A/N: Do I own anything? No. Well, yes. Nikki. That's all.

So...no one even took a guess at what the references might have been. Either no one got them, no one cared, or no one read the notes...So...the contest is still on. If anyone can tell me the references, I'll still give a reward. Come on! It'll be fun! Please?

Summary: Alastair and Crowley have a little bit of...fun with Dean. Much to Dean's displeasure. Cas gets a message that shreds his heart to pieces and creates a ball of pure fury at the same time. Dean's nothing if not resourceful and resilient. What's Ruby's part in it all?

Chapter 14

Cas closed his eyes against the disappointment and the fear that was hanging over him like a menacing cloud. They'd been too late.

Cas opened his eyes and looked around the warehouse. His eyes latched onto the chair with cut ropes laying around it. He knew Dean had been tied to that chair, endured who knew what in that chair. He forced his eyes away from it, but the sight they found wasn't any better.

John Winchester's body lay in pieces. Most of it was still intact, but from the neck up was a really mess. Cas didn't envy the crime units whose jobs it were to clean up messes like that. He made a mental note to suggest cremation instead of a casket.

A hand came down on his shoulder and he looked up to find Balthazar standing beside him. "We found Dean's phone in another building, along with his wallet. There was a body found behind the warehouse. Gun shot wound. A couple of feet away was the phone Dean used to call you."

Cas nodded, "Did they find anything else?"

Balthazar shook his head, "Looks like they grabbed everything and took off. With Dean. There wasn't any more blood found, so that's a good sign. It means Dean wasn't injured when they left."

Cas shook his head, "He is injured. He hurt his knee the other day saving a small boy from being hit by a truck. He was using crutches, but recently switched to a brace. There is no way he hasn't injured it further. That brings the chances of his escape down dramatically."

Balthazar squeezed Cas's shoulder reassuringly. "Cassie, we'll find him. Alive. We found him once, we can find him again."

Cas looked deep into Balthazar's eyes. "I hope you are right."

SPN

Dean hissed in pain. He couldn't stop his reactions from showing anymore. He'd been trying to hide the pain, but it was futile. Alastair was relentless with his blades.

"You know…some say I'm Picasso with a razor. Would you say that's accurate, Dean?"

Dean looked up at the man who held a razor dripping with his blood. All he could manage was a grunt. His throat was sore from screaming in pain. His chest ached with every breath he took. Pain was shooting through his entire body, not just his knee.

There were intricate curves, lines, and swirls, all carved into his flesh. He had to admit, his chest did look like some kind of painting. A very sick painting made by a psychopath…but a painting nonetheless.

Dean's head rolled to the side. He was begging his body to pull him under, allow him to escape the pain for a little bit, take a break for a while, but that wasn't happening. He was strong. That was the one of the one times Dean cursed himself for being as strong as he was.

The only thought getting him through the never-ending pain was the knowledge that Cas would find him. Cas found him when Jake had him, he could find him while Crowley had him. Dean was sure of it. He just prayed that he would find him sooner rather than later.

"I'll say it again. All you have to do for this to stop is to assist me. You can get off the rack. The torture will cease. Your pain will end. It's a fair deal, Dean. All you have to do is accept."

Dean looked up at him and spit a glob of blood at his shoe. "Go to Hell."

"Oh, I've already been there. It was too boring, so I came back. This is much more fun."

Dean swore under his breath. This guy was a real piece of work. He needed to be admitted into some kind of hospital.

Or just shot and put everyone out of their misery.

Dean ground his teeth together. He needed to get out of this alive. He needed to get back to Cas. He had to get back to Nikki, to Sam. Things were finally starting to go his way. He was falling in love, he'd found his twin sister, and he'd found the little brother he'd lost. There was no way he would let that slip through his fingers. He had to get back to them.

The door opened and Crowley walked in. A smile appeared on his face as he took in all of Alastair's handiwork. "Well, well. Looks like you two have been having some fun, I see. Now, let's have a bit more fun, shall we?"

Dean glared at him, but didn't say a word. Crowley pulled out his phone and raised it up so it was positioned facing Dean. He hit a button and then looked directly at him.

"Say hello to your boyfriend, Dean. I'll be sending this video to him to show him just how much fun we've been having."

Dean didn't look at the phone. He glared right past it at Crowley. "You can go straight to hell."

"Now, now, Dean. Where would be the fun in that? Besides. This is just the beginning. You'll be reunited with your boyfriend. I wish I could say it'll be a happy reunion, but…it won't be. For you anyways. On the bright side, it'll all be over for you. Castiel will watch the light dim from your eyes as you die a very slow and painful death. And then we'll do the same to him, but after some…carving."

Dean growled at Crowley. "You won't lay a finger on him. I told him to stay away from this, to stay away from you. There's no way you're getting your hands on him."

Crowley's smile widened. "Ah, Dean. You know so little about love, don't you? You see, I saw the way he looks at you. A man does not simply stay away when the one he loves is kidnapped and tortured. They're right smack in the middle of it. He'll be here if he ever wants to see your pretty little face again."

Dean's eyes flicked to the little camera facing him. His eyes softened for a moment, silently telling Cas, begging him, to stay away, to stay safe.

Crowley turned towards Alastair, but kept the camera pointed at Dean. "Why don't you demonstrate for our friends watching this, what exactly will be in store for Castiel when he arrives."

Dean saw the menacing grin out of the corner of his eye. Fear seized hold of him before he could stop it. He knew it'd flashed in his eyes and he knew Cas would see it. His eyes flicked away from the camera and watched as Alastair moved towards his table of equipment. When Alastair turned around, Dean saw what was in his hands: a piece of cloth and a jug of water.

Dean's eyebrows furrowed for a moment before he realized what exactly he planned to use those items for. The recognition flashed over his face before his eyes widened. Alastair walked closer to Dean until he was standing right behind him, that way Dean was still in full view of the camera. Dean glanced up at the phone one last time, sending Cas a silent message, before his head was yanked back.

Alastair placed the cloth over his mouth tightly and held his head back. Dean saw the wicked smile that didn't seem to disappear for too long from his face right before Alastair raised the jug. Water started pouring over Dean's face. Dean struggled against his bindings, but it was futile, there was no way to break loose.

Water rushed down Dean's chest, washing away the blood that had been covering most of the carvings. The sight of the cuts was enough to make a person sick.

Dean continued to struggle as water was rushing into his nose and down into his lungs, preventing him from breathing. His body started shaking at the lack of oxygen. He couldn't do anything to break free from Alastair. All he could do was struggle without success. His vision started to tunnel and black was creeping its way in. A part of him heaved a sigh of relief, the torture would end. Another part of him wanted to scream in anger.

Just as his eyes began to roll into the back of his head, the water stopped and Alastair removed his hand from over Dean's mouth along with the cloth. Dean sucked in breath after breath, greedily taking in oxygen. The tunnel vision disappeared and his head rolled to the side. His chest was heaving, trying to suck in as much oxygen as he could. As soon as the cloth had been taken away, he started coughing up water.

He knew he needed to get it out of his lungs. It burned. It made it hard to breathe. He could feel the bruises on his wrists from the chains when he struggled against him. He was almost positive he may have fractured his wrist from straining it so much.

When Dean got enough energy, he looked up at Crowley. He knew he looked weak. He knew that when Cas saw this, he would be furious.

"Is that all you got?"

Crowley's grin widened. "That's the spirit! Maybe there is hope for you after all. Now…is there anything you want to say to your little boyfriend before we say goodbye?"

Dean thought for a moment before turning to the little camera. "Remember that train we took? Sitting in that small, confined compartment? The one with three cars filled with guys? They gave Nikki a hard time, but you shut them up."

He started moving his hands, trying to get circulation back into them. "It was slow, but fun. We-."

"Are you seriously talking about a train ride…? How dull."

Crowley didn't turn the phone around, he kept it pointed at Dean, but he directed his speech towards the phone next. "Castiel, you have three hours upon receiving this to be at the specified location or else your precious Dean will die. Alone and slowly. It's up to you, of course. So long."

He clicked a button and slipped the phone into his pocket. "I'll be sure to send that to him to give him a bit of motivation. Now, behave yourself. Or not. I don't really care."

Crowley turned and left the room, letting the door bang shut behind him. Dean stared at the door, praying Cas was as smart as he knew him to be.

SPN

Cas sat down heavily into a chair. They'd spent hours combing the grounds around the warehouse searching for clues, anything that might lead them to where Dean was. They'd found nothing. He put his head into his hands. He had no idea where to go from there.

Nikki sat down next to him silently. "I take it you didn't find anything at the warehouse."

Cas shook his head and looked up at her slowly. "Nothing that will help us find Dean. But…there is something you should know."

Nikki's brow furrowed. "What is it, Cas?"

"We found John's body in the warehouse. It seems while he was helping Dean escape…things didn't go as planned. I'm so sorry."

Nikki's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. She wasn't quite sure how to feel exactly. She'd never known the man. She'd never met him. She didn't even know what he looked like. But…he was her father. A part of her ached for the knowledge that she would never know him, never meet him.

Cas's phone began to ring and he pulled it out. It was a call from an unknown number. He looked up at Henricksen and nodded. Victor turned and pointed to a uniform who began to furiously type away at his computer as Cas answered the phone and put it on speaker.

"Samuels."

"Hello, Agent Samuels. Meet me in the empty parking lot behind the abandoned hotel in three hours. If you do not show up…consider Dean Winchester as good as dead. You will never see him again, I promise you that. Show up alone, unarmed, and no wires. Or else the same fate will happen. Oh, and I will be sending you some motivation. See you soon."

The line dropped dead, the call too short to get a trace on it. Cas's brow scrunched. He was scared to know what the motivation would be. He didn't have long to think about it before his phone beeped saying he had a new message. When he looked at it, he found a video.

Henricksen glared at the phone. "Send it to your email. We'll pull it up on the big screen to view it."

Cas nodded and sent the video. Soon, one of the uniforms had it pulled up on the forty-two inch screen that sat next to the white board. The uniform hit play and Cas felt like he'd been punched in the gut when the first thing they saw was Dean chained to a chair, bloody.

Dean was glaring at the person behind the camera. He had a black eye and a cut lip, but that wasn't what caught Cas's eye. His chest was coated in a layer of slick, fresh blood. He could see the pain sitting behind Dean's eyes even though he wasn't looking directly at the camera. He heard Nikki suck in a breath at the sight of her brother. It was a painful sight, but they had to watch it.

The voice from the calls came over the line. "Say hello to your boyfriend, Dean. I'll be sending this video to him to show him just how much fun we've been having."

Cas fought back the bile that threatened to climb up his throat. That man called torturing his boyfriend fun. That was sick. Cas almost smiled when he heard Dean's rough voice. "You can go straight to hell."

"Now, now, Dean. Where would be the fun in that? Besides. This is just the beginning. You'll be reunited with your boyfriend. I wish I could say it'll be a happy reunion, but…it won't be. For you anyways. On the bright side, it'll all be over for you. Castiel will watch the light dim from your eyes as you die a very slow and painful death. And then we'll do the same to him, but after some…carving."

Cas wanted to growl, but refrained himself. "You won't lay a finger on him. I told him to stay away from this, to stay away from you. There's no way you're getting your hands on him."

Cas bit his lip. It was true, Dean had told him to stay away from it, but there was no way he was going to. He suspected Dean knew that as well.

"Ah, Dean. You know so little about love, don't you? You see, I saw the way he looks at you. A man does not simply stay away when the one he loves is kidnapped and tortured. They're right smack in the middle of it. He'll be here if he ever wants to see your pretty little face again."

Cas's heart felt like it shattered when Dean's eyes finally flicked to the screen. It seemed like they connected with his. It felt like they were staring straight into his soul. He saw the message sitting plainly in his eyes. Dean was begging him not to go anywhere near that man. He was begging him to stay safe, but he just couldn't do that. Not with Dean's life at risk.

Cas's blood ran cold when he heard the next thing out of that man's mouth. "Why don't you demonstrate for our friends watching this, what exactly will be in store for Castiel when he arrives."

Cas saw fear flash through Dean's eyes before he could stop it. It broke his heart to see Dean afraid and know there was nothing he could do to wipe away his fear. All he could do was stand there and watch the video. The video of something that had already happened. Dean had already gone through this, it wasn't happening right at that moment, but it might as well have been.

He watched Dean's eyes move and focus on something off camera. His eyebrow's furrowed for a moment before realization flashed across his face. A sinking feeling landing in Cas's stomach and he knew he was not going to like what was about to happen if the look on Dean's face was anything to go by.

A tall man walked into the frame carrying a jug of water and a cloth. Immediately, they all knew what was about to happen, but they all stayed silent, watching, hoping they were wrong. Dean's eyes seemed to connect with Cas's again, sending him another silent message. This time it said…I love you, Cas.

Those words, though silent, sliced deep into Cas's heart. They'd never said them aloud to each other yet, but it was written plain as day in his eyes. Cas watched in horror as Dean's head was yanked back and a cloth was placed over his mouth. The man raised the jug of water and began pouring it over Dean's face. They watched as Dean struggled against the chains, against the hand pressed against his mouth. They watched as the water slid down his chest and washed away all of the blood. What they saw as the blood ran down his chest made Cas's knees go weak and he had to lean against a desk in order to stay standing.

There were intricate carvings in Dean's chest. There were lines, swirls, curls. It looked as if a painter had gone to work on his chest, but with a knife instead. It made Cas sick to his stomach even more so than before as he saw the torture. He was forced to watch as Dean continued to struggle against the chains. His knuckles had turned white from gripped the chair so tightly. No matter what he did, the man was stronger.

After what felt like hours, the man lowered the jug and removed the cloth from Dean's mouth. Cas watched, his eyes glued to the screen, as Dean sucked in breath after breath while coughing up water and choking on it. His head rolled to the side and he continued to cough. When he was finally able to stop, Cas saw how weak he was. He saw how broken Dean was becoming. And he hated that man even more than he thought he did, or could. A ball of fury erupted inside of Cas and he wanted to lunge through the screen and strangle the men hurting Dean.

After a few moments, Dean's eyes moved up towards the man behind the camera again. His voice was rougher than before, but held an edge to it. "Is that all you got?"

Cas almost smile. Dean was tough. He had to be after some of the things he'd gone through. He was proud of Dean, proud of how strong he was, proud of how resilient he was.

"That's the spirit! Maybe there is hope for you after all. Now…is there anything you want to say to your little boyfriend before we say goodbye?"

There was a moment before Dean looked back at the camera. Cas saw something behind his eyes: a fire that didn't seem extinguishable. "Remember that train we took? Sitting in that small, confined compartment? The one with three cars filled with guys? They gave Nikki a hard time, but you shut them up."

Cas's brow furrowed. They had never taken a train ride before, let alone with Nikki. He was wracking his brain for what Dean would possibly have meant when he saw his hands start to move. It all began to dawn on him. This time he actually did smile.

"It was slow, but fun. We-."

"Are you seriously talking about a train ride…? How dull."

Cas wanted to punch the man again for cutting Dean off, but he couldn't. Not yet anyway. "Castiel, you have three hours upon receiving this to be at the specified location or else your precious Dean will die. Alone and slowly. It's up to you, of course. So long."

The video ended and the entire room remained silent, but not for long. Cas quickly moved over to the board and began writing what Dean had said. Victor stared at him, clueless.

"What are you doing?"

Cas didn't turn around, he kept writing. "Dean sent me a message. He knew I would understand."

"That's great! What is it? Because I got nothing out of a story about a train ride…"

Cas finished writing and turned to him. "We never rode a train. The day he got out of the hospital, we went and met Nikki. Two days later, we left for California. There was no time or need to take a train anywhere. He was telling me there was a train nearby. Three of them."

Realization seemed to dawn on the entire room. Victor stepped up to the board and read over the words. "Okay. What does the rest mean?"

"The small, confined compartment means he's in a small room. There's a door, but no way to escape. Probably a guard standing outside as well. The line about Nikki…I believe it means that the group who has him is made up of all males and one female. That is the only thing that makes sense to me. He said it was slow. That means the trains were moving slow, probably coal trains or other cargo trains."

Victor's lips parted. "Wow. You got all that from a couple of sentences about a damn train. Okay. Anything else?"

Cas nodded and looked at the uniform who had played the video. "Play back the part where Dean is talking about the trains."

The uniform went back through the video and played it as Dean started his message. When he paused, Cas said, "Stop! Right there. Play this part slowly."

The cop typed a few keys and made the video run a lot slower. Victor shifted his weight. "What exactly are we looking for?"

Cas pointed at the screen. "There. Dean's hands start moving. That's what made me realize he was sending a message. Subtle movement, but enough to catch my eye."

Victor shook his head, still not following. "He's moving his hands…What's so significant about that?"

Cas wanted to growl in frustration, he didn't have time to explain everything. "He's doing sign language. When he was in the hospital, he told me he learned sign language years ago. He even showed me how to do the alphabet. Watch his right hand. He's spelling something."

Cas turned back to the board and wrote the letters as Dean signed them. "C. R. O. W. L. E. Y. On his right hand, he's spelling Crowley. I'm assuming that's the name of the man behind the camera. There, see? He gestures towards him. Now, go back to where he starts moving his hands again."

The cop did as he was told and played the video. "His left hand this time. He's spelling…A. L. A. S. T. A. I. R. Alastair. Then he gestures towards where that other man had moved off to. I'm guessing his name is Alastair."

Victor nodded, a smile forming on his face. "Good! What about the rest?"

Cas nodded, "Play the rest."

He wrote the rest of what Dean signed on the board. He'd continued signing through when Crowley was talking. "R. U. B. Y. T. O. M. D. U. A. N. N. E. Ruby…Tom…Duanne. I'm guessing they're names of people in the group who have him."

Victor shook his head. "Wow. He was able to send us all of this information in that amount of time. That's…wait. He said the name Ruby? And that there's only one female there?"

Cas nodded, looking at Victor. "Yes, I believe that is what he was saying."

Victor turned and walked over to the desk. He dug around in a drawer before pulling out a file and flipping it open. After a moment, he looked up at Cas. "We have an undercover cop working in a gang unit. She's the only female in the group, the rest are males. Her name's Ruby."

Cas's eyes widened. "Your cop is in that gang? Can we get a message to her?"

"She's scheduled to check in any minute. When she does, we'll get a location from her and fill her in. Looks like the chances of getting your boy back are increasing, Agent Samuels."

Cas nodded, looking over at Nikki and Balthazar. There was hope shining in both of their eyes. They finally had the lead they'd been searching for. Now, it was only a matter of getting a location and going in.

Cas just prayed they got there in time. He'd seen the damage that had been done to Dean already. He was still recovering from the damage inflicted by Jake. Cas was worried about how much damage had been done this time. And how much of it was unrepairable.

Anyone like how resourceful Dean was? And how he used his brain and was able to send Cas a message that he understood? I've been trying to figure out how in the world I was going to get Dean help...and then as I was writing the part after Dean was waterboarded...it just came to me! So...there we have it. Sorry for those who thought it was too easy or whatnot. I don't want to make this overly complicated. And...haven't we had enough Dean whump for a while? No? Well...no worries, there will be more Dean whump to come. Rest assured! ^.^