Dean was sitting alone in the bunker sipping on a beer and browsing the internet on his laptop, looking for a new case to work. He looked up as Sam walked into the room, hung up his phone, and slipped it into his pocket. With a sigh of defeat he plopped his overly large body down into a chair across from his brother.
"What's eating you?" Dean asked, shutting the lid on his laptop in order to give his little brother his full attention.
"Have you talked to Imogen lately?"
Dean shrugged, "Not in a week or two. Why?"
"I just got off the phone with her," he sighed, "She just doesn't seem like the same person. I mean ever since she and Cas started hunting together."
"Well, Sammy. In all fairness, before she went off with Cas we hadn't seen her in a few years so she probably is different."
"Yeah maybe," he nodded slowly, "But when she was here she seemed like the old her. I mean sure she'd grown up a bit, and was a lot more secretive, but she was still her. Talking to her just now, it was like talking to a stranger."
"So what, you think she's hiding something?"
"I don't know," he sighed, "Maybe she is. Maybe we should drop in and check on her."
"Ah Sam… I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Why not?" he asked, "Hell, I mean it's not like we've got a case. Let's just stop in for a visit. She and Cas have been on the road together for months now, I'd like to see them. Make sure they're okay."
A small sigh escaped Dean, "I'm sure they're fine, Sammy."
"And I'm sure they are too," he paused, "Let's just go."
Dean hesitated. Truth be told, he knew where Sam was coming from with the whole Imogen seeming off thing. She hadn't been herself, and the few short conversations he's had with her on the phone had worried him. It was like she didn't know who he was.
"All right," Dean nodded, "We'll surprise them with a visit. Can you track her cell?"
"Already on it," Sam said, turning on his own computer and getting to work.
"Cas," Imogen groaned, slowly waking up from her sleep and realizing she was not only in her bed alone but she was in the motel room alone. This was a first. She hadn't ever woken up and not been able to find the man, "Castiel?" she called a little louder and sat up in the bed and slid on her slippers. She checked the bathroom but he was nowhere to be found.
A small amount of panic was starting to set in, but quickly she remembered that she had a cell phone so she grabbed it off the charger and placed her call, but after several rings it went to voicemail. Relief washed over her when she heard knocking on the door and she ran right to it, figuring Castiel had forgotten his key.
However she opened the door and two large men were standing on the other side. One was very tall with shoulder length brown hair and then other was shorter with shorter hair. Immediately she regretted her decision to open the door. She didn't know these men and Castiel wasn't here to help. It was Sam and Dean, but neither of them she recognized.
"Hey there," the shorter of the two men said, "How's it going?"
Imogen stood there, gripping the door tightly, "H-hi," she stuttered. The man's voice sounded somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
"Aren't you going to invite us in?"
"Why would I do that?" Imogen replied timidly.
Dean rolled his eyes and took a step towards her, Imogen did her best to slam the door, but he was quicker and stronger and pushed it open. The first thing she could grab was a lamp and she broke it over Dean's head. In the next instant Imogen was across the room. She slammed the bathroom door and locked herself inside.
"Son-of-a-bitch!" Dean barked, holding onto the door to keep himself upright. He rubbed his aching head and exchanged confused looks with his brother as they made their way across the room.
Sam knocked on the bathroom door, "Em, are you okay?"
"How do you know my name?" she yelled, her back up against the door in case they tried to break it down. Silently she wished there was a window in the bathroom for her to climb out of.
"What the hell is going on?" Dean barked, "Have you lost your mind?"
Imogen felt the tears slipping down her cheeks. She was terrified.
"There's money in the safe. The password is 86-75-309. Take it and go. Please don't hurt me," her voice shook noticeably.
Sam's eyes widened, "We're not going to hurt you. What makes you think we would do that?"
She rocked back and forth, tightly hugging herself as more tears came, "Two men force their way into a girl's hotel room. Generally the girl doesn't make it out in one piece."
"Em," Dean sighed, "Please, come out of there."
"I want Cas. Where's Castiel?"
"How the hell should we know?" Dean barked, "You're his keeper."
The first thing Castiel saw when he pulled back into the motel parking lot was the door to their room wide open. The very next thing made him panic even more than the door being open. The Impala was parked right in front of the room.
"Oh no," he whispered to himself. There couldn't have been a worse time for Sam and Dean to just pop by. The one time that Castiel was out and they're here. He slammed the car into park and sprinted inside. Dean and Sam were both standing outside of the bathroom, ears pressed against the door, "What are you two doing here?" he asked, breathlessly.
"Cas," Dean exclaimed, walking over, "What the hell is going on?"
Castiel ignored Dean's question, "Is she in there?"
"Yeah, she's been freaking the hell out for ten minutes. We can't get her to come out, she keeps asking for you. It's like she doesn't know who we are."
"She's terrified," Castiel said to himself and pushed passed Dean, moving Sam away from the door as well, "Imogen, it's me. It's Cas. I'm back. Please open the door."
In a second the door was ripped open and Imogen was falling into Castiel's arms, burying his face in his chest and sobbing loudly. Castiel hugged her tightly and gently rubbed up and down his back.
"Hey," he kissed the top of her head, not caring that Sam and Dean were watching in awe, "It's okay," he whispered, "This is Sam and Dean."
Imogen slowly looked up into Castiel's eyes, he wiped her tears away with his thumbs, "My brothers?" she asked.
"Yes, your brothers."
Dean looked at Sam to confirm that he was equally as confused, "Cas," Dean began slowly and waited until the man looked over at him, "Why doesn't she know who we are?"
Castiel sighed softly, "It's a long story," he admitted.
"Then I guess you better start talking."
Castiel looked back to Imogen, "I got you some breakfast. I'll get it from the car. You can eat while I explain everything to them, all right?"
"Don't leave me alone," she pleaded, grabbing tightly to him.
"It'll only be for a little while. You can get a shower and calm down," he hugged her again and they walked out to the car to grab her breakfast and then back inside, "I'll be right back," he told her, motioning for Sam and Dean to follow him out and around the corner so they would be out of ear shot.
"What the hell is going on?" Dean barked again, "What's wrong with her?"
Castiel took a deep breath and started to talk but Sam cut him off
"And why was she crying in your arms like you're her boyfriend?"
Dean raised an eyebrow, "Wait, are you her boyfriend?"
"No, not exactly," Castiel confirmed, taking another deep breath, "Our first hunt together with the fairy-vampire thing. Sam, you know you dug up the research for us."
Sam nodded.
"Okay, well things didn't exactly go smoothly. She got hurt. Like really hurt. Once I took care of the monster I got her to the hospital as quickly as possible. But she had a seizure while in the car, caused by her brain swelling up. I told the doctors and nurses that I was her husband so they would let me see her. When she woke up she didn't remember anyone or anything. The doctor introduced me as her husband and I didn't want to confuse her while we were there so I let her think it was true."
"But she knows you're not really her husband now, right?" Dean asked.
Sam scoffed, "You saw the way she was hugging him, Dean. You really think she knows the truth?"
Castiel ran a hand though his hair and breathed out, "I planned to tell her the second we got out of the hospital, I swear I did. But she was still so weak and helpless, she needed someone she could trust. So I vowed to wait until she was feeling a little better, but then-"
"Then you put it off and put it off. Sound about right?" Dean scowled.
"Yes," Castiel nodded, "I didn't expect-" he hesitated, "I didn't want to hurt her."
"Right," Dean narrowed his eyes, "You've been lying to her for weeks on end because you didn't want to hurt her."
"It… It didn't feel like lying."
"Just why is that?" Dean barked, "Looks like a big lie to me."
Sam studied Castiel's face, "You're in love with her, aren't you?"
"What?" Dean scoffed, "No, no he's not."
Castiel looked away, "I didn't mean for this to happen," he began, "But that girl in there… She isn't the same burnt and broken shell that she once was. All of that pain and misery is gone. She doesn't remember any of it. She's happy now, guys."
"So what," Dean barked, "You didn't even try to help her get her memory back?"
"I've told her things about her past. She knows about her son and about how you guys raised her," he paused, "Well, except one small thing."
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"She doesn't know anything about monsters. I told her she got hurt in a hunting accident and she took that to mean hunting deer and things."
Dean's eyes widened, "That's not exactly a little thing, Cas. You lied to her about her entire identity!"
"I know, I know," the man sighed, "But I tried. I offered to do things with her to help her remember who she was. But after knowing how closed off she used to be, how miserable she was, she didn't want to know. She didn't want to do anything to bring all of that pain back. Can you really blame her?"
"No," Dean agreed, "I can't blame her. But why the hell didn't you tell us? We had a right to know."
"Maybe you did," he sighed, "But she didn't want you to know."
"How the hell does she even know what she wants? She doesn't even know who she is."
"Like I said, she didn't want to be reminded of the past. So I coached her through some phone calls with you two so that you wouldn't get suspicious and she and I have been travelling around."
"What have you been doing if you haven't been hunting?" Sam questioned.
"We went to the Grand Canyon," he said, "That was an adventure."
"We have to tell her the truth," Dean interjected, "She has a right to know."
"She doesn't want to know."
Dean scoffed, "Well, then she at least should know that she's been screwing you under false pretenses."
"Is that what you're upset about?" Castiel turned his head slightly, "We haven't had sex, Dean."
"Huh?" the older Winchester looked absolutely confused, "You haven't?"
"No," he shook his head, "We haven't. Not that she hasn't wanted to. I mean, your sister has changed in a lot of ways but she still has a rather healthy sexual appetite-"
"Gross! Cas! I don't want to hear that."
"Well, regardless. We aren't having sex. We've been sleeping in the same bed since she's come home from the hospital, but that's only because it makes her feel safer. Last night was the first night that we kissed. Dean-" the man paused briefly, "She loves me too. Very much. I don't know if you could tell, but she does love me. And I'm afraid that when she finds out that this is all a lie…" he trailed off.
"You dug your hole, now you've got to lie in it. You tell her tonight, or I will," Dean barked, "Sammy and I are going to get a room. We'll come by in the morning," he turned to walk away, but then turned back to Castiel, "And don't even think about taking off in the middle of the night."
"I won't," Castiel sighed, "You're right. She deserves to know the truth."
"And what if she decides she can't stay with you after you tell her?" Sam asked.
The sad man shrugged, "I guess I'll have to deal with that."
"She's our sister," Dean barked, "She'll be coming home with us."
"If she wants to," Castiel said, "If she wants to go with you I won't stop her. But Dean, I won't let you take her against her will."
"Will?" Dean barked, "She has no will. She doesn't know who the hell she is!"
"That may be," Castiel reasoned, "But you two are complete strangers to her. Do you think you'll fare well by kidnapping her?"
"Us kidnapping her?" he shook his head, "You're the one who lied to her about EVERYTHING these last months. You kidnapped her, she just didn't realize it."
"I messed up," he nodded, "I know I messed up, but staying with me or going with you- that's HER decision to make. Not yours, Dean."
With that Castiel walked passed both of the men and into his and Imogen's motel room. Dean was right about one thing, it was time he told her the truth.
