So, second-to-last chapter. Sorry about the cliffhanger; in the words of Bruce Banner, "I'm sorry. That was mean." Also sorry in advance about the choppiness of this chapter; I'm not a huge fan of the way it reads, but I needed to write it so I would be able to post it on time. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Legally, no, I don't own Supernatural. In my head? Hell yeah I do.
Dean remains standing, stunned, under the mistletoe for a minute after Castiel disappears. Sam looks shocked.
"Dean I swear, I didn't think Cas would…"
"Save it, Sam," Dean says harshly. His brother goes silent. "We're moving on. Let's kick this wendigo's ass."
"Dean…"
"We're leaving in ten minutes," Dean snaps. "If you're not in the car, then I'm leaving you." Sam rolls his eyes.
"Can I at least shower first?" he asks sarcastically. Dean sighs.
"Fine," he snaps. "But after that, we're leaving." He goes into his bedroom and grabs his already-packed bag. All his guns are already in the back of the Impala, so all he needs is the bag. When he pulls his jacket on, his attention is drawn back to the Grace-made bracelet on his wrist. He yanks it off and shoves it in his bag.
I hope you can feel that, you bastard, he spits internally at Castiel. Then he leaves the bedroom, grabs the cooler, and is about to leave the cabin when he notices Castiel's two presents are still on the couch. I don't care, he convinces himself feebly. They can stay here and rot. He goes out to the car and puts his bag and the cooler in the back, then slams the trunk far harder than he needs to.
Dean sighs and drags his hand over his face. Then he slowly reenters the cabin and grabs the two books off the couch. He puts them in the back of the Impala, just in case Castiel meets up with them again.
He means when Castiel meets up with them again, that is. Because this won't ruin their friendship or anything, will it? Castiel will come back. Even if he was uncomfortable with how into the kiss Dean was - Dean assumes that's why Castiel left; it's the only solution that makes sense - he wouldn't leave because of it, would he?
Would he?
Sam comes out a few minutes later, hair dripping wet. He puts his bag in the back and clambers into the passenger seat, yawning widely. "You can sleep," Dean offers, suddenly feeling bad. He knows he should have let Sam sleep in the cabin, but he wants to leave; there's too much of Castiel here. He'd rather be in the car, on the way to fight some man-eating creature, than sitting around where Castiel can find him easily. Which really should say something about his mental state. And anyway, Castiel can find them by searching for the bits of his Grace in the brothers' bracelets, but Dean still spitefully wants to make it difficult. If Castiel wants to run out on them, he's going to have to work to get back.
Sam's phone rings. Dean snags it before it can wake his brother up and answers it. It's Garth.
"Sam?" the other hunter asks.
"It's Dean," Dean replies, shifting his hold on the phone so he can make the turn onto the main road. "You calling about the wendigo?"
"Um…yeah."
"Is it a wendigo?" Dean asks; Garth didn't sound too definite. There's a pause. "Garth…" Dean says almost threateningly.
"I think so," Garth replies slowly. "I mean, it seems like a wendigo, with its whole M.O. People that are out on camping trips are disappearing."
"But…" Dean adds, sensing this isn't all.
"But it's snatching people at their campfires," Garth replies glumly. "And it's only taken young women."
"So it probably isn't actually a wendigo," Dean replies irritably. Garth doesn't respond. "Awesome."
"It still might be," Garth replies. Dean sighs.
"Garth, what it's doing doesn't fit what a wendigo would do and it's almost never what you originally think it is. Trust me on this; it's not a wendigo."
"Then what is it?" Garth asks. Dean groans.
"I don't know. The walking dictionary is asleep. Tell me the details again? It's taking just young women?"
"Yeah," Garth replies. "They're disappearing. There's no evidence that they're being eaten or anything, I just kinda assumed they were."
"Alright. Where is this again?"
"The Delaware State Forest in Pennsylvania," Garth replies. Dean groans.
"Eight hour drive. Awesome."
"If you don't want to take the case, maybe I can find someone else. I mean, at the moment the closest hunter that can do it is in Nevada, but-"
"Sam and I will do it," Dean interrupts. "I'm just not psyched about the drive."
"Have your angel send you there," Garth suggests. "It'll be instantaneous, right?"
"Cas has other things to do," Dean replies, his voice stiff. "Thanks for the info, Garth. We'll call again if we need to." He ends the call and puts the phone down. Then Dean sets his jaw and stares out at the road in front of him. It's half past midnight on December 26th; there's no one there. So Dean pushes the pedal down harder until he's speeding along the highway at nearly a hundred miles per hour, putting all the miles he can between himself and the memories left in the cabin.
At a little past nine o'clock, Sam and Dean arrive in Monroeton, Pennsylvania. Dean pulls into the Twin Pines Motel, which doesn't look like much. The brothers can't complain, though; they've spent nights in worse places.
"So Garth said that whatever this is has been taking young women?" Sam asks as he looks something up on his phone. Dean nods.
"That's what he said. Taking young women, no signs that they're being eaten or anything, right near campfires so it's probably not a wendigo."
"Huh," Sam replies. "Well, I guess we need to research more."
"I'll talk with the families of the girls that were taken," Dean offers. "You can go to the library and look stuff up."
"Fine," Sam groans. Dean gets them a motel room and changes quickly into a suit. He pulls out a fake FBI badge and puts it in his pocket. Then he goes out into the Impala to talk to the parents of the first girl.
Every family is a bust. All they can say is where the girls were camping - which is in the same area every time - and how horrified they are. The biggest question is "what would do this, sir?" And since Dean can't exactly respond with "well, we thought it was a monster from Native American legends, but now it seems like it might be something else," it's difficult to answer. He goes back to the motel room tired out, hoping Sam has something good to tell him.
"Dean, good news," Sam says right after Dean walks into the room. I guess dreams do come true, Dean thinks sarcastically as he pulls off his tie. "I think I figured out what we're fighting."
"What is it?" Dean asks, shrugging out of the suit jacket. The damn suit is ridiculously uncomfortable; that's what they get for buying the cheapest ones possible, Dean supposes.
"A Leshovik," Sam replies. "Also know as a Leshi or a Lesnik."
"Yeah, that tells me nothing," Dean admits. Sam sighs.
"It's a Slavic creature. It protects forests. And, get this, it's fond of kidnapping young women."
"Okay…" Dean replies, thinking. It seems to make sense so far, but… "If it's a Slavic creature, what's it doing in Pennsylvania?"
"There's a pretty high Slavic population in some towns in eastern Pennsylvania. When William Penn first founded this as a colony, he invited people from all different places to come here. I guess some of the Slavs might have brought along some of their monsters."
"Okay. Awesome. How do we kill it?" Sam's face falls slightly. "Oh come on, Sam, tell me you know how to kill it!"
"Not exactly," Sam replies in an almost-defensive tone. "But I'm still looking. What did you find out?"
"Well, maybe a location," Dean replies. He grabs a map that he had slipped into his pocket when he went to see the rangers for the park. "We're right near Delaware State Forest, and it seems like all the girls were camping in this area." Dean points out a specific spot on the map. "What do you wanna bet that's where this Leshovik thing is holed up?"
"Okay, so I'll figure out how to kill it, then we can go after it."
"Do you think the girls are still going to be alive?" Dean asks. Sam shrugs.
"I don't know. Maybe. It doesn't say what the Leshovik does to them after it kidnaps them, so they might be."
"It would be nice if we could actually save someone this time," Dean muses. Sam doesn't comment. "Okay, I'm taking a nap. Wake me when you figure out how to kill this son of a bitch."
Instead of answering, Sam shuts his laptop. "Dean, first we need to talk."
"If this is about Cas…" Dean starts. Sam sighs.
"Yeah, it's about Cas," he replies.
"I don't wanna talk about it, Sammy," Dean says in a voice that clearly shows he thinks it's the end of the conversation. Apparently, Sam disagrees.
"Well, I don't care. Dean, you like Cas and I'm pretty sure that Cas likes you, so why-"
"Cas likes me?" Dean interrupts with a bitter laugh. "Yeah right. Cas is an angel of the Lord and I'm, like, sinning personified. And if he liked me so much, why would he fly off after we kissed?"
"Because, like you, he has no idea what the hell to do when he has feelings for someone!" Sam replies. "Cause you're both so freaking emotionally constipated that-"
"Sam, you should stop talking about things you don't know about," Dean says in a low, almost threatening tone. "You've never been to Purgatory, so I don't expect you to understand, but becoming 'emotionally constipated,' as you put it, is the only way to get through it."
"This has been going on since before Purgatory, Dean," Sam says in an exasperated voice. "You and Cas have the most unresolved sexual tension I've ever seen!"
"What the hell are you talking about, Sammy?" Dean demands as he unbuttons his shirt. Sam has the decency to look away, but he doesn't stop talking.
"Dean, Cas gave up everything for you. And you kept wanting to believe in him over and over, even when everything and everyone else said you shouldn't."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I was in love with the guy," Dean replies, looking confused. Sam groans.
"First off, I'm pretty sure you were. Second, even if you weren't, Cas was in love with you, you big idiot!"
"Where the hell do you get that idea from?" Dean demands. Sam growls - legitimately growls - in frustration.
"Um, maybe because Cas rebelled against Heaven for you. Or maybe because he killed his family for you. Do the math, Dean, cause it shows that Cas has the biggest crush on you of all time."
"Look, I really am not in the mood for this right now," Dean says as he changes into a pair of comfortable jeans and a t-shirt. "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. Tell me when you figure out how to kill the thing we're fighting and not a minute before." Sam sighs, but nods. And Dean lies on the bed, trying to figure out if what Sam's saying could possibly, even remotely, be true.
It turns out the way to kill a Leshovik is to chop its head off, so Sam and Dean do so with relative ease. Of the four girls that were taken, one's dead and her body's missing, and another one is near death and probably won't last through the night, but the other two are relatively unharmed, aside from the massive psychological trauma. While it isn't exactly a victory - half the girls died - the brothers do manage to save more people than normal, so they're almost satisfied. Now they're on their way farther north to New York State, where Garth says he has a nest of vampires for them to take out. Sam insists on driving and Dean, not wanting an argument, agrees to let him, which leaves him able to sleep in the passenger seat. And which leaves him open to dream invasions.
This time, it's not an angel in his head, though. It's God.
"Dean Winchester," Chuck/God says immediately, not wasting any time. "I have returned to Heaven and convinced the angels to stop persecuting Castiel. He is banned from returning to Heaven, though I leave him his Grace. You ought to inform him of that."
"He's not with me," Dean replies. Chuck/God frowns.
"I thought he was going to be traveling with you," he replies. Dean sighs.
"So did I, but apparently Cas has other ideas." Chuck/God looks almost…angry.
"What occurred between the two of you that would cause him to leave?" he demands.
"A kiss," Dean replies, almost angrily. "A freaking kiss. He flipped out and left because we kissed under the freaking mistletoe."
"You must find him, Dean Winchester," Chuck/God declares. Dean sighs.
"I'm trying, but-"
"You must find him," Chuck/God repeats, interrupting Dean. "And find him quickly."
Dean wakes up with a start. Sam looks over at him in confusion. "Hey, man, you okay?" he asks. Dean ignores him and grabs at his bag, which is in the back seat. "Dean, what's going on?" Sam asks as Dean paws through his things. Finally, he finds it; the bracelet Castiel made him out of his Grace. He triumphantly slips it on his wrist.
Nothing happens.
"Come on, you son of a bitch," Dean mutters. Still, there's no answer. Castiel doesn't appear. Dean's not sure why, but he's got this horrible feeling that if he doesn't get to Castiel - and soon - something terrible will happen.
"Dean!" Sam says sharply, yanking the car over to the side of the road. "What the hell is going on?"
"We need to find Cas," Dean says firmly. "You hear that, you son of a bitch? Get down here!" he yells at the sky. There's no answer.
"Why?" Sam demands. Dean turns to him.
"Because God told me to, okay? Because if we don't, I just feel like something really, really bad is going to happen. Look, can you just pray to him? He won't answer me."
"Um…sure," Sam replies. He closes his eyes. "Uh, Cas, we could use a hand. Can you come down?" Dean's half expecting a flutter of angel wings and a deep voice asking what's wrong, but it doesn't come. "Cas?" Sam calls again, but there's still no answer.
"Cas, damn it, get down here!" Dean yells angrily.
"Dean, he's not coming," Sam says softly. Dean's eyes narrow.
"Not if I have anything to say about it," he replies in a low, determined voice. "Sam, move over. I'm driving." Looking a little confused, Sam gets out of the driver's seat. He and Dean switch places, then Dean peels down the road.
When they arrive in the-middle-of-nowhere, NY, the brothers find a motel and Sam almost immediately falls asleep. Dean takes the opportunity to sneak out. He's going to manipulate Castiel, which he almost feels bad about, but he's doing it for the angel's own good. He's going to use two things: the fact that the bracelet will inform Castiel if he's in mortal danger and the fact that Castiel always comes to save Dean when he needs it. Dean drives the Impala out into the empty land right outside of the town and pulls his machete out of the back. Then he goes off to fight the entire vampire nest. Alone.
There's six of them. He manages to kill two almost before they notice and is barely able to chop off a third's head, but by that point the other three are circling him, all ready to strike. One leaps at him, but before she can reach her target, a bright light fills the room and the vampire falls dead before Castiel, who's standing in front of Dean with all the fury of an avenging angel.
If the other two vampires knew what was good for them, they would have ran. But it turns out both are stupid, as one laughs - actuallylaughs - at Castiel.
"We were told you'd be coming," he growls, his voice slurred oddly because of his fangs. "The angel, always tagging along after Dean Winchester. Benny told us you were a threat, but you don't look like much."
"Benny?" Dean asks, his heart sinking. The vampire smirks.
"Yeah, your friend Benny. He tried to take us out, but we caught him. He told us everything we could ever want to know about you, and then…" The vampire tosses a hat forward - Benny's hat - and it's soaked in blood.
"You bastard," Dean growls. He tries to move forward, but Castiel stops him.
"Benny told you everything?" he asks conversationally. The vampire smiles, showing all of his teeth. "But he only saw me in Purgatory, when I was severely weakened. How could he know everything?" The vampire's smile fades slightly. "Dean, close your eyes," Castiel commands. Dean does so, but even that doesn't protect him from the searing light. He hears screams, then the light dies down and Dean cracks open one eye cautiously. The vampires are all dead and Castiel is leaning against the wall, looking exhausted.
"Cas, you okay?" Dean asks, going over to the angel. Castiel closes his eyes.
"I used a good deal of my Grace for your bracelets," he says in a slightly shaky voice. "And I have been using a great deal of it in the past few days to avoid the other angels." Castiel moves to stand on his own, without the wall supporting him, but his legs can't hold his weight and Dean barely catches him in time. Castiel seems about as weak as he was when he first got out of Purgatory.
"Cas, I had a dream where…um…God came to me." It makes Dean sound like some sort of religious fanatic when he says it aloud, but it's the truth. "He said that the other angels were done coming after you as long as you stay here. But your Grace is still connected to Heaven or whatever, so you've still got your powers."
"And that's all you care about, isn't it?" Castiel asks bitterly. Dean's confused.
"What do you mean?"
Castiel sighs. "It is not of import," he replies. Dean's tempted to say that he's wrong, that damn right it's of "import," and what the hell does Castiel mean by what he said anyway? But Dean doesn't ask, so he's left standing silently with Castiel. Both of them have a hundred things they want to say, but neither knows how to say them.
I'm not a huge fan of the way this ends, but I had to cut it off for so I could have this be a reasonable length and so I could have chapter 13. I hope you liked it! Review please!