I am starting to notice how awfully cliche and repetitive this story is and i am so happy i can be done with it. i am so sorry for this stupidity.
Summery: Highschool!Verse. Dean and Castiel meets at school and are slowly falling for each other. But they don't know that everything they knew would soon be changed for good. Angel!Dean and Angel!Castiel.
Chapter 21 - Mara
"Dean, Dean!" Sam shook his unresponsive brother frantically. "Answer me, Dean!"
Dean was drowning in his own mind, the fusion growing stronger and more tempting. You can stop this, Dean Winchester. You can stop this foolish existence of yours, kid. I can make all your wishes come true. Your family doesn't need you, they never did. I can erase you. All you need to do is say 'yes'.
"N-no," He said, his body shaking with the strain of fighting the fusion's tempting voice. "I-I'm not l-letting you r-ruin this p-place again."
"Dean?" Sam, sick of worrying and gnawing on his nails, slapped Dean across the face, "Snap out of it, Dean!"
See? Even your little brother doesn't want you. Who hits his brother anyway?
"H-he doesn't m-mean it," Dean's resolve was crumbling down.
Oh? So you ever played 'hit the weak big brother'? I didn't think so-
"Shut up…"
You know I'm right. After all, big brothers are always right. Oh, I forget, you killed us-
"Shut up!"
Why? Are you going to kill me again just to shut me up? You did it, you know-
"I-I did not!"
Maybe, but you did wish for all this stupid war to stop and killed us to survive the aftermath. Can't you see all the misery you had caused? Castiel killed himself to be with the one he loves that you killed, mind you.
"I-I never meant t-to-"
To what? Get them killed? Ruin the world? Face it, Dean Winchester, you're a disappointment and worthless. You're better off dead, so what if the world goes with it? It's not like they are worth saving as well. I'm the only one who wants you. So what do you say?
"N-no."
Cheeky much, I see. Let's see what we can do about that...
Suddenly, waves of pain hit him again and again, swallowing him down. Dean screamed at the pain and curled into himself, trying to stop the pain.
"Dean!" Sam held him. "What's going on? Answer me!"
"It hurts…" Dean cried between breaths and Sam hugged him tightly.
"Don't worry, big brother. I love you, so please fight whatever it is you're fighting, don't let it win."
"O-okay, S-Sammy," Dean tried to smile, but another wave of pain, stronger this time, made him scream again. He gasped. "C-Cas…"
"Cas is fighting Anna to protect us from her, so don't worry," Sam said with a grimace at his brother's agony.
"D-don't let h-him g-get k-killed, h-he's a-all I-I have l-left b-besides y-you," Dean cried, hot tears trailing down his cheeks as the pain grew stronger.
"He won't, Dean. Have some faith in him, jerk," Sam tried to smile, but it was failing and he held his brother tighter, wishing he knew how to use his abilities to help his brother.
It's not fair, he thought, I have powers and I can't use them when I most need them, where the hell is the logic in that? God, Castiel, anyone, help Dean, please!
Castiel rushed to where he heard the second scream, his heart pounding furiously in his chest. What if he's too late? What if Dean had already succumbed to the fusion?
He shook his head. No, he can't think that way. Dean is strong, he can fight this thing.
He reached Sam and saw him holding a struggling Dean tightly with tears falling from his eyes.
"Dean?" He rushed to them and took Dean in his arms.
"C-Cas?" Dean gasped in a pained whisper, his mind too blurred from pain to fully recognize the voice.
"Oh, Dean," Castiel rasped and held him tighter, his body glowing and trying to find a way to help his friend. "I'm so sorry. I love you so much, so no giving up on me."
"W-why is e-everybody th-think I-I'm g-gonna g-give u-up?" Dean gave out a shaky laugh, then shrieked with another wave of pain hitting him. "It hurts…"
"Shh… I know, I know, but you have to stay strong for me, my love," Castiel kissed his burning forehead.
"K-kill me," Dean choked out and the duo blanched.
"What are you talking about?!" They both screamed.
Dean shook his head, well… as much as he could with the agony. "I-it's th-the only w-way, k-kill m-me."
"No way! Not after finally getting you back to me," Castiel cried out and buried his face in his friend's shoulder. "I'm not giving up on you, NEVER!"
"I-I c-can't f-fight h-him an-any lo-longer."
"Yes, you can and you-"
"IT HURTS!" Dean suddenly screamed. "WHY NO ONE UNDERSTANDS?!"
Black wind threw Castiel and Sam away from Dean. They landed on the ground a few meters away with startled groans.
"DEAN!" They cried when Dean screamed and two enormous black wings erupted from his back and curled around him, turning fast to an orb familiar to the white one before. They scurried to him and Castiel took out his angel sword.
"What are you doing?!" Sam cried when he attacked the dark thing.
"Trying to release him!" He answered and slashed the dark orb, trying to ignore the agonized shrieks from under the feathers.
"Wait for me, Dean," He murmured and used some of the angel blood to strengthen his last attack, and the orb cracked open and the base of the wings split open and fell onto the ground.
Dean was lying on the ground between the ripped wings, motionless.
"No, no, no, no…" Castiel fell to the ground by the teen's body with wet eyes. He reached a shaky hand to touch Dean's mouth and muffled a sob when he didn't feel any breathe.
"Dean?" Sam's scared whisper made him turn to see the child look as if death had stormed in. The pre-teen cupped Dean's face and started sobbing when he felt the cold body. "Don't die… please… I can't live without you. You can't abandon me, big brother. I love you… don't die!"
Castiel gathered the fragile body in his arms and placed the head on the crook of his neck, "Hey, Dean? Don't do it to us… we need you." He choked and brushed his thumb over Dean's cheek, "Oh, god, it's all my fault. I'm so sorry, Dean. I only tried to save you, I'm so sorry. I love you, Dean… don't leave me again… I'm so sorry…"
When he got no response, he shifted the body to cup Dean's face and brushed his lips over Dean's. "Dean? Wake up, my love. Please open those beautiful eyes you have, don't leave me alone." Hot tears fell quickly down his cheeks and he pressed his lips hard to Dean's, trying to coax his friend to respond.
"Cas… I-I think i-it's too late," Sam was crying and held to Castiel's bloodied shirt. "It's enough, Cas… he won't come back… not this time…"
"Don't say that!" Castiel shouted at him, holding Dean tighter to him, refusing to let go.
"I have to!" Sam shouted back. "If I won't, I'll break as well! Dean is DEAD!" He buried his face in his arms and burst out crying loudly.
Castiel brought one arm and pulled Sam to a hug and the pre-teen clung to his cold brother, crying loudly and shouting at his brother to wake up.
A swish of feathers made them look up and see Gabriel land by them, a solemn look on his face.
"I'm so sorry, Castiel," He said with a bowed head.
Castiel looked at him with wet eyes and a sneer. "You knew, didn't you?"
"Yes, I knew," The archangel nodded.
"How could you?" He said accusingly and the angel flinched.
"Cas…" Sam seemed scared. "Shut up..."
"It's all those dick angels' fault! If you hadn't left us alone Dean would have not died!" Castiel shouted angrily. He dipped his head in Dean's neck, sobbing uncontrollably. "I just want him back. I just want my Dean back, why does everyone try to stop us?!"
"Cas, SHUT UP!" Sam shouted and Castiel clamped his mouth shut in shock. Sam pointed at the still body in his hands shakily, "Look…"
Castiel looked down and his eyes grew wide when both of their bodies were covered with faint glow. He looked up to Gabriel warily. "What did you do?"
"Nothing, it's like your angel bloods… react to each other," Gabriel muttered with awe. He looked at Castiel with a smirk smeared on his lips. "Did you and Dean-o did… the deed?"
Castiel turned bright red. "Y-yes…?"
Gabriel laughed. "Oh father, I'm so proud of you, little brother."
Castiel scoffed. "I'm not your brother, Gabriel."
"Can we focus?" Sam snapped his fingers in front of their faces and the duo quieted down.
Gabriel's face turned deadly. "Were they hand prints on your body?!"
"H-how did you…?" Castiel started.
"Quick, uncover them!" Gabriel interrupted him.
Castiel nodded and took his and Dean's shirt off, uncovering the bright red hand prints, which were glowing brighter than the rest of their bodies.
"What the…?" Sam asked with a socked gaze.
"It's the soul connection between you two," Gabriel said, relief evident in his voice. "You can still save him, you lucky dog."
"Really?" Both humans perked up.
"Yes," Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Now shut up and place your hand over that print, NOW!"
"Okay," Castiel complied and placed his hand gingerly on the red patch, feeling intense heat under his hand.
"He's burning," Castiel said, grinning widely in disbelief.
"Good, means he's still alive. Place his hand over yours."
Castiel nodded and brought Dean's hand to cover his, feeling shivers go down his spine in anticipation at the burning feeling he felt from Dean's hand.
"Close your eyes and concentrate. You need to find his soul under all this gooey stuff that the fusion made to lock him down. You don't have a lot of time, he's fading fast."
Castiel wasn't listening to him, his eyes already closed.
Castiel opened his eyes and had found himself standing on a small island, surrounded by a dark sea. He almost stumbled on his step, but managed to recollect himself on time and sat down, peering cautiously at the dark water.
"Dean?" He shouted. Only echoes of his own voice answered him. "DEAN!"
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A head surfaced from the water. It was something that looked like Dean, but had bright yellow eyes and his hair was pitch black.
"Who are you?" Castiel snarled. "What did you do to Dean?"
"Oh, you mean the righteous man," Not-Dean said with amusement. "Or righteous teen, if you want to be specific."
"Who are you?"
"Name's Mara," Not-Dean shrugged. "Or Fusion, if you don't want to be original."
"What do you want from Dean?" Castiel bit his lip from shouting in frustration. "Leave Dean alone and go inhabit someone else's body."
"And leave this marvelous body? Nah-uh," Mara clicked his tongue. "This boy's mind is so delicious. All the suffering, the repressed feeling, the self-loathing," He moaned, "They're just like the best honey I'd ever tasted."
"Get out of him!"
"What are you gonna do about it?" The fusion huffed in amusement, stretching his neck and rising higher from the water, his bare chest showing up, pale as sheet and streaked with bright red veins. "Kill me? Torture me?" He rolled his eyes, "Come on, you are powerless and I'm gonna get my little toy soon, all for myself," He grinned seductively.
Castiel snarled in disgust. "Tell me where he is."
"Now why should I?" Mara rose higher to cup the teen's face. He licked his lips, "You're a very handsome human, no wonder this boy is so attracted to you. Wanna be mine? I'll treat you well."
"Get your disgusting hands off of me," Castiel slapped the hand away and rubbed his jaw, shuddering in disgust. "Just tell me where is Dean, or I'll seriously kill you," His body grew brighter and the slightest sliver of fear flashed through the fusion's yellow eyes.
"Of course, you're an angel as well. I'm just not a lucky duck lately," The fusion sighed and plunged back into the water, leaving Castiel alone in the darkness.
I'm going to have him all to myself, and you can't do anything about that, foolish angel, the voice of Mara laughed in the empty space.
Castiel gritted his teeth. "No, you're not."
He closed his eyes and two big wings erupted from his back. He looked at them with satisfaction. "It seems that the imagination of humans is strong in those kinds of places."
He looked forward, toward the swallowing darkness, and smiled. "I'm coming for you, Dean." He shot out from the island and plunged himself into the darkness.
He was sitting on a chair in a cozy bedroom. His head was lolled to the side and his lifeless eyes were looking up to the ceiling. Heavy cuffs pinned his hands to the armrests and his legs to the front legs of the chair.
Mara swiftly entered the room, black smoke rising from his every step. He took one look at Dean and smiled darkly, approaching him.
"Hello, my dear vessel," He rested one hand over Dean's and the other cupped the teen's face, turning it to face him. "You look so beautiful, as usual," He brushed his thumb over the plump lips. "You make me want to ruin you."
Dead eyes stared at him and he smirked, brushing his lips over Dean's. "You know who I saw by the shore today? Your little lover… Castiel, was it?"
Fear and hope flashed through the dead eyes and Mara frowned. "Oh? So you ignore me, but when I mention that human, you try to oppose me again?"
The dead eyes looked at him with anger and the fusion reeled with rage himself. "I see how it is. Maybe I should just kill the little brat to finally break you down completely?"
"Leave… him… alone…" Dean croaked and gasped when the fusion grasped his neck, crushing it with his hands.
"You're mine, Dean Winchester, and I'm not going to let any stupid angel-vessel take you away."
"C-Cas…" Dean rasped.
"No, you're not calling him," Mara squeezed tighter and the teen tried to breathe and glared at him before blacking out.
The fusion panted and released the bruised neck and brushed the bruises gingerly. "If you only surrendered to me."
His eyes flashed dark and he stood up. "I'm going to kill you, Castiel. Once and for all."
It felt like he was flying for hours, is there even land somewhere?
"I feel like the stupid knight in those fairy-tales mother used to read me," Castiel swallowed a choked laugh. "Wonder what Dean would say about being the damsel in distress… just be safe, Dean." A pearly tear fell from his eyes to the water under him and the water seemed to glow lighter.
Castiel stopped his flight and looked at the place where the tear fell, from which a wave of a lighter black spread over the dark water. He pinched himself and tried to make himself cry harder. And with every tear that fell from his eyes, the water became lighter and lighter, until it was emerald-green, like Dean's eyes.
He almost laughed at how cliche it was. Tears? Really?
The teen floated closer to the surface and caught some pictures flashing over the water. Dean's birth. Mary singing 'Hey Jude'. First birthday. Sam's birth. Sam's first word, which was 'De', by the way. Sam walking. Sam… Sam… Sam… Sam… Sam… Castiel… Castiel… wait…
Exchanging notes in their first class together. Going to Karen's house. The trip to the lake. Their first kiss.
Genuine tears fell in rivers from his eyes as he covered his mouth to muffle his sobs. "Dean…"
Then the water turned dark-blue and different kind of pictures flashed through the water. The fire. Sam's first injury. John's getting drunk and yelling at his eldest. Being called worthless, stupid, disappointment. John's death. Sam being attacked. Alistair. Castiel being kidnapped and the phone-call from Zachariah. The ritual to bring Daniel forth. Hospitals. The plan to stop Lucifer. The fusion and the semi-destruction of the world. The fusion trying to make him say 'yes'…
Castiel screamed as pain attacked him and tried to out-flow it, but he felt it with every inch of his body, as if his body was going up in flames.
"DEAN!" He cried and fell into the water. His wings disappearing and leaving him struggling for air as the water tried to swallow him whole.
You're not getting through, angel, the fusion said.
"Yes-I-will!" Castiel gasped and the water yanked him in and swallowed him fully.
Dean…
When he woke up, he blinked in surprise. He expected to see dark water around him but found himself standing in a hall which seemed to fit into a palace, not a teen's mind, not that he complained.
He looked behind him, the hall was deserted but sudden foot-steps made him turn around, but he saw nothing.
He followed the footsteps and came to a slightly open door. He touched the door, feeling the smooth oak wooden door and pushed it open.
A king-sized bed was in the middle of a giant bedroom with a frail woman lying on it with her gaze out of the window, a big bundle on her lap.
"Mama?" The woman looked down and the bundle shifted, revealing a familiar child with a big smile.
"Yes, Dear?" The woman had long wavy blond hair and soft but tired green eyes. She smiled warmly at the child and ruffled his hair. Only then it was that Castiel realized that they were speaking in Italian. But for some strange reason, he was able to understand them.
"Can you tell me the story of the angels again?"
"I told you this story many times already, Michael," The woman said, amused.
The child pouted. "Please, Mama? I promise to listen to Martha tomorrow."
The woman sighed playfully and shrugged. "Oh, alright…
A long time ago, there were angels walking among us, guarding us.
Now, those angels couldn't feel any emotions because of how they were created. But despite the odds, two angels fell in love with each other and combining their grace, they had created another angel."
"Daniel, Castiel and Michael!" the child cheered. "I was named after Michael, right?"
The woman chuckled. "You're very clever, dear. Now, these three angels lived in peace with the humans and lived happily for many years.
But there was one angel, who was envious of the rare love those two had and wanted to destroy that. So he arrested these three angels and brought them to the jury, who was biased as well and only wanted to see them perish."
"But god didn't let them, right?"
"No, he didn't. But he had to give them a very important mission. He placed each of them in a different human so they could be protected until the right time will come so no angel or demon would find them and destroy them.
And now, for many millenniums, those angels are traveling down each one for one blood-line until the day they would be needed-"
"And save the world from the evil Lucifer!" The kid burst into her sentence with a cheer. But then he turned solemn. "Mama… I want Daniel and Castiel together. I want them to be able to find each other again…" Tears fell from his eyes.
His mother kissed his hair and held him close. "I know, son. I know…"
"It's not fair for them… why can't angels love?" The child sniffled.
"I don't know… shh, come on, it's time for bed and you need to wake up early tomorrow." She started rocking him back and forth, singing to him.
The kid seemed to get drowsy and yawned loudly before blinking sleepily. "Goodnight, Mama," The kid fell asleep in his mother's arms.
The woman sighed and the door behind Castiel opened again, this time a tall man walked inside with a soft smile adorning his face.
"Darling," She said with a relieved laugh. "You scared me."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am," The man joked. He sat on the bed and brought some of her hair to kiss it. "Is my little boy asleep?"
"Deeply. He sure loves that story," The woman said sadly.
The man looked at her, "Well, it's our duty to keep Daniel the archangel safe. I would be worried if he didn't like the story."
"When shall we tell him?"
"When I'm close to my deathbed."
Castiel inched closer to the family he now suspected were Dean's ancestors. So Dean's a royalty, he mused, now that's a surprise. He looked closer at Michael and was shocked to see Dean's resemblance to the child.
Quick footsteps alerted him to another toddler stumbling on his feet to get to the bed. The adults laughed and the man picked the toddler and placed him by Michael.
"Here's our little James," The woman chuckled. "You would think he's Michael's brother."
"With how he loves him? I doubt it. It's more like adoration… the lords are not going to like that," The man sighed and the woman frowned.
"They are babies, darling, it's too early to decide. Besides, who cares? If two angels can love each other, why not two boys?"
Castiel smiled, glad that those parents weren't so close-minded, but something about the toddler bothered him.
James yawned and snuggled to Michael's chest and suddenly it dawned on Castiel – the toddler looked like him.
He took a step back with shock. If his and Dean's blood-lines knew each other back then, how did they get separated? Do they even know that James is from the Castiel's line?
The answer came quite quickly. At the dead of the night, the window silently moved and a dark figure entered the room.
Castiel watched with dread, knowing he can't change the past, as the man hovered over the sleeping woman with Michael and James in her lap.
"No, no, no…" Castiel watched in terror as the man picked Michael up.
"That boy is mine," The man jumped from the window into the night.
Castiel watched with sadness as Michael grew in Britain's slums, all childishness and happiness gone and replaced with maturity and hatred. Michael was a blacksmith assistant, earning close to nothing, but he was a singer as well and performed many times at the local bars, earning a bit more.
One day, he went back to his breaking down cabin. Castiel spotted the man who kidnapped Michael all those years ago and felt his rage bubble inside of him but the blond didn't recognize the man and just greeted him politely.
"Good afternoon to you, Young man," The kidnapper said with a friendly smile.
"Good afternoon, mister. What do you need?" The Italian accent was still evident in Michael's tone, although now he was speaking English.
"Just company, lad."
Michael rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, you can sit there. I'll be back soon," He rushed into his house and moments later came out with a bottle of bear and a plate of bread. The kidnapper smiled at Michael and silently ate the meal.
"Now, I'm sure you didn't come here only for my food, so spill," Michael spat warily. "I don't have time to waste on your bloody money-huggers."
"I want to tell you a story," The man said and Castiel tried to strangle him, only to have his hands pass through the man.
"Do tell."
The man told him the exact same story as the woman did, only he added at the end, "And do you want to know if it's true?"
"Most likely not."
"Actually," The man's eyes flashed black and Castiel blanched, it was Alistair. "Yes, it's true, and you're the evidence for that."
"You're bluffing, I'm no angel," Michael snorted, rolling his eyes, obviously thinking that the man has lost his marbles. "Did I give you too much to drink, sire? Because I think you should go home and leave me the bloody hell alone."
"I don't think you understand, Michael Campbell, you're Daniel and the one I've been looking for millenniums."
Michael blanched. "How do you know my name?" He stood up and took out a sword, "If you don't tell me right now who are you, I'm going to bloody murder you!"
The man stood up as well, his eyes flashing black again. "My name's Alistair, a demon of tortures and I've been looking for you, Daniel."
"My name's Michael, you git." Michael backed away, his eyes subconsciously glowing bright green.
Alistair charged and Michael jumped to the side and thrust the sword at the demon, only to have it break on contact. Michael looked at it with shock before jumping again away from the demon. Alistair sighed and waved his hand, pinning Michael to the wall.
The young man struggled in his place. "What did you do?!"
"Not letting you escape, that is," Alistair purred and brushed the young man's long blond hair to the side. Michael growled and instantly, Castiel's whole sight turned white.
When the light faded, he had found himself at the hall again. He leaned on the wall and the flashes passing before his eyes again made his head pound with pain.
Why did he see that vision?
"That was one of the times you and Dean had met as reincarnations," A familiar voice startled him and he turned to see Daniel standing behind him,
"Daniel, you're alive?!" He cried in happiness and hugged the angel tightly.
"No, I'm not," Daniel sighed. Castiel looked at him in perplex, "What do you mean?"
"Mara is the demon of soul corruption and treachery, you could say. He was created at the incident of the two archangels' fusion back at the dinosaurs' destruction. Using the lingering concentrated darkness from the humans' souls and the angels' darkness from the treachery to create himself. He trapped some of my and Michael's graces to fuel the explosion. We were dipped with so many negative emotions we couldn't escape until you shed the first tear of compassion on the water of selfishness."
"It was a prison?!"
"Kind of… you released Michael and me. So now we need to release Dean from Mara. He searched through his soul and took this setting from his favorite reincarnation."
"So Dean and I knew each other before this life?" Castiel said in awe. "How come we never been together then?"
"Because someone always separated the two of you, as you could see. You've been together for a short time for about six times before now. Each time we were in a body with your soul, we knew because it was only then that we could use a fragment of our powers, unlike the other times. This one was during the sixteenth century in Italy. But it's not the time to talk about the past."
"Oh right… but how can we save Dean?"
"Follow me." Daniel started walking toward the same way Castiel walked to before.
"Mara likes to know where this soul used to spend his happiest times so he would be able to corrupt them and break Dean even further. Dean had closed himself inside his mind so he wouldn't be affected by Mara's attempts."
"We have to hurry up, then!" Castiel pulled Daniel with him and dragged him toward the room where he met Michael, or Dean.
"Be careful," Daniel said when they reached the thick oak-wooden door. "Who knows what Mara had put in the room."
"I don't care," Castiel slammed the door open and covered his mouth to not let a cry out of his mouth. He rushed to the chair, where Dean was chained to, and cupped the teen's face.
"Dean?" He asked hesitantly. "Can you hear me?"
He turned to Daniel. "Can you help me release him?"
Daniel nodded and snapped his fingers. The shackles fell onto the floor in a loud noise. Castiel flinched at the noise, but then braced himself and picked Dean up and almost fell back.
"He's almost weightless," He became worried at the apparent sickly appearance of the teen. He then noticed something on his neck and shifted it, revealing the bruises Mara had made before.
"How could he do that?" Castiel choked and kissed the bruises with wet eyes. "Why do you have to suffer so much, Dean?"
"Cas…?" Dean's hoarse mutter made said teen's head snap up to meet with dead green eyes, but still beautiful.
Castiel choked out a shaky laugh and kissed Dean harshly. Dean froze but slowly responded, cupping Castiel's face. Castiel helped him on his feet and Dean looked at him with shock.
"What is it, Dean?"
"What? How?" Dean spluttered, but then coughed and grimaced in pain, brushing his fingers over the bruises. Castiel shushed him immediately, "Shh… you're injured, so don't talk, please."
"C-Cas…" Dean held his friend tightly, too shaken to cry. "Cas…"
"I'm here, Dean," He patted Dean's back. "I'm here. No one is going to separate us."
"I-I love you," Dean croaked.
"I love you, too," Castiel smiled. "Everything is going to be just fine, love," After they kill Mara for good, that is…
But for now he can just give himself a chance to indulge in Dean's warmth. "I missed you so much, Dean."