CHAPTER 10
Wont you put the past away...

"Easy, easy..." Michelle said as she watched Dean slide into the passenger seat of his car, wincing in pain as he straightened out in his seat. "How are you doing?" She asked, handing him a sheet of paper and a set of house keys.

Dean glanced at the address she'd passed him before looking up to catch her eyes. "Still sore." He replied quietly as he watched Castiel slide in behind the wheel of the Impala.

"Well it'll be like that for at least another week, then things should get better." She paused for a moment as she glanced down to her watch. "I have a room set up for you on the main floor and I finish in about an hour, so I'll be home then, alright? My cell number is also there with the address so if you need anything at all before then, just call."

"Thanks Michelle..." Dean replied as she gave him a smile and closed his door. His eyes drifted over to the angel behind the wheel as Castiel slid the key into the ignition and started the Impala. "You enjoy this, don't you?" He asked as the angel put the car into drive and pulled out of the hospital's parking lot.

"I could get use to it." Castiel replied simply.

Dean couldn't help put smile as he watched Castiel's eyes scan the road ahead of them carefully, just like a new driver. He took a deep breath as he turned slightly in his seat, glancing into the back seat made his stomach turn. Among the mess was his leather jacket and the angel's tan overcoat that was now stained red with his blood. "I'm so sorry, Baby... I'll clean this all up as soon as I can, I promise..." He whispered, his eyes focusing on the dry blood that covered the leather seat as he gently passed a hand against the dashboard in front of him.

"Why do you talk to your car, like you talk to your women?" Castiel asked, looking over for a moment as Dean straightened out in his seat.

Dean couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle. "Because all cars are female, and if you don't treat them right, they wont be good to you." He replied. There was a moment of silence as the young hunter studied the angel that was behind the wheel of his car. For the vast amount of chaos and confusion between the angels; Castiel's expression never really seemed to change. Quiet, reserved, pensive... If he were the one leading an army of renegade angels into war against Heaven, while he knew Lucifer and his army of demons were waiting for their turn to strike; he'd at least be showing some concern, if not complete panic. Just thinking about it made him anxious; the role Castiel was filling was only temporary and one day, or so he was told, he would be the one at the helm of it all. "Hey Cas..." He started quietly, watching as the angel looked over for only a moment. "Do you ever wonder what it's like to be human?"

"The more time I spend with you, the less I need to wonder about it." Castiel replied, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. "You have so much emotion, so much angst... I don't understand how you can manage it all." He paused for a moment as Dean pointed to a road on his left.

"You know, we don't all have the same emotions. If all you've seen is me, you're missing the whole other end of the spectrum." Dean replied, his voice breaking the moment of silence between them. "There's much more to it than anger, sorrow, hate..."

"I have seen the other end of it." Castiel replied, his eyes never leaving the road ahead. "I've seen it in the way you looked out for Sam, in how you willingly gave up your life... to save him." There was another moment of silence as he glanced over to catch the other man's eyes. "If that isn't devotion or love, then I don't know what is."

The drive to Michelle's house was quiet; while Dean thought about his little brother's fate, Castiel thought about the future of the man sitting at his right. Thought hidden from the other angels, he knew Zachariah would eventually find a way to get his hands on Dean, Zachariah was persistent and nothing would stop him from getting what he wanted. Out of the Hospital but far from being out from under the gun, now it was only a matter of time for Dean... Time for him to see whether or not Lucifer would be true to his word, time for him to heal from the wounds he suffered at the hands of other hunters, and time for him to put his life as he knew it, on hold, if only for a little while.

By the time Castiel pulled into the long dirt driveway, they were about twenty minutes or so on the outskirts of town. The simple two story brick house was old, but well kept. A garage stood off to one side and at the back, they could see a dilapidated barn at the edge of a field surrounded by trees. "So she's a country girl..." Dean said as the angel put the Impala in park and got out of the car. He winced in pain as he undid his seat belt and stepped out of the Impala, pausing for a moment to look up at the brick house before shutting his door.

"How can you live out of your car?" Castiel asked as he pulled Dean's small duffle bag out of the trunk and made his way over to the passenger's side.

"It's easy, just requires a lot of trips to the Laundromat." Dean replied, passing Castiel the house key as he took his duffle bag from the angel's hands. "I've gotta admit Cas, without that trench coat of yours, you look pretty slick..."

Castiel looked down at himself before looking up to catch Dean's eyes. "Slick?" He asked, turning to make his way towards the house.

"Yeah, you look less like an overworked stiff." Dean continued as he carefully followed the angel up the few front steps to the door. He watched as Castiel shoved the key into the lock and pushed the door open for him. "So what exactly are you going to do while I sit around here for a few weeks?"

"I'm going to gather an army with Anna, find a way to take Zachariah down before he figures out where you are hiding out." Castiel replied as he passed Dean the house key. "Take care of yourself... I'll be checking in on you daily."

When the renegade angel turned to leave, Dean cleared his throat to get his attention. "Hey Cas..." He started, dropping his bag to the floor at his feet. "I don't think I've ever actually thanked you... for pulling me from Hell." There was a moment of silence as Castiel turned to face him.

"I know you're thankful." The angel replied simply. "You don't need to say it."

"Actually I do." Dean continued, giving him a nod as he put a hand against the door frame to keep his balance. "Thanks for everything Cas..." He said, watching as the angel gave him a nod and turned to make his way down the front steps; vanishing before he reached the Impala parked in the driveway.

"How do you feel tonight?" Michelle asked as she placed a glass of water on the small table at his side and dropped a painkiller into his open hand.

"Better." Dean replied as he popped the pill into his mouth and took gulp of water. "The pain isn't pulsing through my shoulder anymore." He continued as he leaned forward to let Michelle examen the back of his shoulder where the bullet had ripped a hole into his flesh.

"Looks like the sutures are holding up alright." She started, carefully looking over the wound. "Should be good to cut those out in a week or so." She sucked in a breath as her eyes drifted over to the burn on his arm. It was something she wanted to ask before, but couldn't bring herself to doing so while he was a patient at the Hospital. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what happened to your shoulder?" She started quietly, taking a seat on the bed at his side as she watched him look down to the scar. "A second degree burn or worse in the shape of a hand that..."

"Michelle, I don't want to talk about that right now." Dean quietly cut in, silencing her as he looked over to catch her eyes. "I just can't talk about that right now..."

"It's alright." She replied softly, pushing the hair out of her eyes. "It wasn't my place to ask."

There was a moment of silence and as Dean thought of the angel that had pulled him from Hell, he couldn't help but notice the silver cross that was hanging around Michelle's neck. "Hey, can I ask you something?" He started, his eyes drifting up to meet hers. "Do you believe in angels and demons? Heaven and Hell? God and the Devil?" He paused for a moment as she gave him a nod. "I'm not like other people..." He started quietly, carefully choosing his words as the young woman in front of him listened intently.

"You're a hunter, aren't you?" She asked, her question catching him by surprise. "You and Castiel."

Caught off guard, Dean simply gave her a nod. "How did you know that?"

"Well for starters, your tattoo is of a devil's trap, there's an amulet around your neck and the text on your chest is some sort of really really old school concealment seal... Like biblically old." She paused for a moment as she watched Dean pass a hand over the burn Castiel had left on his collar bone. "And then there's that brooding, secretive look in your eyes... No real answers to any questions asked, nothing too personal. My father and brother were both hunters... I know what it's like."

Dean shook his head as she gave him a smile. "And here I thought you were just an ordinary girl, a hard working nurse that knew nothing about the other side of the coin we call life..."

"I am just an ordinary girl." Michelle replied quietly. "I just know a little something about hunting and what it does to people. Why do you honestly think I agreed to have you come stay here while your wounds heal? Castiel told me you lost a younger brother and you needed some time."

"I just thought it was because you liked me." Dean replied with a grin.

"It's because I knew you'd just come back from a hunt gone wrong." She paused as she watched his eyes drift away. "You and Castiel were out on a hunt that night he brought you in, weren't you?" She asked, watching as he gave her a nod. "So, is this something you got into, or something you grew up to?"

"Something I grew up to." Dean replied. "My mom was a hunter and when she was killed by a demon, my dad started hunting too. He took my brother and I out on the road with him and hunting became the only thing we knew." Dean paused for a moment as he thought about what he wanted to share with the young woman at his side and what he wanted to keep to himself. "My father was killed a few years ago and my younger brother died the night Cas brought me into the ER..." He replied as he swallowed hard, all of it still so vivid in his mind. "What about you?"

"My father was killed while fighting a shape shifter when I was just a kid and my mother died a few years later, of cancer." Michelle replied quietly. "I didn't get into hunting because my brother Nick wouldn't allow it." She said as she shook her head. "He told me once, that hunting wasn't the life for me, that there were better ways for me to save people." She wiped a tear from her eye as the memory drifted through her mind.

"Did he die on a hunt?" Dean asked, getting her attention.

"No..." Michelle replied, shaking her head. "He was driving home from a hunt late one night when a drunk driver crossed the center line, crashed head on into his pickup truck. The other driver survived... And it makes me sick just thinking about this guy living the rest of his life, not knowing about the hero he killed that night."

Dean reached out to put his hand over hers, taking a moment to think about what she had just told him. "Sometimes, I think humans are no better than the things I hunt." He admitted, thinking of the hunters that had killed his brother that night at the mill.

"So..." Michelle started, changing the subject as she took a deep breath. "Now that that little secret is out, I suppose once your wounds heal up you'll be back out there hunting down what killed your brother, right?"

Dean shook his head. "Cas wants me to take a step back for a little while, take a break from hunting..."

"OK, and is it safe to assume that with you being a hunter and all, that you have no home or place to go when you're well enough to leave?" Michelle asked, once again catching him by surprise.

Dean couldn't help but let the smile creep up from the corner of his lips. "You really do know hunters, don't you?" He said with a slight chuckle.

"Well, if you'd like... You're more than welcome to stay here while you and your brother figure things out."

When he caught her eyes, he offered a smile. "Thanks for everything, Michelle..."

"No problem." She replied quietly as she got up from her seat. "Now you get some sleep."