couldyouharmlucifer: Of course Bobby is in this story. I absolutely had to.
Alexia Blackbriar: Thank you, darling!
Gabriel had always said being too trusting was Castiel's biggest sin, and it was certainly true here. He had no idea what it was about this strange boy with emerald eyes. He made the angel go from giddy to terrified to calm in a matter of minutes. Cas smiled as they discussed how to help him out of this situation. Dean held his hand out and Castiel barely thought before taking it, loving the warmth and the rough callouses he felt on the young boy's hand. Unfortunately, mostly due to Castiel's doing, Dean's muscles were not cooperating properly due to a certain electrocution. Dean released him with a cry of pain and Castiel fell backwards into the wall he'd been crouched against. Dean was trembling. Sam came running in with a phone to his ear, his eyes wide and concerned.
Castiel pushed himself up, ignoring his ever growing exhaustion. He'd drop dead from tiredness before any hunters could catch him, he thought wryly. It had been over two days with very little sleep, plagued by nightmares, along with intense bouts of crying as well as extremely little food and extreme amount of energy output. He was surprised he was capable of rational thought at the moment. Actually, he was surprised he was even conscious. He shook his head to clear it, only succeeding in increasing the soft pounding that had started behind his temples, as he went to Dean's side.
"Are you alright?" He reached out to touch Dean, but he flinched away. Cas cocked his head and met the boy's eyes, which seemed far away. He shook his head and refocused on Castiel.
"Y-yeah. I'm…I'm fine. Don't worry." Castiel snorted, and Dean raised an eyebrow at the foreign sound.
"You've suffered a severe shock, likely as well as a concussion. You are definitely NOT fine, Dean." He reached out slowly to place his hand on Dean's chest. The hunter-in-training seemed to recoil at the touch, but forced himself to still. Cas closed his eyes, and tried to remember the discovery he'd had on healing.
"W-what are you doing?" Dean asked hesitantly. Castiel didn't answer. He forced himself to dredge up enough energy to fix what he'd done. As he felt the power flow into his hand, Dean deduced his intent. "Cas, no! You're dead on your feet. Don't waste energy on me. I swear, I'm fine." He tried to move away, but Castiel curled his fingers in the boy's shirt, holding him in place as he forced the damage to repair itself. By the time he'd expended all the energy he possibly could without losing consciousness (again), he heard Dean breathe a soft sigh of relief. He released him and opened his eyes with difficulty.
Dean smiled at him, shaking his head. "You shouldn't had done that, you ridiculous angel." Castiel opened his mouth to respond, but he couldn't make his brain work fast enough to form words. He tried to step forward and collapsed, Dean caught him quickly, his eyes wide.
"Hey Cas? Cas!" Dean propped him up, shaking him slightly. "You okay?" Castiel tried to respond but he only managed a small nod. It was Dean's turn to snort. "Yeah, peachy. I'm sure that's why you look about ten seconds from unconsciousness." Vaguely, he heard Sam speaking in the background as Dean led him to the chair again. He collapsed into it, not even caring where his wings landed. He knew that must be hanging limp because he could barely feel them, which actually terrified him. He'd never been this tired before. He wanted to close his eyes and – a sharp slap on his cheek made him open his eyes and recoil into the chair.
"Sorry, man. You gotta stay awake for me. Can't have you passing out on me again." Cas nodded slowly, focusing on very, very green eyes to keep from drifting again. They reminded him of the color he saw when sunlight filtered through the thick canopy in his forest or the pure emeralds he found on excursions with his brother. A pang went through him at the thought of Gabriel. He desperately wanted to hope his brother was okay, but the brief glimpse he'd had of Dean's father and what Gabriel had taught him about hunters gave him pictures of his brother, unconscious, his beautiful wings pinioned and bound behind him, the gold dulled to a dirty bronze, his hair matted and bloody.
He shook his head, trying to rid the image, continuing to increase the pounding in his head. He became vaguely aware that Dean was speaking, and had been for a while. He forced himself to listen, watching as his green eyes flashed and the hand that wasn't holing the cell phone was moving animatedly.
"No, Bobby, you don't understa – No, I can't do that! How could you - ? No, Bobby, please." His voice dropped and he glanced over at Castiel. "He saved Sammy. I can't just –. Yes, I know. I know Bobby. But you know how dad is. And he's just a kid." He paused, continuing to pace. He snorted. "Out on a hunt, where do you think the damn sonuvabitch was?" Another short pause, and Dean winced, meeting Cas's gaze again. "N-no. He actually caught something – one…someone this time. It's his brother and – I know what it'll do for our family. I'm not fucking stupid!" His voice had raised and his pacing increased. Castiel focused behind him and saw Sam shoving clothes and supplies into a black duffel bag. He kept glancing up at his brother, his expression clouded. Finally, after a couple minutes of arguing, he stood and walked to Dean, tapping his shoulder and holding out his hand. Dean gave him the phone with an angry expression, his green eyes dark. Sam started talking softly, placating. Dean turned back to Castiel, grabbing something off the side table.
"You still with me, man?" He asked softly. Castiel felt a sting and looked down. Dean was cleaning the scratches on his arm, which he honestly couldn't remember where he got. It must have been sometime last night, because they weren't from the forest.
"I-I believe so." Cas replied hesitantly. His voice was rough and broke once. Dean raised an eyebrow. "Well…I've been better." He corrected, dryly. Dean laughed shortly.
"Yeah, I guess so. We'll get some food as soon as we figure something out for you, 'kay?" At the mention of food, Castiel groaned. He was absolutely starving, and he knew the boys couldn't be much better. Dean smiled slightly. "Tell me about it."
"Dean?" He glanced up from his work, looking up through impossibly long lashes. "Who were you talking to?" He gestured vaguely to Sam, who was still on the phone, apparently having just as little luck as Dean.
"Oh, that's Uncle Bobby. He's…well, he basically a second father to us. If anyone can help you it's him." Dean's voice was full of hope.
"B-but why?"
"He – "
"No. Why are you helping me? I saw your father, Dean." The boy flinched, but met his eyes. "He was cruel. But…you…Why are you doing this?" His eyes flickered to his arms, which were cleaned and wrapped now, to Sam, then back to piercing green.
"I-I'm not my father, Cas." Dean sounded strained. "I'm not like that!" He turned his hands and grabbed Cas's wrist. He was pretty sure Dean wasn't even aware of the contact. "I don't – I can't do what he does. I can't." His eyes were wide, pleading. He sounded almost desperate, which utterly confused Castiel. He cocked his head, looking at this odd boy.
"I believe you." A shudder went through him, and he relaxed with a sigh. He dropped Cas's wrist, which felt unexpectedly cold at the absence, and stood, facing his brother, who was grinning broadly.
"Good new?" Sam nodded, holding out the phone. Dean took it.
"Yeah, Bobby?" He was quiet, his nervous pacing stilled, and he glanced back at Cas, confused. "S-sure… I mean…why? Y-yeah, sorry. One sec." He walked over. "He…he wants to talk to you?" It was almost a question, but he held the phone out anyways. Castiel hesitantly lifted it to his ear.
"Y-yes?" The voice on the other end was gruff and brisk.
"You the damn angel my boys are riskin' their necks for?" He sounded annoyed.
"I-I…" He stuttered, surprised.
"Nevermin' that. Dean said you helped Sam, that true?"
"Y-yes. H-he was sick, and – "
"Then you've got yourself a fan in my boy. You better be worth all this damn trouble."
"Y-yes sir. I-"
"Shuddup. I'll help you, but only for Dean. Dunno what's gotten into that boy, but he's stubborn as his old man. Too bad John doesn't have half the heart his boys do." His voice was tender. Castiel had started to believe that this is truly where Dean and Sam got their kindness from.
"Th-thank you. I-I can't – "
"Just give me back to Dean, boy. We'll work it out." His voice was less brisk as Cas handed the phone back to Dean, who was grinning, his green eyes sparkling like gems. He continued speaking, much more animatedly. Castiel contented himself watching Dean move, his excitement coming through like a little kid, his movement quick, and his pacing had a bounce in it. It made Cas smile. Eventually he snapped the phone shut, and came back to Castiel, practically emanating energy.
"It's set! We're taking you over to Bobby's before tonight. We're gonna get you out of here, Cas."
