AN: Thank you guys so much for all the wonderful reviews! They make me so happy, and I'm so overjoyed you guys love this little fic of mine so much! (Don't worry-the Big Thing you all want to see happen will happen very soon!)

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It's gonna be okay, Cas. We're gonna find you. Just hang in there.

Castiel exhaled as Dean's prayer ended. He wished Dean or Sam would pray again soon. It was the only source of stimulation he had, to lean back up against the stone wall and focus on their words, despite the content of them. The brothers were looking for him, their worry potent and pounding; but they didn't yet seem to know that John was responsible for his disappearance.

They would have to find out eventually, Castiel knew.

Castiel was unsure of how long he had been gone. There were no windows in his tiny cell, and with his grace blocked, he could not track the passage of time. Had he been gone days? Weeks? He didn't think it had been longer, but he had no way of knowing for sure.

Magnus visited often, though, bringing food to the other creatures he had somewhere in this hallway. Castiel could hear them sometimes, snarling and attacking the bars that held them. Magnus would laugh gleefully as he gave them their food.

Castiel still had his superior sense of smell, though. He could smell the raw meat Magnus gave the werewolf, the blood he gave to the vampire and djinn. Castiel was disgusted by it. Not the smell per se, but the implications. Where was Magnus getting the blood? Did he kill humans to feed these other creatures?

Magnus's footsteps grew louder. Castiel watched from his spot on his small mattress as Magnus put in the key and opened the cell door.

Castiel often contemplated rushing the door and shoving past Magnus, but his injured knee would not allow it. It still hurt, throbbed near constantly. He could barely put weight on it, and if he tried to take a step, it would buckle and he'd fall.

Castiel would have to wait until his knee was better; or found an alternative way out of this cell, away from the warding, he could heal it on his own, and he could escape and find his way back to the Winchesters.

Magnus grinned and shut the door behind him. He tucked the key into his pocket. He walked towards Castiel, standing in front of him.

"Hello, angel," he said. He always greeted Castiel this way. "How are you today?"

Castiel glared at him.

"Whew," Magnus said, bending down. "Come on, don't be that way. We're all friends here, aren't we?"

"You are not my friend," Castiel spat.

Magnus sighed and pouted. "I don't know why you're fighting with me."

"You're keeping me in a cage!"

"It's a very nice cage, though, isn't it? Very safe."

"A cage is a cage." Castiel looked to the metal bars. On the other side of them was just another concrete wall, but it was something. It was freedom. "'He that would chose safety over freedom deserves neither'", Castiel said. He heard Sam say it once, and enjoyed it. It was a narrative of his fall from Heaven; he chose freedom over safe lies.

Magnus's eyes lit up in amusement. "You're very intelligent, did you know? Not at all like the vampires, or the djinn—caught up in your baser instincts. If I didn't know better, I could confuse you for a human!"

Castiel drew backwards. Dean said Castiel was human in the ways that mattered; Dean said he was human in his heart. He didn't like the way Magnus's hungry eyes looked down at him, like Castiel was an animal.

"You're also so low maintenance compared to the other creatures. You don't have to eat, don't mess—the ideal pet, really."

"I am not your pet!" Castiel slammed his fist against the concrete walls. The walls rattled, vibrations shaking all the way up. Dust fell from the ceiling into their hairs. Castiel did not blink as it rained down on him, and in front of him, obscuring his vision briefly. It settled in his hair. Magnus began coughing, though, and waved his hand through the fallen debris.

Castiel had so rarely been filled with such rage. He wanted to hurt Magnus—and that scared him. Magnus was human. Castiel was supposed to protect humans, but he wanted to hurt Magnus. He wanted to hurt Magnus so badly, his teeth ached in anticipation. Even if his grace wasn't blocked, tottering the line between human and angel, Castiel was sure he could hurt Magnus with his brute strength. His vessel wasn't as tall as Sam's, or as stocky as Dean's, but it towered over Magnus, and Dean always told him, never pick a fight with someone bigger than you.

But Magnus knew the Forbidden Spell, one that would bring agony onto Castiel; immobilize him in pain. It was just a single word he had to whisper. He just need a second and he could disarm Castiel from his last weapon, his body.

He was utterly trapped. Stuck. At the mercy of this madman, who Castiel knew from experience, most likely didn't even know he was insane.

Castiel had rarely felt so helpless.

After the dust and debris settled, Magnus's face soured. A horrid scorn set upon his features.

"Look angel, I've been patient. I've been kind! Why are you so insistent on this disrespect? If it weren't for me, you could be dead at the hands of that maniac. Have I really treated you so poorly? Did I shoot you?" Magnus gestured to Castiel's still bandaged and aching knee. "Did I trap you in that holy fire? Beat your brains in? I've provided for you."

Castiel motioned to the many binding sigils painted on the ceiling. "Then why do you treat me like a prisoner?"

Magnus rose to his feet. He dusted off his suit. "They will remain there until you've proved yourself trustworthy. Until you've accepted that this is your home." Magnus walked to the bars, his footsteps heavy and echoing in the small cell. He turned to look over his shoulder.

"You will tell me your name tomorrow morning, or there will be consequences. I thought with your intelligence I wouldn't need to resort to such base methods, but apparently, a creature is a creature. You could use some training."

Castiel chewed through his lip. He tasted blood, but he never took his eyes off Magnus. Magnus opened the heavy door and slipped through it, slamming it behind him so that it rattled and echoed through the cell. He made a show of pulling the key out of his pocket and locking the doors, but Castiel still maintained burning eye contact, the kind Dean told him made people uncomfortable, with the holy anger that made him an angel of the Lord.

As Magnus walked down the hallway, Castiel could hear the other creatures stirring, clamoring against their cage bars. The werewolf began to howl, the vampires snarling, the djinn shouting in an ancient language. Castiel wondered what other sort of creatures Magnus managed to capture. The fact he had captured what he had meant he should not be underestimated. Did he have a wraith? A demon?

Castiel would be very surprised if he managed to capture a demon.

But he knew so much about angels, it seemed impossible that he wouldn't also know of demons. How to trap and restrain them.

Castiel sighed. Without Magnus, he was alone again. And with his grace blocked the way it was, boredom truly was a torture.

Cas?

Castiel had to smile slightly, at least, at Dean's voice.

Cas, we're still looking. We don't know what happened yet, but we will. I swear.

Castiel laid down on his blankets, nuzzling down into the warmth, the only tangible comfort he had in this stone cold prison. He wasn't sure if he wanted Dean to find out what happened. Either Dean would be heartbroken at learning of his father's actions, or he would have to accept it and move on without Castiel, because John was his father. Neither outcome was desirable. Castiel didn't want Dean to hurt in anyway.

I just need you to hang in there for a little bit longer. We're gonna find you, and gank the bastard that took you. I promise.

Castiel smiled softly. There was something soothing about Dean's voice, especially in prayer. Something pure and genuine. Despite the circumstances, Castiel loved that Dean was so honest with him.

And it was all Castiel had to keep himself entertained in this cold, confided prison. He listened to it like he did Dean's heartbeat when they lay together, like it was the only sound in the world.