Five days later, Castiel stood outside the hospital room, staring through the room window at the broken, bandaged, intubated, barely alive man he cared so deeply about. It still hurt like hell to learn what was done to him, the doctor's words echoing in his heard.

"... severe fractures of rib cage... broken bones... bruises, scrapes, cuts... spinal injuries... swelling in his throat from constant... severe tearing of the anus, stitches... scull fractures, brain swelling... surgery to remove... beer bottle in the rectal canal..."

His lips pressed into a thin line, his fists clenched, Castiel felt such rage like he had never felt before, and some of it was even directed at himself. He would always carry some of that guilt for being late that day...

Monday:

Castiel waited and waited, leaning up against his Toyota, but Dean didn't come out. He got held up at work, and was late to pick him up, so of course he thought that maybe Dean headed to the hotel on his own. But after talking to the receptionist who confirmed that his guest did not show up today, Castiel grew worried. He was just about to circle around and enter the club when the bartender walked out, grumbling something about being left alone to tend to the whole club as he took out the trash.

They locked eyes with each other and both kind of squinted, and Castiel was just about to ask about Dean when the grumpy bartender spoke in a British accent "Isn't Dean supposed to be with you?"

Shivers went down his spine, but it wasn't logical, Dean could still very well be on his way to Castiel's hotel, there was no real reason to think something has happened. Still, Castiel couldn't shake the slimy feeling that crept up his skin as he drove back to the hotel to wait for Dean's arrival, cursing at himself for not persuading Dean to buy him a phone. In fact, the darker it got outside, the darker his thoughts were, and the more worried he became, blaming himself for not trying harder to find him, for being late, for any little thing he could think of. He wanted to go and look for him, but logically knew there was nothing he could do, not tonight. All he could do is sit and wait and hope Dean would show up.

Fat chance! Castiel Novak was not the man to just idly sit by and do nothing. On his way down to the reception, he phoned Benny and Balthazar, asking them both to get behind the wheel and start searching the town, promising them large compensation, but when both heard that Dean was missing, they declined payment and said they would do whatever it took to find him. Castiel made sure to shove a roll of bills in the receptionist's hands as he told her to call him immediately if his guest was to show up, but not to detain him, to rather let him up.

The dawn was breaking when Castiel got back to the hotel without Dean, broken and worried as to what might have happened, and he crashed down on the bed, exhausted and drained, but only managed a couple of hours before a nightmare woke him up again.

Tuesday:

Castiel walked out of the elevator wearing the same outfit he did yesterday, and it was clear he didn't even bother to shower. He spent the next four hours reporting Dean as a missing person, but the moment the cops heard Dean was a dancer at ZaZ, they quickly lost interest, saying they will look into it. Castiel saw red.

After demanding to speak to their superior, he was escorted to the office of the police chief Drebin, an older man with grey hair shook his hand and explained that some cases take priority. Castiel then explained that, if they manage to find Dean, that a substantial amount of money will be donated to their particular precinct, and suddenly police chief Drebin changed his tune and promised they would leave no stone unturned. Castiel didn't get his hopes up that they would actually find him, but it never hurt to have more people searching.

He checked in with Benny and Balthazar who, after a couple of hours of sleep and a shower, were back circling the city, checking with other contacts and looking for Dean.

Castiel went back to the club to try and talk to the owner or that bartender, but it was just his luck that all he found were a couple of scared dancers without even the security around the club, who had no clue what might have happened to Dean. In fact, some were pretty clear that they disliked him; probably saw him as a competition and they were glad he was gone.

Since he couldn't get any information on the bartender or the owner, not even their phone number, he went back to the office, just to check in, tell Charlie what happened and that she would have to take over for the time being. He had full confidence in her and told her such, assuring the insecure redhead that she's "got this." Finally, she nodded, but set up one condition. That he had to go and eat. Castiel promised he would.

He searched the town, mostly the places they have been before and some places he thought Dean might go to, until he finally ended up knocking on Nick's door at midnight, nearly collapsing with exhaustion. The blond took him in, called Anthony who was on call at his hospital. Tony told him to make sure Castiel ate something that won't upset his stomach and to keep him hydrated and that he will be home as soon as he can. He also said he would reach out to his contacts in the state hospital and have them call him if they checked in a patient under Dean's description.

Castiel was so tired and tormented by the scary thoughts of what might have happened to Dean that he just ate the porridge Nick made and collapsed on the couch.

Wednesday:

Castiel was awaken by the sound of his own phone, but by the time he located it, it had stopped ringing. Somehow he was in unfamiliar bed, wearing nothing but his own briefs and the memory of the last two days slowly crept back into his mind. He was at Nick's, but that didn't matter, because Dean was still missing. He quickly found his clothes, and got dressed as he read Nick's note which stated that he would go to the club and ask around.

He grabbed his phone and checked the messages just in case Dean somehow contacted him, or somebody else had any information on him, and he blinked at the familiar name. Castiel had completely forgotten about the sleazy PI he hired to look into the club and his owner.

"Marvin! What did you find out?"

"No much, boss. The club's papers are clean, everything's legit. There is a large sum of cash being drawn from the profits, but that's legal, if the owner wants to keep his money in his safe and not the bank. I tried to trace the money, but you know cash doesn't leave a paper trail to follow. You sure you don't want me to look closely at the owner or the employees?"

"Do it. I want to know everything. And I'll triple your pay if you get me something good today." Castiel said without skipping a beat. He wouldn't normally do this, but Dean was missing. In fact, he planned on heading to the club again himself, considering it was where Dean was last seen. After finishing the conversation with a suddenly all too cheery PI, he grabbed his keys and was just about to leave when he heard the front door.

The next few hours seemed like a total waist of time as Tony made him take a shower, redress in his, slightly tighter outfit and forced him to sit and have breakfast. He tried to persuade Castiel that he should take it easy, and that Dean will turn up, but the last straw was when he said he should trust the police to find him. Deep down, Castiel knew his friend meant well and that he was worried about him, but he didn't have time to sit and relax and hope that thing will turn out alright.

Dean was just too important to leave anything to chance.

Unfortunately, he struck out with the club today too, when he arrived, all he found was one pissed of Nick and that same dancer that didn't seem to like Dean, in a heated argument about the whereabouts of the owner and the bartender. Apparently, Nick believed him when he said he didn't know where Azazel was, but found it extremel Iy hard to believe that Crowley managed to reconcile with that bitch of his mother and was currently visiting her.

Nick lead him to a house a few blocks away from the club, a nice secluded little place, with what could be a very nice garden and a cozy little porch if the place was maintained properly, not that Castiel paid much attention to that right now. He was more interested in why Nick brought him there. The blond looked around, saw a white Honda civic parked in the driveway, and he banged on the door, banged and banged, but the place seemed to be deserted.

"Damnit! Where the fuck could he be?!" Nick spat out as he hit that door one more time.

"Why are we here, Nick, who are you looking for?" Castiel asked, sounding slightly impatient.

"Azazel. This is his place. But I don't get it, his car is here and he is nowhere to be found. I..." Nick trailed off as Castiel brushed past him, came up to the front door and with one bad-ass kick, blasted the front door off his hinges. He knew he was breaking and entering, but he didn't care. He needed to find Dean and if the owner of the club had any information, Castiel was going to find out. Whether Azazel wanted to or not.

Once more, the man's luck struck out, as they found the owner sprawled on the floor near the staircase, pale and barely breathing. After explaining to the cops that they were just concerned friends who didn't know what happened to Azazel and went looking for him, they watched as the ambulance hollered the old man away. He was still alive, just barely, and the paramedics said it was probably a heart attack. But Castiel did not like how coincidental this was - Dean goes missing and Azazel gets a heart attack? Something wasn't right here.

But by the time they were done with the cops and were allowed to leave the scene, the night fell and there weren't any leads to follow right now, so Castiel dropped Nick off, checked in with Benny, Balthazar and Charlie, as well as the hotel, and then went on to pointlessly drive around the town until dawn cracked, looking and searching.

Thursday:

It was close to 9 am when Castiel returned to his penthouse, on the verge of collapsing from both physical and emotional exhaustion. He fell on the bed without removing even his trenchcoat and slept for a couple of hours before the nightmares took over again. He saw Dean being violated, tortured and raped, forced and beaten until there was nothing left but a pile of flesh and bone and a huge pile of blood and he woke up desperately gasping for air, tears he could not contain running down his face.

He dragged himself out of the bed and went to the bathroom, pealing off one disgusting layer after another and throwing them all on one pile before he stepped under the spray, hoping the warm water would help him, but it only made things that much more heavier to bare. After years of not even realizing how lonely he was, years of dedicating himself to his work and his company, he finally, finally found someone, someone he didn't even know his heart was looking for, and then... He didn't even leave, no, he was taken from him. Taken away against his will and...

Wait, was he?

Did someone take Dean, or did Dean... did Dean take off on his own?

A giant black hole opened up in his chest, threatening to swallow him whole. It hurt so much, but it was an option. What if Dean just took off, tired of getting abused and sold and passed on from one client to the next. Tired of having to dance as others conducted the music and just... Oh, God! What if... What if Dean let because of Sunday? Because he didn't like it, because he though he had to do it, had to please Castiel and service his client and... Oh, what if that was the reason he left? The tears streamed down Castiel's face unseen as the spray hit hi chest and he leaned and threw his hand to the wall to support himself from not falling as he struggled to breath, eyes wide, mouth open and lips trembling.

He tried to stand, he tried to be strong, but this was just too much. He remembered the loving look in Dean's eyes, the excitement and the willingness to go... make love. God, he pleaded, he asked for more... He did, right? Castiel didn't imagine it all? He... He didn't hurt him, did he?! Oh, fuck... Castiel slid down, his back against the wall, and he curled into himself, his knees coming up to his chest and he hugged them, he hugged them tight, staring in the distance, utterly distraught. He bit down on his lower lip to stop it from trembling and to stop the sobs that wanted to escape him, but he ended up biting down so hard, he split his lip right open, blood slowly ticking down his chin.

Castiel didn't know how long he was there, but when he finally managed to drag himself out of that shower, he was so cold and shivering, but it felt like nothing could warm him up. His trenchcoat was thrown over a chair and the image of Dean curled up in that wretched thing popped in his head and his breath hitched. He found it so endearing and so sweet that Dean would put that on, and that was before he found out the real reason behind it. Dean had spent five days in total agony before he finally broke and lashed out and not only didn't Castiel notice something was wrong, but he also played right into his little outburst and... It hurt, it hurt so fucking much that he didn't see it, that he was such an idiot and that he might have even hurt Dean.

Wallowing in all those bad emotions and allowing the dark thoughts to fill his mind, Castiel completely disregarded his ringing phone until the thing died on him some time around 7 pm, and spent his day curled up on the bed, wearing nothing but that damn trenchcoat and trying to stop his heart from wanting to explode on him, as more doubts filled his mind. Around 10 pm, he heard a familiar Ding!, some ruckus outside in the hallway and what might have been Nick's voice along with a few others, but he paid it no mind, too lost in his heartache and he just let his fears and his despair consume him as his mind clouded over and unconsciousness took him under it's wing.

Friday:

"Chief? Wake up, chief." Castiel heard a familiar voice as someone tried to nudge him awake and he just swatted the hand away and grumbled his 'go away!'

"Come on, chief. Time to wake up." Benny wasn't taking it and he grabbed his boss's shoulders and shook him more firmly. Castiel finally pealed his eyes open, a deep frown embedded on his face and he was just about to yell at his driver and tell him to go to hell when Benny's words sliced though him like a samurai sword. "We might have a lead on who took Dean."

Castiel's eyes went wide and he froze for a moment, one fact reaching his mind and simultaneously making him glad and pissed. Dean didn't walk out on him. Dean didn't left. And fuck! fuck! fuck! fucking fuck! he wasted a whole fucking day on self-pity and fuck! such a fucking idiot! He jumped out of the bed and stood right in front of Benny, his eyes darting, his voice grave and serious.

"What did you find out?! What is the lead?"

"Maybe you should put some clothes on first?" Benny offered stretching his words a bit like a true Louisianian and trying not to look down. Aside from the trenchcoat, Castiel had nothing on, but he didn't allow for that to distract him. He kept his glare firmly on Benny as he covered up a bit and like he was using the coat as a robe, he picked up it's belt and died it around himself tightly.

"Tell me!"

"Well, your friend Nick was here last night, trying to reach you, but the hotel staff didn't know him, so they wouldn't let him up. He ended up thrown out on his tush for breaching security. But when he tried again this morning, I happened to be here too, so he sent me to convey a message." Benny spoke and Castiel was almost bouncing, wanting him to get to the point. "He said the bartender returned to the club last night and that they spoke, and that the back entrance was covered by well hidden cameras and that he couldn't show him last night, but will be happy to do it this morning. He said he already checked the footage and that there was indeed something not right about it." As soon as the last words left Benny's mouth, Castiel was climbing over the bed, choosing the fastest route to any clothes and without a shred of decency, he let the trenchcoat fall of him before he even found a clean pair of briefs. Benny simply turned and walked out of the hallway to give his boss some privacy.

On their way down, Benny also told him that Balthazar started circling the town again this morning and that his assistant Charlie told Nick she found some hacker named Ash who was on standby if they found a face or a car that needed to be located. Apparently he is good at tracking people without even leaving his apartment. They met up with Nick who threw a smug glance at the receptionist as Castiel greeted him, but otherwise said nothing as they walked out to the limo. Nick said he had no other news and they sat in complete silence as they drove to the club, with Nick throwing Castiel a few worried glances. The man was clearly a mess, but he didn't care. Dean didn't leave. Dean was taken. And Castiel let doubt slow him down and stop him from trying to find Dean.

The short British man simply nodded at them when they entered the club, and Castiel at the stage, the image of Dean dancing around the pole flashing briefly in his mind, but he shook it off to focus on the more important issue. The bartender walked them towards the back and they passed those two dancers Castiel encountered before - Kevin and Adam. And while Kevin didn't even make eye contact, Adam had a condescending and a disgusted look on his face as he watched them pass by. In any other circumstances, Castiel might have wondered why he was like that, but now? There was something more important to do.

The bartender, Crowley was right, the footage was odd. It showed a silver Toyota picking Dean up, and anyone watching would think it was Castiel, like it had been him for the past week. But Cas knew better. For once, he always got out of the car, if nothing other than to watch the smile split Dean's face whenever he laid his eyes on Castiel. And then his car came into view, and of course he stepped out and leaned against it and waited and waited. It was obvious the car color was a bit off, the previous Toyota was a bit darker in tone, but other than that, they didn't have much to go by. No clear shot of the licence plate, nor a good view of the driver.

Castiel wondered why would Dean get into the car, and if it was someone he knew, someone he trusted. He certainly wouldn't go in if it was the attacker from a few weeks ago, right? Rewinding the tape, he watched closely at Dean and even if it was an odd angle, he tried to get a read on him, but all he saw was a slight cheery bounce in his step as he walked out and entered the car. And then his eyes went wide.

"Rewind it again!" Castiel said and watched as Dean got into the car, his head turned away from the camera until it wasn't. There was clear panic in his expression as he turned but then his head got slammed into the window and Castiel fucking growled like a wild animal making the room extremely silent. Guilt and rage hit him in waves and he couldn't focus and he couldn't even move and thank God nobody tried to reach him, talk to him or touch him at that moment because he could have ripped someone's head off.

"Can you make a copy? Actually, make that three. - Nick almost whispered to Crowley - We'll give one to the cops, keep one just in case and I'll have Charlie send the third one to Ash, he is our best bet now. He'll find him. He'll find him."

The rest of the day, Castiel spent in silence, his entire body rigid as Benny drove them around in what was definitely a futile effort now that they knew someone was smart enough to use a similar vehicle to grab Dean. They were smart and they wouldn't be found so easily, Benny knew that, but if his boss felt just a bit better with this pointless driving, then Benny was happy to oblige. Until Castiel jumped out of a moving car and charged the incoming traffic. Benny first thought his boss lost his mind, as he hit the brakes, but when he turned , he saw him stopping a grey Toyota and he was surprised and intrigued at the same time. He watched as Castiel dragged out a man, not much older then himself, his hair blond and straw like, as if he had a birds nest on top of it. In fact, Benny vaguely remembered seeing a guy like that at the club...

"Where is he?! What have you done to him?!" Castiel screamed, holding the man by his collar, while the guy was on his knees, his eyes wide and terrified, his hands up in the air like he was surrendering.

"I... I... I don't know what you are talking about..." The man said just as Benny exited the limo.

"Chief..." He tried to reach him, bit Castiel was ready to tear open some sculls, and Benny wasn't sure if he could even reach him.

"Where. is. HE?!" Castiel's deep voice echoed thought the streets and the man before him started to tremble, scared out of his mind.

"I... I don't... I..." He tried, tears streaming down his face and Castiel lifted his hand and was ready to strike the man down, when Benny caught his hand.

"Chief... Stop... He doesn't know anything, he's not the guy..."

Of course. He was just some random guy in a millionth grey Toyota Corolla that could be seen on the streets of the town. But when Castiel saw it, he just snapped, all of that pent up anger and despair clouding his mind and making him see things that might not even be there. Benny managed to drag him away from the poor man and managed to convince him he needed to rest.

Most of that night Castiel spent trashing the penthouse, destroying everything that irked him, but completely unable to even touch anything that reminded him of Dean.

Saturday:

"What?!" Castiel shouted into his phone, nothing less angrier than he was last night. It was just pay noon and in a few hours it will be five days since Dean was last seen. He voice on the other side of the call let out a few fearful sound and only then did Castiel pull the phone away to look at the ID. Charlie. Shit.

"Charlie. I'm sorry, I... - he sighed heavily before he continued - I have no excuse, I apologise."

"Understandable...I actually... I got some news." She said and wouldn't let him speak up as she continued. "Well, I don't have news, but my friend Ash does, so I am gonna put you thought to him and let him explain. Is that... Is that alright?"

"Yes, yes, yes, put him on!"

"Oh, wait... The line got disconnected. Let me try him again." Charlie spoke, sounding a bit scared, probably of getting yelled at again.

"Give him my personal number have him call me." Castiel said swiftly getting up. He didn't know what Ash found, but it sparked some hope in him, more than he had since Dean disappeared. As he got dressed, Nick called, to check in and was glad there will be news soon, but Castiel quickly hung up with him, waiting for the other call.

When it rang, Castiel picked up just as he pulled a shirt over his head. "Ash, what have you got?"

"Um... Sorry, chief... It's Benny..."

"Benny, I don't have..."

"I got some news."

"What is it?"

"You remember the guy you... Yesterday, the guy in a random Toyota? Well, I spoke to the bartender this morning and I described the man, and he said he knew him. He said, he was at the club a few times and that he tried to... Buy Dean's time, but came up short."

Wait, he had him? Castiel had him and he let him go?

"I, um... I also remembered that other guy that tried to... That attacked Dean a few weeks back, and I got that guy's name - he is Alistair Gold, a private contractor that is slowly loosing his business, or so I have heard."

Castiel couldn't believe he had him.

"Chief... You there?"

"I... - a bip of his phone interrupted his thoughts - I got another call, Benny, hold on." Castiel pulled away, squinting his eyes at the unfamiliar number, but still, he put Benny on hold to answer it.

"Hello."

"Yo, man, whassup?"

"Excuse me?"

"Nah, you cool man. Check it out, I got a lead on that car on that video you sent me..."

"Ash?"

"No, matte grey Toyota. Oh! You meant me, yeah! Yeah, this is Ash."

Deep breath, focus. His guy has information and it might be important.

"Alright, Ash. What have you got?"

"An address."

"I beg your pardon?"

"No need man, I ain't on death roll. Anyway... I hacked the security cameras around the town, as well as the city cameras and I tracked down your Toyota. I was able to get the licence plates and trace it to a dude name Abraxas Gold. I mean, who named the guy, right? Abraxas. Sounds like a villain from Harry Potter..."

"Did you say his last name is Gold? Does... Does he have any relatives, any siblings?"

"Wait, lemme check it out... - distant sound of clicking and typing - ...Oh, yeah. A brother. Alistair." Castiel sucked in a breath as the pieces started to fall into place. Those two motherfuckers were in on it together, kidnapping Dean and... God, what were they doing to him. Jesus, it has been five days, he could be dead by now and Castiel... No. No. He refused to accept that.

"Address. You said you had an address."

Half an hour later, Castiel was ready to leave the penthouse, storm into that house across town and, with Benny's and Balthazar's help, rescue Dean. He wanted to inform the cops and tell them to get ready for a carnage, but figured they might only slow him down. No, he will call them after the fact. He was just out of the elevator and going through the lobby when his phone rang again, and if it was anyone else, Castiel might have ignored the call.

"Tony?"

"Hey, Castiel. I..."

"Sorry Tony, I can't talk now, I got a lead on Dean."

"That's why I am calling. I got a call from a colleague from Mercy West. He says they just administrated a patient fitting Dean's description. No ID on him, so he is listed as John Doe. Castiel... It's bad."

Cas's heart dropped to his feet, his chest tightened and all he could think is getting there, getting to Dean.

And now, standing outside his room, watching the man he cares deeply about, hell, a man he loves, breathe thought a fucking tube, Castiel once again felt his anger bubbling up, as his fists clenched so hard, his knuckles turned white. Dean's injuries painted a pretty good picture of what was done to him by the two brothers, but Castiel was glad. He was glad that Tony's call came before he gotten to their lair.

He might have gone too easy on them.

That evening there was a knock on Abraxas's door, a simple knock and he opened the door as he laughed back at his brother's comment about a slutty club dancer, who has 'learned his place and will forever remember their little pow-wow.'. Seeing the man who dragged him out of his car in the middle of the street, a man Abraxas now knew was Dean's new sponsor, had him going paler then a white rag. And as Castiel simply stated down at him with Benny and Balthazar by his side, he watched in complete discuss as the man before him pissed his pants as if that would make Castiel feel sorry for him or something.

Later that evening, in front of another hospital across town, two men were thrown out of a speeding limo, screaming, crying, whaling and barely conscious from the blood loss and it was determined that they were castrated in the most gruesome way, but couldn't be helped much as those certain body parts were never found.