Notes: And now on to Castiel playing God for a bit. He's a very sexy God, I must admit. I would worship that...

Leahelisabeth: Lol, I shall do my best to accommodate XD And I am soooo nervous for next season! This could be amazing, or go oh so horribly wrong! I'm so scared! D:

Eri: *uber blush!* Thank you! ^.^

Disclaimer: Won't fit in my suitcase, so I don't think I can take it with me :(

CHAPTER 13

Chuck couldn't feel the entire right side of his body from where he lay on it on the hard floor. He could have easily turned over, let some blood start circulating again, but to do so he might make a sound and then that man would come back. He would hurt Chuck and Chuck knew he was a wimp when it came to pain.

Instead he just lay there as the pins and needles got worse and worse until he felt nothing. He didn't even flinch when the man's and Castiel's voices came over the P.A, even though the topic of conversation was a bit odd. Odd even for Cas.

Then he heard his name being whispered. He knew it was coming from the P.A, but it wasn't echoing in the hallway just outside the engine room. It was Castiel calling him, just him.

Painfully, Chuck raised his head for the first time in an hour to try and hear better.

"Chuck?"

"Cas? Cas is that you?!"

"Indeed…you're afraid."

Chuck nodded, as if Cas could actually see and then let out a wearied sob, "He tied me up. I don't know where he came from…he said he was going to shoot me."

"Shh. Shh. It's okay. It's going to be okay, Chuck."

It was kind of weird to be comforted by a guy on the ship's mic claiming to be God, but Chuck still let out a relieved breath nonetheless. Cas could see the future or something like that, right? So if he said it was going to be okay, then it should be okay. Suddenly Chuck felt a giant wave or remorse for ever having any doubt in Cas, for thinking that there was a chance that he could hurt them.

Cas must have "felt" him, "Do not feel bad. You are forgiven."

"But…I told him where you were. I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do. I—"

"Shh. I'm fine, but I need you to do something for me. You need to be brave, Chuck."

The mechanic dropped his now heavy head back to the floor with a groan, "I'm tied up. I-I can't…I'm so sorry."

" You know, looking through the history books, I'm not sure I would have believed our ancestor monkeys were going to make it. No offense, but I probably would have been backing the Neanderthals, because their poetry was just amazing. It's perfectly in tune with the spheres…but in the end it was us. The homo sapien sapiens. We ate the apple, invented pants…and we were also the first species to use complex tools…sharpen them for specific uses….Now don't be scared. I'm watching over you."

Castiel's voice disappeared and Chuck glanced around, like maybe he would spot him, but then his eyes fell on the tool box where one of his metal cutters was poking out. And but damn if it didn't look like it was glowing like some holy freaking grail.

With Castiel's voice suddenly gone silent all around the ship, Gordon's calm was quickly disappearing as well and you could see his frustration levels rise like the sea in his eyes. The bounty hunter jerked his gun at Dean to get his attention, as if the Captain wasn't watching the guy who held a gun at his chest.

"Where did he go?" Gordon demanded.

Dean spread his arms wide in a clueless manner, "I can't even keep track of him when he's not incorporeally pulling a Holy Spirit of the Ship. Don't look at me, man."

Gordon's response to that was a loud curse and a rough kick to one of the pilot chairs, making Dean wince and further his fantasy of tearing this guy limb from limb for threatening to hurt his crew, and now messing with his baby.

As much as he didn't really want to, Dean couldn't help but worry about Cas' stability at this point. This was something new and just…a little unsettling. He was claiming he was no longer Castiel. What did that mean? Also…what the hell was with the "I am the ship" thing? It couldn't be true, right, cause how awkward would that be? If that was true then Dean was currently sitting on Cas, and when they put stuff in the cargo hold, it would be like storing stuff in Cas' ass.

And worst thought yet, why did Cas say that he was dead?

Once again Dean winced as Gordon kicked at the chair, even more roughly than the first time around. Not a second later Cas' voice came back harshly.

"I highly suggest you cease kicking that."

Ignoring how Cas happened to know what Gordon was doing, Gordon raised his face to the ceiling and shouted back, "And I highly suggest you get your ghostly ass down here before I shoot your boy!" he continued to mumble under his breath as he fiddled with his gun, "some nonsensical crap…ain't nobody who can do that…." He raised his voice again, "I know you're somewhere on this boat! Somewhere with a comm. playing games!"

A dry laugh cackled over the P.A, echoing through all the hallways and sending shivers through the whole crew.

"…That was somewhat unsettling. I swear he doesn't laugh like that normally," Dean told Gordon casually, but the bounty hunter just scowled back at him.

"Ain't nothing normal about any of this."

"Gordon…Mr. Gordon Walker, bounty hunter. May I call you Gordy? I've heard Dean call you that a few times and I kind of like it."

Cas' voice came back again, sounding to everyone like he was shooting the breeze over a beer the way he was talking now. Not like that booming voice from before as he claimed to be God. It was more than a little concerning that he seemed to be having these mood swings and Dean was all sorts of ready to made this right again. More than anything he just wanted to find Cas and help him through whatever kind of episode this was. He just prayed that he could fix this…

Meanwhile, Gordon snorted loudly, "Nobody calls me that."

"Your sister does…or did as you would say. She's gone to you now. I'm sorry."

Dean watched as Gordon's grip tightened on his gun and he smiled a bit. Looked like Cas was trying on his creepy old psychic lady shtick again. Never underestimate the power of parlor tricks. He would have loved to see what would happen if Cas read palms.

"Is that supposed to scare me? Bringing up my sister?" Gordon called back. His voice was steady, but Dean could see how his hand trembled just a bit.

"You're a liar. I don't think your intentions are honorable. You aren't cleaning the streets of trash. You're cleaning them of life."

Gordon frowned and Dean could see him calculating how to approach this. Clearly this was one of his more…unique jobs that he had taken on. This guy was a shoot 'em and tie 'em to his ship kind of hunter, not a talk 'em down from the tree branches kind. He was smart though, and knew that he wasn't going to get Castiel without at least making an effort to play along. It would be interesting at least for Dean to watch this play out.

"Well, Castiel…I am a bounty hunter as you have pointed out. It's not generally considered an honorable job, I'll give you that….but I live by a code, though. Which I think is worth—"

"You hurt people."

Dean raised his eyebrows at Gordon accusingly, small smirk on his face. It earned him a scowl in return.

"Only when the job requires it," the bounty hunter defended.

All around the room the screens of all the computers started to flash out different words, making Dean jump up from his leaning position and Gordon's whole body tense up, finally abandoning his casual and relaxed posture that seemed to define him.

LIAR. WRONG. KILLER. MONSTER. MURDERER.

Each flashed out in red or green letters, making the room an odd assortment of lights. Then the lights started to flicker and spark threateningly.

"Wrong. You're a bad liar. You crawl inside me uninvited and you hurt my crew. I see everything that passes. I feel everything—"

"I only hurt people because they keep getting in the way of me finding you! And I know for a fact that you are just as bad or worse than me! You've killed, Castiel. You're a monster and I need to take you in. You come with me and your crew won't need to be hurt anymore," he turned to Dean, "Tell him."

Dean tried his best at one of Sam's bitchfaces, "What? Seriously? Am I your advocate now or something?"

"You are starting now. Tell him so I don't have to hurt your crew or your brother."

The Captain rolled his eyes and leaned back against the panels with his arms crossed over his chest, "Fine…Cas? This guy is actually very…gentle….and fuzzy. A real cuddle bunny if you ask me. We're becoming fast friends. Thinking of asking him for a threesome later if you feel like spicing things up."

Castiel laughed again, and it sounded natural, like how he always laughed at Dean's horrible jokes. It made Dean smile for real as well, thinking that just maybe Cas was still in that mess doing whatever it was that he was doing. Gordon however didn't seem the least bit amused. Guy must not appreciate Dean's comic genius.

"You folks are all insane…"

Dean shrugged again, a boyish grin on his handsome features, "Well, my boyfriend is God and you could say we all had a complicated childhood."

Gordon just looked at him like he was wondering if he should put the Captain out of his misery, "Doesn't anybody care that I have a finely crafted gun pointed at this man's chest?" he snapped, once again looking up at the ceiling. Dean had to be a bit amused by that cause it actually looked like he was trying to talk to God or some crap like that.

"I care."

Finally Gordon felt like he was gaining some ground, "Then you are going to come out and stop me from doing what I don't want to? You going to be smart here, Castiel?...Castiel?...uh, God?"

Castiel's voice had gone away again and Dean felt a little colder.

Balthazar moaned once again as he sat up from the floor and used the ladder to become vertical. He had been listening to the back and forth of the stranger and Cassy, and needless to say he was more than a little concerned for his baby brother. When he had said that Castiel was dead, Balthazar had almost choked until his brain caught up with him and reminded him who was talking in the first place.

Still, he felt ill.

"Aww…what the hell is going on…" he moaned to himself, or he thought he had just said it to himself, but then he heard Cassy's whispering voice echo around the room.

"I need your help again, brother. It'll be just like before."

Still a little loopy from the hit to his head, Balthazar's first reaction to hearing his brother so close was utter panic, "Cassy, you need to hide. That man…he's-he's very blurry. You gotta be careful, darling."

He heard his brother chuckle lightly, "I'll keep it in mind."

As the room finally came into focus, he realized something, "Cassy? How come there's a guy on board, and how come all of a sudden you're God?"

"I know you have questions…"

"That would be why I just asked them."

"…but there isn't time, brother. I need you to trust me."

"Am I dreaming? Cause I have to tell you darling, things are a little surreal right now."

"We all are."

Balthazar rolled his eyes.

"Don't make faces."

The middle Novak looked a bit unsettled at that, but he was glad when Castiel's voice came back, more soothing than an ice pack to his head, "Balthy…I need you to pull another daring escape. This time I'll help you get out, but I still need you to do something for me."

"Anything, Cassy."

"I need you to take care of Dean."

Yay! Another Chapter done! Now time to start packing! Only a few days before I'm shipped away! :D