Ok, sorry, sorry, sorry. I know this took ages…SORRY! Don't load my ass with rocksalt…please!? Ugh…worlds crappest week EVER!
But anyway…here you go, and it's the longest so far :)
Uhhh…warnings for torture…whoops…sorry Cas…
Chapter 10
Cas walked down the sidewalk, tears mingling on his cheeks with the rain that had begun to fall.
His breath was coming in hitching sobs and his shoulders shuddered with emotion.
He had royally screwed up, as Dean often put it.
Again.
He failed as an adult, and he failed at being a child too. Dean was upset with him, Sam was just being nice to placate him and Gabriel had dissapered once again.
No one wanted him, so he may as well just leave. It's not as if anyone would miss him anyway.
Shuddering against the cold Cas sniffled and wiped the tears away from his eyes. His arm had started aching again and his feet were killing him, but Cas ignored the pain. He knew that he had to get as far away as possible so he didn't mess up the Winchester's life any more.
Carrying on walking, Cas didn't even notice the puddle that he trod in, meaning that his jeans were now soggy and clinging to his skin, making the little angel shiver even more.
Furthermore, he didn't notice the kind faced woman carrying her shopping bags and walking in the opposite direction to him.
In fact, he was so lost in his own world that Cas only noticed he wasn't alone when he was lying on the ground having walked into something, dazedly wondering what had happened.
"Oh my goodness sweetheart, what are you doing out here all on your own? Here, let me help you up." The woman began to gush out comforting words, scooping Cas up and burrying his face in her bosom. Cas squirmed a little at first, he hadn't got a clear look at the woman and didn't know if she was good or not, but all of the fight left his tiny body and he began to sob bonelessly.
"It's ok lovely, shhh, hush now." The woman rocked Cas gently and kissed his hairline, and Cas was so far out of it that he didn't realised he was being carried further from Sam and Dean until the woman stopped again.
"T-thank you. B-b-but I-I need t-to g-g-go." Cas wriggled a little, squirming out of the woman's tight hold.
"Oh, I don't think so honey."
And that was all it took for Cas to realise that he had made a huge mistake.
An even bigger mistake than getting permenant marker on Dean's baby.
He began to kick and struggle harder, screaming as he looked up and saw the woman's face.
Not the matronly face with short, curly red hair, freckles and smile lines, but the face beneath.
The face of a demon.
"Lemme go! HELP!" Cas yelled at the top of his voice, whimpering and thrashing to no avail. There was no-one around, not at that time of night and when Cas was placed, screaming into a car he knew that no-one was going to save him this time.
The demon snapped two pairs of cuffs onto Cas, one around his wrists and one around his ankles, rendering him incapable of moving.
"P-please let m-me go. I-I- Dean will…Please!" The demon cackled in delight and slammed the car door in his face, catching two of his cuffed fingers in the door.
Cas screamed as the fragile bones in his fingers snapped.
The demon laughed.
...SN…SN…SN…SN…
Sam ran around the diner frantic, asking everyone if they had seen a black-haired four year old.
Apparently, none of them had.
SHIT, SHIT, SHIT and DOUBLE SHIT.
Sam cut his losses and ran outside to Dean, who's ass was haning out of the Impala door.
"DEAN!"
"Jesus Sammy, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Dean, who had hit his head on the roof of the Impala scowled, rubbing his forehead pointedly.
"Cas has gone!"
"What?"
"He's gone, Dean."
"What do you mean gone?"
"Gone, vanished, dissapeared, fleed, hit the road on his own…SHIT!"
"How?"
"I don't know, I was just settling the bill, turned around and he wasn't there!"
"You don't think someone got him?"
"I don't know." Sam threw his hands up in frustration. "I mean, he was pretty upset, so he could have just taken off on his own accord…but, demons have been after him before, so maybe…" Sam ran a hand through his hair and felt his eyes well up.
"Don't worry, we'll find him."
Dean slammed the Impala's door shut and began to jog down the road, calling out for the missing four year old.
"CAS!"
"CASTIEL." Sam followed Dean's lead, shouting himself hoarse.
"CAS."
"CAS, CAN YOU HEAR US? WHERE ARE YOU?"
"CAS!"
"CASTIELLLLLLL!"
Sam gave up after half an hour of running around like a headless, chicken and jogged over to Dean, who was trudging towards him dejectedly.
"No sign?"
"Nope. Nada."
"What do we do?"
"Head back to Bobby's and call Gabriel I guess."
"Oh yeah, great. Hey Gabriel-the-all-powerful-archangel…just FYI, we lost your baby brother."
Sam groaned but gave a small nod. What choice did they have?
"C'mon, drive home, there's no point staying hear and catching something."
"Fine." The brothers made their way to the Impala, Dean slumping down into the drivers side whilst Sam joined him, shotgun.
"Dude, you look like crap."
"Yeah, well…I guess I feel kinda crap…if I wasn't so out of order to Cas he'd have never ran away."
"We don't know that, he could have been kidnapped."
Neither of them truly believed that.
Cas could be naïve and yes he was a toddler, but he wasn't stupid, and neitehr were they.
Both brothers knew that Cas had taken off as he felt so awful.
"We'll sort this out. Are you sure you don't want me to drive, you look ready to drop."
"Thank you for your assessment, Dr, Phil. Now shut the hell up!"
"You look awful, this isn't your fault." Dean opened his mouth to protest that he looked amazing, as always, but Sam interjected. "I'm not an idiot, Dean."
"Coulda fooled me sometimes."
"That's just 'cause your too easy to fool."
Both brothers huffed and made it back to Bobby's in record time.
…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…
Castiel screamed in agony as the demon knelt over him, taking his battered hand and pinching his two broken fingers between her own.
"You poor little thing, that looks sore."
Cas didn't give her the satisfaction of answering.
"How about I improve you hand a little more, feathers?"
Cas shook his head, shying away from the demon, who laughed at his feeble attempt and twisted his already broken fingers.
Castiel screamed.
"Now, I'm feeling in a creative mood today. How about I come up with some inventive ways to break your other eight fingers?"
Tears slid down Castiel's face as the demon took his little finger and placed it on the ground before stomping down hard, crushing the bone and cackling in delight as it splintered and pushed out through the skin.
"Hmm, a bit boring I think. One moment."
A second later a hammer materialized in the demon's hand. At first, she tapped Cas' index fingers gently, increasing the force of each blow until a loud snap echoed through the basement.
The remaining six fingers were broken in equally agonizing ways, with the demon dropping a weight on one, laughing as Cas' finger was practically flattened, the skin tearing as blood gushed and pooled on the floor.
The demon then took the next finger over, twisting it all the way back until the bone broke in two, piercing through the thin skin.
The next was also snapped, but this time with a mousetrap.
"Are we having fun yet?"
Cas bit down hard on the demon's arm, gagging against the taste of blood.
"Oooh, that tickles. And you just gave be a great idea."
With a twisted smile the demon took Cas' little finger, biting it clean off and chewing on the flesh and bone, grinning widely to show Cas the blood and skin covering and trapped between her teeth.
The ninth was then burnt until it was black, the stench of flesh choking Cas so much that he barely even felt it when his last finger was chopped off with an angel blade.
Weakened, Cas' wings unfurled. He no longer had the energy to keep them inside his vessel and soon he was writhing around on his stomach as the demon took great pleasure from plucking out his feathers, one by one.
After what felt like the hundredth feather, Castiel passed out, not noticing when the demon stood to leave.
…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…
"YOU DID WHAT?!" All trace of cockiness and humor was gone from Gabriel's tone. He looked furious and Dean even backed away a little.
"Look, he…uh, he just took off, there was nothing…"
"If I were you, I'd shut up before I smite both of your asses. Not that you asshats are worth the effort. Right, I'm going to find my baby brother, and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my sight."
With that, Gabriel disappeared, only to appear a moment later.
"He's in an abandoned cabin down south. You wait outside the cabin and keep watch; I'll go in and save Cas."
The Winchesters didn't have time to brace themselves before they were skyrocketed into the middle of a field, a few yards away from a falling-down cabin.
Gabriel was nowhere to be found.
…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…
Gabriel knew that walking into the cabin was a bad idea, but when he was immediately grabbed from behind and pinned down by a demon, he realized just how much of a bad idea it had been.
He cried out when an angel blade tore through his chest and didn't even have time to wonder where the demon got it from before he passed out in agony.
…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…
The angel didn't wake until he was dropped in the middle of a basement and trapped within a ring of flaming holy oil.
This was not his day and for the first time in his life, he prayed for himself.
He prayed that the Winchesters would take some initiative and bust this hell-hole wide open.
"Have fun cooking with your baby brother, angelcakes?"
Gabriel raised his head and spotted the limp figure of Castiel lying, unmoving on the ground and forced himself to make his way over to the little boy, managing to stroke a hand though his matted hair before passing out again.
...SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…
When Gabriel next woke, he wiped a tear away from his eyes as he took a closer look at his little brother's torn and battered flesh.
It took all of his will power not to gag.
Ignoring his own pain, the angel stood and picked Cas up.
He tries hard to be gentle, tries so goddamn hard to be careful of his brother's wounds, but Cas wakes and starts screaming anyway.
Gabriel desperately tries to explain to the wailing toddler in his arms that he has to do this, that he has to clean and tend to the wounds, that he is sorry, so goddamn sorry, that he isn't trying to hurt him, but in the end Gabriel gives up on being gentle and lets out a frustrated growl before dragging Cas further away from the flames, into the centre of the ring in jerky, ungentle movements.
Castiel's cries rip through Gabriel but he forces himself to continue, placing Cas down and rolling him onto his stomach, petting the black hair and whispering soft apologies as it is all he can do in terms of taking away some of the pain.
"I'm sorry, little brother. I'm so fucking sorry."
"H'rts." Cas whispered, curling in on himself in an attempt to get away from further pain.
"I know Cas, shhh, hush now. Just relax, try to sleep. I'm gonna wrap up your fingers to stop them hurting." Gabriel knew this was a lie and that no matter how many makeshift bandages he applied, Cas would still be in pain, but hey, what else could he do. It wasn't as if he could come out and say, 'hey I'm gonna wrap your hands in strips of dirty material and it's not gonna help with the pain at all. In fact, it will make the pain worse, but at least your fingers wont move more.'
Cas nodded and cried softly as Gabriel prepared to sort his hands out, taking off his own shirt and ripping it into strips, which he promptly began to wrap around Castiel's broken fingers.
Cas bucked and tried to pull away, his hands still cuffed, but Gabriel had a firm hold on his skinny wrists.
The older angel thanked his lucky stars that the demon hadn't thought it necessary to cuff him as well, but then again, the burning holy oil was preventing him from escaping, cuffs or no cuffs.
"A-are y-you done?"
"Yes Cas, you did so good. I'm proud of you little brother, can you show me your wings? I need to clean them up too."
"D-don't want to. T-they h-hr't real bad."
"I know, but I have to clean them, Cas. You need to unfurl them, I know you don't want to, I know it's sore, but you have to be brave for me."
Not wanting to disappoint his brother, Cas obliged, unfurling his wings with a gasp of pain.
"Well done. Now, I'm going to take out the loose feathers and clean you with some holy water, it's all that I've got. Sorry." Gabriel says it loudly, annunciating each word to let Cas know what he was about to do. He didn't want the tiny toddler completely freaking when he touched his back.
When Gabriel pulls out the first loose feather, Cas keens, arching his back and practically howling.
"STOP! PLEASE….aghhhh." Cas sprung into a sitting position, burying his face in Gabriel's chest and digging his fingers into the older angel's skin, carving red half moons into his flesh.
Gabriel didn't comment as rivulets of blood trailed from where Cas was clawing him. He knew that Cas wasn't in control of his own body and there were more pressing matters at hand, such as the way Cas' breaths were coming in harsh, almost asthmatic pants.
By the seventh feather, Cas is screaming wordlessly, no longer able to kick, arch or speak coherently and Gabriel can feel his heart hammering with exertion.
By the ninth feather, Cas is too weak to fight back, so instead he cries, begs and whimpers for Gabriel to stop torturing him.
But Gabriel bites down hard on his own lip and continues until he has removed twenty-six loose feathers. Cas' wings are sparse now, huge patches of feathers are missing and if he were to guess, he would say that over seventy had been removed by himself and the demon.
But he wouldn't allow himself to think about how much pain that must have caused.
"Ok Cas. It's almost over." Gabriel watched Cas tense as he pulled a bottle of holy water from his jacket and unscrewed the lid, cautiously pouring it over Cas' bloody wings and back.
This time Cas didn't scream.
He passed out from the pain.
…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…
"Dude, its been way to long. We need to go in there."
"Gabriel said to wait."
"I don't give a rats ass, Cas is hurt in there and Gabriel is a no show. I'm going in."
Sam sighed and followed his brother, knowing damn well that this was a bad idea. The whole thing was a trap for them, and here they were, walking right into it with their heads held high.
Clever.
…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…
When Cas woke, he uncurled a little and shuffled forward, nuzzling against Gabriel's skin and biting his lip.
He smiled softly as his older brother smiled reassuringly and pulled him into a soft hug.
Gabriel could tell that the tiny angel was trying his hardest not to cry, not to draw attention to himself, and felt his own heart break a little. He cradled Cas' head with his hand, cupping Cas' cheek and whispering to him.
"You can cry Cas, go ahead. There's nobody here but me and you. You're safe, you can cry with me. You're ok now. I won't let the demon hurt you again. I promise I will smite her, ok?"
Apparently this was all the encouragement that Cas needed, because seconds later he had buried his face into Gabriel's shoulder and was sobbing so hard that Gabriel thought he was going to suffocate himself. His entire body was shaking with the force of Cas' sobs and Gabriel let a few of his own tears fall as he kissed his brother's temple and promised that they would get out of there soon.
Not that he had any idea how to do so.
But for now, he settled with wrapping his own wings around the broken angel.
Keeping him warm was the only thing the all-powerful archangel could do.
TBC…
You know the drill! Reviews are love…
Love y'all xxx