Oh, yeah, everything is unbeta'd. All my mistakes are my own. Also, didn't do quite as many re-reads and edits so there will probably be more mistakes than usual.

Disclaimer: Kripke owns all Supernatural characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Pairing: Dean/Castiel - very graphic. This is my first attempt at something like this because this muse wouldn't leave me alone. Please let me know what you think, constructively.

Overall Warnings: Rated M for swearing, graphic sexual content with S and M undertones, implied forced sexual torture and other adult subject matter.

Chapter 21 – The Plan

Dean purred softly with lazy contentment in response to Cass's movements against him. He really enjoyed the leisurely way Cass's hands explored his body while Cass snuggled into Dean's neck. Cass idly kissed and sucked small marks on the place where his neck and shoulder met, making Dean feel like Cass really loved the taste of him. Cass's other hand lightly ran over his groin area, caressing his balls and semi-hard cock. Cass's hips pressed deeper and deeper into Dean and Dean felt more cum spill out of Cass to coat his already very full insides.

Dean mewled with pleasure at all that he was feeling. It was quite literally like a dream come true, although he'd never tell anyone that. He never was one to snuggle but it wasn't exactly because he didn't like it. It was because he couldn't afford to get attached, to anyone, except family. Then, for his family, he had to be strong, or, at least, appear to be that way which meant now touchy-feely crap, like snuggling. Now, with Cass and what Cass did, Dean could finally allow himself to relax and enjoy one of the few good things that fate had dealt him.

Plus, he was really very mellow right now. He'd already cum several times so he wasn't anywhere close to as urgent as Cass who was on his third knotting. Honestly, he was sure that he actually could cum again, in spite of his semi-hardness.

Dean sighed with a smile on his face. All over he felt a very comforting peace fill him which should have totally unnerved him because he knew that it'd never last. It never did for him but, after all he'd been through, he'd finally decided that he was going to enjoy it as much as he could while he could.

"Dean," Cass breathed again against the hypersensitive skin of Dean's neck. He hated to disrupt this moment but he had questions and didn't know how much time he was allowed here. "Why?"

Dean shivered with pleasure as Cass's breath ghosted over him then sighed reluctantly, not wanting to ruin the peace, either, but knew that it couldn't last forever. "Why what?"

"Why didn't you break our bond?" Castiel asked hesitantly.

Dean closed his eyes against the question and feelings that it stirred up then countered irritably, "Why did you want me to break it?"

"I didn't want you to feel . . ."

"Your death, your torture," Dean interrupted irately to finish for the angel, tensing up automatically then quickly attempting to relax as much as he could. He knew from the very recent past experience that tensing is one of the worst things to do when Cass was knotted with him. "Was that the only reason?"

"Yes," Castiel rasped out firmly. His voice begged for understanding.

"Then why make the damn thing to begin with if you knew you were going to have to break it?" Dean bit out irritably.

As confused as he was over this whole situation, he knew that, deep down, somehow he didn't really regret the bond which stuck him as very odd. He did, however, definitely regret the way and, more than likely, the reasons that it probably happened. He honestly wasn't completely sure how exactly he felt about all of this. There were way too many conflicting emotions to sort through and he didn't have the time, energy, or desire at the moment. One thing that he did know was that if he really didn't want the thing, nothing could have kept him from breaking it.

Behind him, he felt Castiel drive his head down into the back of Dean's neck. It felt like the angel was physically hiding from his question which made Dean frown thoughtfully. It wasn't like his angel to avoid answers this way, so what exactly was Castiel hiding this time? Now that question bothered him a hell of a lot.

There was a long moment of silence were they barely breathed as each of them waited for the other to answer questions that neither one of them had any intentions of answering themselves. He felt Cass's size reduced slightly inside him and knew what that signaled, even though his angel still had quite a way to go. He really hated how much he didn't want this interlude to end. When the hell did he become so needy?

Castiel pulled back slightly and wondered in a small voice with curious dread, "Why did you do things with those women when you had no intention of going through with it? Were the women just that attractive? Or were you punishing me for my mistakes?"

"No! No," Dean denied vehemently then shifted his torso and head so that he could look Castiel in the eyes. "No. It definitely wasn't punishment."

"Then why?" Castiel prodded unrelentingly, determined to have this answer at the very least.

"You have to ask?" Dean snapped bitterly. "Oh, yeah. You probably do. What the hell choice did I have? You sicced your brothers on me and told them to make me do it. Hell, Balthazar even watched to make sure it happened," Dean finished with irate disgust.

"He did what?" Castiel verified menacingly.

"You heard me," Dean growled adamantly.

Castiel growled lower in response, both turned on by Dean's defiant growl and intent on dealing with Balthazar as soon as he could. He reassured Dean firmly, "I will take care of him."

"Why? Wasn't he just following orders?" Dean sneered disrespectfully.

"No. I told him to explain exactly what happened, explain the bond, and then take you to help you break it. I, I really thought . . .," Castiel trailed off.

"Well, he didn't. Explain anything, that is. Gabriel did. Finally," Dean snapped back.

"Then you really tried to break it," Castiel remembered darkly. "What happened then? Did he watch, too?"

"No," Dean sighed heavily, not really wanting to think about that night for so many reasons.

"Dean," Castiel prodded with his command voice.

"No," Dean denied stubbornly, biting his lips slightly at the memories. He felt Castiel's intent and cut him off quickly, "No, Cass. I don't want to talk about it and I'm not until you tell me the real reason that you did all this. Since you started this whole thing, you can start the answers, too."

He felt Castiel brewing anger at his stubbornness but Dean really believed that fair was fair and Castiel did start all this. He also felt like he understood part of what kept Castiel silent. It was probably the only part he understood, not that it mattered now. He did wonder about the rest, though. He really, really wanted to know what Castiel was thinking, and what he had been thinking.

Knowing that the conversation that he wanted to happen wasn't going to anytime soon, he thought to change the subject. Unfortunately, Castiel did it for him but, of course, Castiel did it in the totally wrong way as usual. It started when Castiel sighed heavily to get rid of the frustration that was building up inside of him while he was still tied to his mate. He moved his hand down Dean's torso towards his abs in an attempt to sooth his mate at the same time.

Dean relaxed slightly under his long caress and closed his eyes to enjoy it better, allowing his mate to comfort him. He felt Castiel's hand gently glided over his abs and he smiled happily. That is until he heard Castiel comment wryly, "You might want to watch the bacon cheeseburgers, Dean."

After a brief moment, Dean's eyes flew open in shock as he mentally added it up in his head. He jerked his torso away slightly, making very sure to keep the lower half of his body still so that he wasn't ripped open. He turned to face his completely tackless mate and challenged irately, "Dude, did you . . . did you just call me fat? Seriously? Did you?"

"I, uh, um," Castiel stalled a millisecond too long, completely confused as to where this emotion filled outburst came from.

"Oh, no, you did not," Dean huffed with ire, to hide his bruised ego. His muscular body and attractiveness had always been givens. He knew his jeans hadn't been fitting right lately, but fat? Really? There was no way in hell that he was fat.

"You have me brought here for a booty call because you are in heat then you call me fat while you are still inside me! What the hell? Get the fuck out of me! Now!" Dean hissed with barely restrained ire then ended with a deep growl of warning.

Castiel watched Dean's hissy fit with extremely well-disguised amusement. He could tell by Dean's rant that he was channeling his inner, for lack of a better word, female and wouldn't listen to reason at this point. Therefore, Castiel did the only thing he could think of to stop this train wreck.

He quickly grabbed Dean by the back of the neck and yanked his mate's face close to his. Castiel captured Dean's lips and thrusted his tongue into Dean's mouth. He felt Dean try to push against his chest but Dean didn't have the leverage to move at all. Plus, he was no match for Castiel's angel strength. Castiel used all the knowledge he'd gain of his mate to physically coax him back into submission.

Luckily, they were still joined so there really wasn't much that Dean could actually do about it. Even so, Castiel wanted to make amends but knew better than to bring up the subject again. He contented himself with leisurely exploring Dean's mouth and neck again.

After several minutes of this, he finally felt Dean relax back into his arms. He smiled slightly in relief but continued to keep Dean's mouth and mind busy. He sighed and relaxed against his mate as he reassured in a whisper, "You are perfect exactly the way you are."

Dean huffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm a guy, Cass. You don't have to compliment me like some lovesick chick," Dean advised wryly, all the while, deep inside, he treasured the compliment. He sighed then and wondered what the hell had happened to him. Between the previous hissy fit and the following need for the compliment, he felt like he was losing it again.

Maybe it was all the bottoming he'd been doing. It was made him think like a chick because he was always getting fucked but he really loved having Castiel's cock buried deep inside him. Oh, crap, that was definitely a chick thought. Damn it, Dean, get it together.

He mentally shook his head and decided he'd deal with that later. Right now, he was with Castiel but knew that Castiel couldn't stay so he wanted to talk to him while he could.

"So how goes things in the box?"

"Not well," Castiel growled in immediate irritation. "They are very . . . unpleasant." Dean scoffed lightly in amusement at what he was sure was Castiel's gross understatement while Castiel continued dryly, "I do believe, however, that I may have frightened them somewhat lately."

"Good for you. Don't you let them push you around, you hear me? You are every bit as bad ass as they are, maybe even more so." Dean counseled reassuringly then surmised dryly, "Let me guess what's happening. They are banding together to pay you back for your part in stopping the apocalypse."

"Yes, although Lucifer becomes . . . a little whiny . . . uh, bitch when Michael pays attention to me, even if it is to smite me," Castiel puzzled with confusion, unconsciously relying on his human to explain things to him, while Dean smirked at how funny it was that Castiel could cuss at him so easily during sex, or anger at Raphael, but had a hard time getting the word out in this very normal conversation.

"Oh, yeah," Dean commented dryly as he propped himself up on an elbow to relief some of the pressure of his contorted position. "Well, maybe Lucifer has a little sumthin' something for Michael."

"A what for Michael?"

"You know, he wants Michael to be focused only on him. To the center of Michael's universe. He's jealous," Dean explained slowly. "Maybe Luci wants to be Mikey's little bitch."

Castiel thought for a moment then allowed reluctantly, "It is possible, I suppose. But I highly doubt it."

Dean smirked with sadistic pleasure at his continued thoughts then joked wryly, "Too bad we can't find that demon." Castiel curiously cocked his head to the side in question so Dean elaborated logically, "Look, there's a demon out there that can infect angels with overpowering lust. If you have it infect both Luci and Mikey, then they could bond together so that if they hurt each other, they'd only be hurting themselves. Right?"

Castiel admitted with reservations, "Your argument does sound logical but I am not sure that they want to be 'together . . . together'."

"Does it matter? Won't the demon venom override everything regardless?" Dean prodded determinedly.

"I am . . . unsure," Castiel replied hesitantly then allowed hopefully, "but, if that did work, it is possible that I would then be released which I find extremely comforting."

Dean gave a slight smile over his angel's slightly hopeful look then Dean's face fell as reality returned and he remembered, "But we cannot find the demon."

A sudden yawn surprised Dean as weariness that he'd been ignoring slowly spread throughout his body and he laid back down, figuring the conversation was pretty much over. He really hadn't been sleeping well since this had all began and his body was getting run down from it, too. He figured he could take a little nap before Castiel had to leave.

Castiel only vaguely nodded in response, all the while his mind still awhirl with numerous possibilities. He turned back to Dean and saw that his mate's eyes were closed but knew he wasn't asleep yet. Castiel observed aloud something else that had been bothering him since he'd first woken up here. "Your scent is different, Dean. Why?"

Dean yawned again and shrugged then returned without concern, "Probably that skank ass succubus. That bitch just wouldn't take no for an answer so I exorcised her ass." He reassured Castiel sluggishly around his third yawn, already half asleep, "That'll show the bitch. That's what she gets for trying to snack on me."

Unconsciously, he pulled one of Cass's arms tighter around him and snuggled down, slurring slightly, "Don't worry, baby. 'M fine." Finally, he exhaled slowly with a soft snore and quickly fell into the darkness of a dreamless sleep.

Castiel smirked slightly with amusement at his mate's exhausted ramble and tried to ignore the pleasure that flowed through him at the attached endearment, knowing it had only slipped out because of Dean's exhaustion. Unfortunately, he realized that he probably was out of time, but he did have a lot to think about now. He reluctantly slipped out of Dean's tight body when his cock finally fell limp enough. Dean let out a moan of soft disappointment before drifting back into a deep, sound sleep, his first in a few months.

In the middle of Castiel's debate of whether to clean up his mate or not, he felt the stealthy approach of a brother. Gabriel, he sensed easily as he mentally cleaned himself and summoned up his clothes. In a millisecond, he was ready and ordered, "Gabriel, manifest yourself."

"Is it safe? I'd rather not have to gouge my eyes out and brain bleach is not cheap, you know," Gabriel wondered facetiously as he materialized. He eyed his brother and commented dryly, "Well, you look better than the last time I saw you."

"I am . . . better," Castiel acknowledged hesitantly. "But it is not over, is it?"

"Afraid not," Gabriel confirmed sympathetically.

Castiel verified with dread, "But I am being sent back now, in spite of this."

"Yeah," Gabriel answered regretfully. "But, hey, look at the bright side. You definitely have targets to direct the excess energy at. Right?"

"Not the same," Castiel gritted out, already starting to sense another wave about to start up.

"I know," Gabriel earnestly sympathized, walking toward the bed. "Hey, at least, you got some time. Some is better than none, right?"

"True," Castiel agreed with resignation. "When?"

"Soon," Gabriel replied absently as he viewed Dean's sleep relaxed face. "Aw, ain't he so cute? The lying bastard," he added angrily under his breath.

"Gabriel," Castiel warned harshly, moving to stand in between the two.

"What! He is," Gabriel argued hotly. "The bastard knew what he had to do and when has he ever had a problem with that. In fact, if anything, he'd always had the opposite problem. Then he didn't even tell me . . ."

"Enough," Castiel snapped angrily, trying to keep the extra emotion from his heat under control. "He is mine, Gabriel. My mate. My responsibility."

Gabriel threw up his arms in extreme frustration and turned away. He paced slightly then demanded aggressively, "Do you have any idea what you've done? What this means? There's a reason why we weren't allowed to bond with them, you know."

Castiel drew himself and allowed formally, "I remember and am aware. But he is not like them and I have not fallen." Then he paused uncertainly and clarified," Have I?"

"No," Gabriel verified then qualified, "at least, not as far as I know." He glanced over and looked at Dean from where he stood near the foot of the bed.

"Did he even tell you why?" Gabriel prodded with a slight frown.

"Did you watch?" Castiel countered with deadly intent.

"What? No, of course not, and, oh, by the way, ew, gross!," Gabriel rambled on a tirade. "I'm seeing too much of him now as it is. What the hell, Cassie? He's so not my type."

Castiel studied Gabriel's expressions intently and deduced that his brother's reactions were totally honest. He nodded then explained irritably, "According to Dean, Balthazar watched."

Gabriel took then news without surprise, simply commenting, "He always was an odd duck, Balthazar. That's why you two seemed so meant for each other." He paused then wondered, "Wait. How would Deano know? I mean, wasn't Balty cloaked?"

"He probably sensed him. Our bond would make him sensitive to angels, would it not?" Castiel hypothesized warily.

"Probably so," Gabriel allowed then added, "It would make sense but we don't have any way to know for sure since that playbook was lost in The Flood."

"Gabriel," Castiel cautioned firmly.

"What? Whatever. So damn touchy. Are you going to answer my question or not?" Gabriel reminded him harshly.

Castiel huffed in an irate exact copy of his mate, "Or not."

"Oh, so you are you telling me that you aren't going to have me watch over him while you're otherwise occupied?" Gabriel pried determinedly.

Castiel sighed heavily and relented reluctantly, "Unfortunately, I don't have another option available right now."

"Exactly," Gabriel coached with amused satisfaction, rubbing his hands together with greedy glee. "So spill. Taxicab confessions time. Or do you need a confessional booth?"

"You are not in any position to absolve me, Gabriel," Castiel warned seriously.

Gabriel rolled his eyes in exasperation at Castiel's continued cluelessness but quickly refocused on the slumbering man thoughtfully. He clarified impatiently, "I meant, what did Tweedle Dumb here list as his reason for continuing this?" He glanced over and saw that Castiel was about to shut him down again. Gabriel quickly explained, "If he's got an agenda, Cassie, then I need to know about it in order to protect him. Right? You know, to make sure that he doesn't do any one of the numerous idiotic things that he normally does. Especially when he's determined to avoid the mental pain train."

"You have a very valid point unfortunately," Castiel admitted reluctantly so he relented. "He didn't say."

"He didn't say or you didn't ask him?"

"He . . . he countered my question with a question of his own that I was unprepared to answer," Castiel understated vaguely.

Gabriel broke into a huge grin and observed with high amusement, "Boy, are you two a pair! You two really give 'Odd Couple' a whole new meaning." Then he frowned heavily again when he glanced back at Dean.

Castiel frowned in return then questioned harshly, "Why do you keep doing that? Gabriel, he is mine. Leave it."

Gabriel shook his head slightly and queried uncomfortably, "You've watched him a lot, right? Even when he slept? Right?"

"Yes, I did observe him on numerous occasions, even in his sleep. Why?"

"Wow. Extremely stalkerish Peeping Tom tendencies there, Cassie," Gabriel taunted mockingly, unable to stop himself, before he admitted his concern, "Okay, so, since you're the official Dean Winchester expert, is that normal?"

Castiel frowned then turned to view his mate. He cocked his head to the side in question, not seeing any obvious need for concern. He prodded curiously, "What?"

"His eyes," Gabriel specified tightly. "It's like he's watching me but I know, for certain, that he's not even remotely conscious. It's creeping me out."

Castiel finally noticed what Gabriel was referring to, only in the next instant Dean's eyes were closed. Castiel wondered uncertainly if he'd really seen anything at all. He thought for a moment then finally answered haltingly, "On occasion, his eyes would open slightly while he slept."

Gabriel blinked disbelievingly then further clarified, "And would they also track you across the room because they've been following me everywhere I go in this room."

"No, they . . .," Castiel broke off suddenly and his eyes shot up to the ceiling in response to the summons then he sighed heavily but continued briskly. "They never tracked but it is probably. . ."

"Nothing?" Gabriel finished irritably. "Where you going to say, 'Nothing.' Seriously? First, a human, a potential archangel vessel, becomes demon-infected with lust followed by having alternate reality visions then being angelic bound and now you are blowing this off as nothing? Seriously? And they call me irresponsible!"

Castiel closed his eyes in acknowledgement then relented reluctantly, "You are right. I do know, however, that he will occasionally sleep with his eyes slightly open when he is not comfortable with his surroundings or he is having nightmares."

The summons sounded again and Gabriel urged emotionlessly, "You have to go. I will keep watch, as expected."

"I do appreciate that but leave him alone," Castiel warned sternly. "He's been through enough these past few months. He also might have given me a good idea of how to end this sooner than I had imagined."

"Seriously? Cro-Magnon here?"

"Yes."

"And I can't play with him at all? Really? That's harsh."

"Gabriel."

"Alright. Alright. I'll play nice with the big, surly baby face. I so don't get why you let him top, though. Out of the two of you, he definite has the more feminine features," Gabriel finally conceded with a great deal of reluctance. "You'd better go."

Castiel nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Gabriel." Then he disappeared.

Gabriel focused his attention on the bed and glowered at the slumbering human. He sensed that things were going to become even more complicated because of this stupid, stubborn person. He wished that Castiel didn't care for him so much so that Gabriel could just take care of it. He drew in a steadying breath as he decided what to do next.

- SPN - SPN -

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