AN: Hey guy's, here's chapter 9! I'm posting this as I run out the door though, so I haven't had time to re-read and check for mistakes, so I apologize for any that are there!
The rag-tag family stepped through the door, hearing it click shut behind them as they surveyed the room they had come out in. It was stark white office with opaque glass that may have been windows, but seemed to have nothing outside of them. One wall was clear glass that lead out to a hallway. They gently pushed the door open and walked down the hall with Sam and Dean in the lead. Every one of them was silent, using all their senses to the max to detect any potential threat or sign of Castiel.
"Do you think the walls have hidden doors we aren't seeing?" Jo said softly as they walked along the seemingly blank hall.
"I haven't felt any drafts," Sam answered, "But maybe."
Before they could actually try to find a hidden door an inhuman scream echoed down the hallway and Dean took off, following the sound as it repeated. Everyone else was close behind, trying to keep up with Dean to watch his and each other's backs.
When Dean finally found the room the screams were emanating from he skidded to a halt, blanching at what he saw. Castiel was obviously back in Jimmy's body and he was strapped to a chair much the same as the one that they had found Samandriel in when Crowley had tortured him what seemed like centuries ago. Naomi was bent over him, a look of twisted glee stretching her features into grotesque shapes as she twisted another pin and Castiel screamed, his voice cutting off in a sob.
Naomi didn't even seem to notice that anyone else was there until Dean charged her and tackled her away from Castiel who was still choking on sobs of pain. She screeched and clawed out at Dean as he swung his fist down into her face.
Before he could land a second blow he was yanked back hard by Sam,"Get Cas. We'll handle her." The younger Winchester ordered, putting himself between Dean and Cas, and Naomi along with Ellen and Bobby.
Jo was already making for the chair Cas was in and carefully working out how to extract him. Dean joined her without a second thought and carefully started pulling the pins out of Castiel's head first, wincing as he whimpered in pain.
"I'm sorry, Cas. I'm so sorry. It's going to be okay. Just hang in there and we'll get you out of here and somewhere safe and fix you up, I promise." Dean chanted as he and Jo worked as quickly as they could to remove all the pins and unlock the cuffs as well.
Behind them Ellen, Sam, and Bobby were fighting Naomi with all they had. And right now they had enough to give them the upper hand. Naomi was crumbling and unable to take on three people at once when she had clearly been weakened by recent events. She screeched like a trapped animal and lashed out with everything she had, which really wasn't much compared to what Sam had seen from previous angels.
"Dean." Cas groaned, eyes finally focusing out of their spinning pain-induced movements to settle shakily on Dean's face as Jo extracted the last pin and tossed it to the floor.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm here. You're gonna be alright, just hang in there a little longer, okay?" Dean said, trying to figure out the best way to move Cas without hurting him more.
"You're gonna hurt him no matter what you do, Dean. You've just gotta do it and go." Jo said, eyes darting between the bleeding angel and the fight raging near by.
Dean gritted his teeth and nodded, "I'm sorry Cas."
"I know." Cas mumbled weakly, causing Dean to pause and stare at him for a moment.
Cas stared back, not breaking eye contact as Dean took a deep breath and hauled Cas to his feet, leaning all of the angel's weight on his own body when Castiel sagged against him.
"Hang in there, hang in there." Dean told him, tossing one of Cas's arms over his own shoulders and holding onto him tightly.
"Sam!" Jo shouted, moving away from Dean to join the fight. "Get out of here. We'll handle the rest. Go!"
Sam spared one glance at everyone and backed out of the fight and over to Dean. It was hard, leaving Ellen, Bobby, and Jo in the middle of a fight. But Sam and Dean trusted that they knew what they were doing. They knew they could handle themselves, and that it would be insulting to act like they couldn't.
Sam came over and slung Castiel's other arm up over his shoulders, suspending the barely conscious angel between him and his brother as they made for the nearest door where he carefully drew the symbol the reaper had given them using blood from a cut on his hand. As soon as he was sure it was right he looked to Dean, both of them gripping Castiel tightly as they stepped through, thinking hard of the Bat Cave.
OoOoOoOoO
The sensation of jumping out of Heaven was much the same as when Castiel used his grace to transport them around the country. A quick sensation of spinning and then suddenly having the ground just solidify again which made it hard to keep your balance. But Dean and Sam managed to stay upright, Cas still suspended between them, as they landed in the familiar main room of home.
"Get angel warding up, now." Dean ordered.
Sam did as told without question, leaving Dean to take care of Cas who seemed to have finally lost consciousness. Dean carefully laid him down on the couch, the same couch he had been lying on two months ago when Castiel had clawed his way into Dean's semi-dreaming state to cry out for help. Help Dean hadn't been able to give.
"Come on, Cas. You can't quit on me now." Dean begged, gently stroking his cheek in an fruitless attempt to rouse him.
After a few more attempts Dean gave up and pulled out a knife to cut away Castiel's torn and blood stained clothes so he could see the full extent of his injuries. They were bad, all of them still leaking blood and little rays of what Dean figured was grace.
"How the hell do you treat an angel?" Dean muttered, staring at the wounds and trying to figure out what to do.
"Try cleaning the wounds with Holy Water?" Sam suggested as he came back and started drawing the final symbol to keep angels out. They would keep Cas in as well, but it was their only choice right now.
"Right." Dean responded, going into the kitchen and grabbing a jug of it and the first aid kit before going back to his friend.
Dean started with the wounds on Castiel's head, carefully cleaning them and practically choking with relief as the wounds started to heal themselves as Holy Water was dribbled over them. In half an hour Dean had cleaned all the wounds and was carefully dabbing more water over the ones that were still healing. Castiel had mumbled a few things, all in Enochian, throughout the affair but he never seemed to regain consciousness. When the last wound was healed completely he gave a contented sigh, his whole body relaxing though his eyes remained closed.
"You should take him to a room, Dean. He'll be more comfortable on a dry, warm bed." Sam said from the table where he had been watching everything.
Dean just nodded, bending down to gently scoop Castiel into his arms, tucking the angel's head under his own and making for the bedrooms. After a moment's hesitation he took Castiel into his own. He didn't have the energy to find fresh bedding for another room. This was easier.
Carefully he set Castiel down on the bed, draping the covers around him before sitting on the edge and just staring at him. Dean felt exhausted, more then he had in a long time. His body ached and his head throbbed. But he wasn't willing to sleep. No, he had to be there and awake when Cas woke up. He had to.
OoOoOoOoO
The first thing Castiel was aware of was that he was pleasantly warm. The second was that he was no longer in pain. For awhile he just went with it, enjoying the easy respite after so much agony. When he finally opened his eyes he was rather confused by what he saw: what appeared to be a bedroom with no windows and weapons adorning the walls. But the confusion vanished as soon as he turned his head to see Dean with his head pillowed on his arms, sitting on the floor and leaning on the edge of the bed as he snored softly.
"That hardly looks comfortable." Castiel said after a moment, having decided that he really wanted Dean to be awake so he could talk to him.
The hunter jumped slightly, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, "Cas! You're awake. How are you feeling?"
"Hmmm…" Castiel shifted around, flexing his joints as he tried to figure out an answer. "Lethargic. But not in pain."
"Good." Dean visibly relaxed.
"Yes. I expected to feel much worse." The angel said, carefully sliding up to lean against the headboard as Dean stood up with a wince at the stiffness of his muscles. He'd obviously been asleep a long time.
"I'm glad you're okay." Dean said lamely after a moment of silence.
"Only because you came to get me. Twice." Castiel informed him, frowning as Dean winced. "What?"
"I didn't exactly get you the first time, Cas… Naomi stabbed you. I honestly thought you'd died until we met…" Dean came up short before saying Alice's name. He didn't manage to stop before the memories of his night with Alice surged up though.
"True. But you came. I'm not even sure how you knew where I was, but you came. I don't think I would've had the strength for that last attempt to escape Naomi if you hadn't."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked, his confusion obvious.
"I mean that when I saw you there, when you grabbed me and tried to help me as best you could… no one has been there like that for me, Dean. No one. In that moment I wanted to survive more than anything else in the world. I wanted to survive to see you again, even though that didn't really make sense at the time. So I did the only thing I could think of and abandoned my vessel. But it wasn't without cost, not with how injured I was, especially after Naomi stabbed me. I didn't think I succeeded, honestly. Everything just went black. The next thing I remember is waking up in a camper in a new vessel."
"Alice." Dean supplied, almost choking on her name. He was honestly terrified of what would come now.
"Yes." Castiel said, watching Dean closely. "I remember all of it. I wasn't in control though, I was just watching everything. I could make my presence felt, and I could tell my desires were leaking into her at times, but I had no actual control."
"Oh." Dean mumbled weakly, already preparing to lock away everything he felt for Castiel that was more than friendship.
"But," Castiel continued, "I wouldn't have stopped anything that happened."
"You…what?" Dean blinked in confusion.
Cas smiled slightly, "You look, how would you say it? Like a deer caught in the headlights of an on-coming vehicle."
Dean ignored the angel's attempt at humor, still to shocked by what he'd said to care about it. His head was reeling. Cas knew what had happened, knew all of it, and didn't regret anything? He didn't regret kissing Dean? Or sleeping with him?
"You really wouldn't have?" Dean asked, his thoughts still spinning.
"No. I care about you Dean. As more than a friend." The angel said in his familiar, blunt tone. "I have for awhile, I think, but as you are well aware I am rather terrible at recognizing human emotion, let alone acting on it. And ever since I was pulled out of purgatory, well," Castiel grimaced, leaving the sentence unfinished. "I've let the rules of Heaven rule me for far to long, I think. I still believe in many of them, but I'm tired. I'm tired of fighting and clawing and suffering through everything alone. I think having Alice as a vessel made that clearer. Watching from that perspective, it made many things clearer for me, the things I was feeling.
"And I know you're tired to, Dean. I know you hate yourself because you don't think you're good enough, because you think that you're going to fail and people will get hurt or die. I know that you blame yourself for far to many deaths already. I know you still have nightmares of being in hell, of Sam being in hell, of purgatory. I know you don't remember the last time you slept for more than a couple hours straight because of those nightmares." Cas took a breath, ready to continue on along some other vein of explaining himself, but Dean stopped him when he sat down heavily on the bed and pulled him into a tight hug, burying his face in Cas's hair.
Castiel hesitated only a fraction of a second before curling into the warmth, resting against Dean. Damn Heaven. Damn Hell. He'd fought long enough and hard enough and lost so much. He was finally going to have something he wanted. They both were.
AN: Reviews are love!