away. It could have been his imagination playing tricks on him; it could have even been the smoke still falling from the smoldering rubble. But Dean knew that in his case, it never was the easy option. He tried to catch his breath, his lungs full of smoke, and the panic slowly rising. A hand on his shoulder made him jerk back to reality; Gwaine smiled next to him and offered to take the woman.
"Only one day in Camelot and your already a hero?" Gwaine said nodding his head in approval. "Fine job, mate, but don't overdue it."
"That was brave of you." Gwen's voice said at his side, while another hand was around his shoulder and luring him to an upturn bucket handing him a cup of water.
"I don't believe I recognize you…" Dean looked up and then back down. Damn, how was he supposed to keep a low profile around here, if every King and his brother keep finding him?
"He's new, My lord." Gwaine said hurriedly rushing back over. "My cousin-."
"My names Dean Winchester, Sire." He mumbled, all these titles and shit were going to drive him insane. "Your Doctor sent for me, it someone close to him has come down with a rare sickness. And he thought I could help, I'm a specialist." Ah, sometimes it felt good to lie, he thought. His made up alias had such an easier life then he did, and it was fun to get to pretend for brief moments that he wasn't really as screwed up as he was. And the plus side to being in medieval England meant no more fake FBI ID's.
"Merlin? He's sick?" Arthur looked over at Gwaine who was staring at Dean unsure.
"Yes, sorry Sire." The Knight finally said, "It seems he came down with something yesterday, and Gaius didn't want to alarm you until he knew for sure. How contagious is it?"
"Oh Very." Dean said nodding his head and coughing, he could still feel the smoke in his lungs. "Very contagious, best to keep him locked up until it passes. You wouldn't want an epidemic on your hands."
"Is it deadly?" The King looked down, and Dean thought he saw genuine fear hiding behind the Kings stoic face. Maybe he was just imagining it, but it looked like he was more worried about Merlin then the idea of plague in his city.
"Only if you don't treat it properly." Dean said standing up and stumbling slightly. "Don't worry, I haven't lost one in years." He gave them the thumbs up and before either one could speak up, he walked away. He needed fresh air. No, what he really needed was time to figure out how he was going to deal with a vindictive ghost army problem in friggen Camelot. No guns and no Sam. This was going to be one hell of a job to do solo. He walked out of town into a clearing just outside the walls and leaned up against a tree, his mind whirling with scenarios. How did he go about cleansing ghosts in a land where magic was forbidden? It wasn't magic he would be preforming, but it would be close enough to it…maybe Gaius would know how to convince the King. Or maybe he could talk with Gwen…
"Damn-it Cas." Dean hissed starring up at the cloudy sky. "Sam." For the first time in a long time, Dean Winchester felt alone. Truly. He wasn't just states away or something like that. He was literally centuries away in a different time. Sam didn't exist yet, hadn't even been born… Cas would be though…He was an Angel after all….
He knew it was a long shot, but hell it was all he had. Getting down on his knees and folding his hands he took a deep breath. "Castiel. I uh know this might sound strange. But if you can-uh-hear me, I need your advice. I could use some help. We-uh haven't actually met yet. I'm on a sort of time escapade because of you right now and…well in the future were pals and….damn-it this is all crap." Dean hissed getting off his knee as he felt his anger rising at trying to explain himself. "Cas if you can hear me get your Ass down here and help me fix this. Sick and tired of this Bullshit, Cas!" He finished, angrier then when he had started. "Son of a Bitch!" He cursed, Feeling like a complete fool for even thinking it was possible; Dean folded his arms and returned to sulking against the tree, contemplating his next move.
…
What Dean Winchester didn't realize is that his words traveled. Through everything, his faith was still there. Not in God, or religion, but in his Friends and Family. Even if no one he knew was around to hear them, his words were felt.
And he could feel. Worlds away in Heaven, he felt the call.
Castiel had felt the human's words and he stared down from heaven's door curious. Never had a human singled him out and prayed to his name before. Who was it that called to him? And why?
"Castiel."
The Angel turned to his older brother Michael.
"Ignore it, brother. It is not yet time for you to leave." Michael said ushering him away from Heavens gates.
"But brother, why me?"Castiel asked doing as he was told and slowly following him.
"I do not know, but it does not matter. Our lives in Heaven past so slow for us to comprehend, and their lives are so short for them to understand. It is not uncommon for them to pray for our divine intervention." The Arch-Angel said, comforting his brother. "It is best to ignore their voices and do as Father Bids. We are Soldiers, always remember that Castiel. Our duty is to Father and his will, we cannot be called upon by mankind like dogs, we must remain vigilant and forever at our posts. We must only appear to them when absolutely necessary. Do you understand?"
"Yes brother." The younger Angel nodded and quickly returned to his post in Heaven, but not before glancing back one last time towards the gates. He was a good solider, a good son, a good brother. But for the first time in his life Castiel felt himself disobeying. Even though he was told to forget, the young Angel found it hard to do so. It gave him a kind of warmth he had never felt before. Was it hope? Love? Curiosity? Whatever it was Castiel felt it hard to let the feeling go and he wondered for how long he would remember. How long would it haunt him…
His first prayer.
DO NOT OWN SUPERNATURAL OR MERLIN
AN:Edit
