Exposed

Cas sat at a booth in the dark corner of the campus bar. A glass of water remained untouched directly in front of him. He held his iPhone up to his ear and sighed loudly. "Yes, I see them. Are you sure you want to do this? It's not too late to back out," he told Dean with a little bit of hope that he would decide to let him take control.

"No, Cas. I'll be in and out. It'll be an easy job," Dean responded. He could tell that he was starting to get annoyed with his million questions to make sure he was okay.

"But you've never done it alone before," Cas pointed out to him. His nerves were jittering around causing him to become anxious.

"I'll be fine. I'm coming in," Dean informed him before hanging up on his end.

Cas watched as Dean made his way into the dimly lit bar. The two boys, who he didn't even bother to learn what their names were, sat at the bar in front of the bartender. Dean took a seat at the stool at the end which was three away from them.

Dean was wearing a tight black shirt and a pair of jeans that hugged his lower half entirely. His hair was tousled to the side. He was looking good and the other boys knew it. The pair whispered to each other while stealing the occasional look at Dean.

The boy sitting furthest from Dean stood up then made his way out of the bar. Cas cut his eyes at the remaining one as he discreetly dropped something into a glass before carrying the drink to where Dean was.

He sat down next to him and shined his perfect white teeth at him. Dean smiled back then took the drink off the bar when the predator offered it.

Cas could feel his heart sink heavier and heavier in his chest. He knew Dean wouldn't drink it but just seeing it all play out made him sick to his stomach. He felt a twinge of jealousy shoot through him when the boy ran a greedy hand down Deans back then leaned in to whisper something.

Dean threw his head back with laughter. The other boy's eyes shined like he had just caught a prize. He excused himself from the bar and walked outside, leaving Dean alone.

Dean grimaced at the soiled glass before dumping it all out into a plant next to him. He put the glass back down on the bar then looked over into Cas' direction. He gave him a confident thumbs up as he fake stumbled to the door.

Good. Dean didn't mess up and drink it. He should be calling in about five minutes. Cas tapped his fingers nervously on the table while checking his phone every second. Screw this. He wasn't waiting.

He ran out the door and saw just in time as the black car sped off around the corner. "Fuck!," Cas swore loudly while looking around quickly for a solution. He noticed that the other boy was also gone. They were all in the car.

He ran as fast as his body could manage when he realized what was happening. He followed the dust that the car made from peeling off so quickly. He ran for another five minutes without slowing down until he saw the same car in park.

Cas pulled his black ski mask out of his hoodies pocket and put it over his head while catching up to the car. He could hear yelling coming from inside the backseat.

His blood was pumping vigorously through him and giving the adrenaline he needed to swing the door open. One of the boys was straddling Dean while the other held his arms down so he couldn't move. Dean was struggling underneath them and screaming into the one on top of hims hand.

Cas angrily pulled out the boy that was straddling him and threw him down onto the ground. He kicked him swiftly in the face when he tried to sit up and see what was happening. The boy fell back down as blood gushed out of his nose.

Dean had the other one flipped over as he held his face into the seat. He exchanged a knowing glance at Cas before tossing him out of the vehicle. Cas tossed Dean his mask that he had been holding for him and silently instructed him to put on his black sweats that he was wearing underneath his jeans.

Cas turned around in time to see a fist flying at him. He grabbed his assailants arm then twisted it around his back before kicking him hard in the back. The boy screamed and fell to his knees. Cas took it as a moment to knock him out with a quick kick to the head but was pulled down onto the gravel before he could think.

The boy whose nose was now broken wrapped his hands around Cas' throat while the other one tried to pull his mask off. He could feel the boys weight lying on top of him. He started to freeze up as the last night of junior year ran darkly through his head.

The weight was gone almost as soon as it was there. Cas looked up and saw Dean toss the boy into the side of the car. His head hit the metal with a loud thud accompanying it.

He could feel the grip on his neck getting tighter and tighter. He gestured Dean with his hand and managed to smile softly when he felt the cool metal in his palm.

Cas flipped the switch then sank the pocket knife into his attackers hand. The boy screamed harshly in pain but let go quickly. Dean helped Cas up then pulled the blade out of the boys hand.

Cas caught his breath then turned around to look menacingly at the boy with the broken nose and now bloody hand. "Who are you?," he whispered as he held his hand up.

"Someone you never want to see again. Don't make me come back here because we will fuck you up next time," Cas threatened in a low growl.

The boy laughed manically while looking around. "You're not going to do that," he said almost happily.

"Cas," Dean whispered next to him.

Cas ignored him and pulled the switch blade out again. "And what makes you think that I wont?," he questioned the guy. He leaned over and shined the blade in the dim street light.

Dean pulled him up quickly and forced him to put his knife away. "Cas, stop," he pleaded barely audible.

"Because I already won," the guy said with a wide grin as blood seeped into his open mouth.

"What?," Cas asked mostly himself until Dean tilted his head up and made him look at his surroundings for the first time since he got there.

A crowd of about thirty people stood around watching the scene with wonderment or excitement playing on their faces. They held their cell phones high in the air with flashes on them. They were caught.

Cas looked back down at the smug guy and was reminded of how Balthazar must look all the time. How he feels with getting away with anything he wants.

Cas lifted his leg swiftly before swinging it and connecting directly with the boys chin. The boy moaned and landed on the ground just like his friend. Dean roughly pulled at his arm to get him to leave him.

Cas wanted more than anything to do it again. Over and over until he couldn't feel anymore. His chest heave dup and down as he thought it over. He looked back at Dean with desperate eyes and felt his heart deflate. He couldn't do that to him.

He let Dean pull him along and ran through the crowd with him as cell phone lights went off in his face. They ran a good distance until they were far away from any crowds.

He took off his suffocating ski mask and hoodie before stashing them into a nearby bush. He'd just have to remember to come back for it later. Dean did the same until they were back in the same clothes as before.

"Cas, what you did back there was stupid," Dean started to chastise him.

"I'm sorry. Me? You almost blew our entire operation all because you thought you were ready to do something as big as this! I knew you weren't fucking ready and I knew I should have never involved you in this shit," he said loudly while pointing an accusatory finger at Dean.

"What was I supposed to do? Two guys were in the car. Two guys held me down! I'm not fucking Superman, Cas!," Dean shouted back at him just as angry.

"Do you have any idea what would've happened if I had listened to you and stayed at the bar until you called me? You would be just like me. Damaged," he yelled. All he wanted was for Dean to understand how serious this was. He didn't want Dean to get hurt, he didn't want to involve him and he'd be damned if he was going to let Dean jeopardize his life like that. It's a memory that never goes away.

Dean looked down at the ground while running his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry. Okay? I didn't realize it at the time. I just wanted to prove to you that I could do it," he explained to Cas.

Cas shook his head as he picked up his discarded clothes out of the bush. He didn't see any cop lights meaning that it might be safe to walk back to the frat house with them. It was only a block away anyways.

"You're not damaged," Dean said as he followed him with his own clothes.

"What?," Cas mumbled. He didn't want to yell anymore. He was tired of being angry all the time. He just couldn't be that way with Dean.

"I said you're not damaged. I don't know exactly what happened to you but I know it must have hurt enough for you to go and do this every night. You're not alone and you're not fucking damaged," Dean responded.

Cas stopped in front of the fraternity house and sighed. He slowly wrapped his arms around Deans waist and smiled softly into his chest. It felt good to hear those words out loud. He had always thought the worse of himself but to hear Dean deny those fears and take him for who he really was felt extremely liberating.

Dean hugged him back and let Cas take all the time he needed to collect himself again. Cas let go of him after a few seconds and continued to smile. Something he didn't do a lot of anymore. "Thank you," he whispered.

Dean nodded then followed Cas to the door. He picked his backpack up off the porch and shoved the clothes into it before tossing it over his shoulder. Sometimes he couldn't believe how oblivious his housemates could be.

He swung the door open and stopped when he saw almost all of the fraternity packed into the living room while huddling over Raphael's phone.

"What's going on?," Cas asked slowly as he closed the door behind Dean.

Gabe jumped up from the couch and quickly threw his arms around Cas. "Where the fuck were you? I've been calling you for ten minutes!," he scolded him.

"I was at Deans. Why?," Cas continued to ask, confused.

"The campus is on lockdown. There's tons of videos going around of this masked guy beating another guys ass. Now they're looking for the person matching the description," Gabe explained.

Cas felt like he was going to pass out. He exchanged an 'oh fuck' look with Dean and looked back at Gabriel. "Awesome."