Gingerly, Elena took his hand and he helped her rise and stay balanced. She stood shakily and he held on to her.
"Have you been harmed?" he asked, his eyes looking her over.
She felt raw under his intense gaze. Slowly, she tried to speak.
"I...I think...I'm okay," she finally managed to whisper.
She couldn't help but show the surprise at hearing her voice once again. He furrowed his brow, sensing her discomfort.
"Was this form not your choice?" He asked her, tilting his head again.
She shook her head. The crease in between his eyebrows deepened.
"I apologize, I did not realize this was not your doing," he explained as he gestured with his free hand at her body.
"Do you know how to help me?" she asked him, her voice still shaky but a little steadier and louder this time. He added a frown to his expression.
"I am afraid not. I have never worked with your kind before. I did not even realize there were any left in existence until I felt you come across to our realm."
She looked at him, her eyes feeling bright, hot, and painful.
"I think I'm the last one, now," she told him. "My whole family, they—" her voice broke off as a tightness formed in her throat, preventing her from talking.
Elena felt warm liquid fall from her eyes. Her nostrils flared as she tried to breathe steadily, but it wasn't working. Castiel's expression softened.
"I am so sorry," he told her, and he said it so sincerely that she felt herself collapsing as she finally felt the weight of it all.
She leaned forward to him grabbing him tightly as her body was wracked with heavy, deep sobs. As she heard herself, she cried even harder. Everything was so wrong. Her family was gone, she was left in this human form, in this human place. Castiel wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back and stroking her hair as she cried.
"I don't know what to do," she said as her crying finally eased. "I don't know how to get back. If I even can get back. I don't know how to get out of this form. What am I supposed to do?"
He pulled back a little so that he could look her in the eyes. As he looked down at her, she noticed the stubble across his face, his solid jaw, and his wide-set eyes which kept drawing her in.
"I will do my best to get you some answers," he told her. "I have some friends who I think can be of help. Would you like that?"
"Yes, I think I would," she responded softly.
"I should ask, before we go, do you have a name?"
"Elena."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Elena," he told her. "I'm going to take you to meet my friends now. But first," he said, taking off the outer layer he wore. "You should wear my coat."
He draped the coat around her shoulders and pulled the sides of the fabric over on each other, cinching it securely with the belt at the waist. She shifted uneasily at the feel of the fabric over her body, something she had never experienced before in her entire life.
"Humans seem to fear nakedness," he explained. "They are well-meaning but they still have their quirks. I am still getting used to it all myself. I do not want to startle my friends too much." Elena thought about the humans she had seen tonight for the first time. Castiel was right; they were all wearing fabric.
"Thanks for the information. Hopefully I don't have to put it to use for too long," she said, suddenly feeling exhausted.
He put his arm on her shoulder, his hand warm against her. She looked into his eyes, realizing for the first time they were a lovely shade of blue. Suddenly, they were in an enclosed space. She glanced around and saw two men, one lying prostrate on a strange surface and the other standing next to an exact replica of the surface, with a large swath of fabric wrapped around his waist.
"Cas, what the hell man, can you knock or something next time you bring a chick with you?" the one standing said.
"Sorry, Dean." Castiel said, and suddenly he and Elena were outside of an enclosure of some sort.
Elena watched as Castiel used his free hand to rap a few times on a rectangular surface. The rectangle opened and the man he had called Dean shook his head.
"Cas, you gotta learn not to take everything so literally. I don't have to remind you about that time I said Sam had a stick up his ass, do I?" Dean asked.
Castiel shifted uncomfortably.
"Yeah, dude, you kept giving me weird looks and checking out my ass that whole week," the other man called out.
Dean stepped back and gestured to the room.
"Come on in."
Elena stepped inside alongside Castiel, who still has his arm on her shoulder. As they stood inside, he removed it and she realized how warm the spot it was resting had become. She shivered a little as a chill swept through her body briefly.
"So what's going on, Cas, why'd you bring us a naked chick?" Dean asked.
Castiel glanced at Elena and then back at the men.
"Sam, Dean," he said distinctively, looking at each of them as he spoke, "I'd like to introduce you to Elena. She is now the last unicorn in existence."
"Unicorn?" Dean spouted. "Uh, I don't know what line she's been feeding you, Cas, but that's a chick standing next to you." Elena bristled and narrowed her eyes. She felt completely wrung out by the night's events, and now that she was feeling relatively safe with Castiel, she was in no mood to tolerate anything else.
"Listen, Dean," she said, surprised at how quickly she was mastering tone and intonation in this new voice. "I don't care what I look like right now. I am a unicorn, or, I was a unicorn, up until a bunch of humans entered my realm, slaughtered my entire family, kidnapped me back here and turned me into this thing," she spat out, gesturing at herself. "I'm in need of help to get me back to where I belong and back into my own body. Castiel said you could help, but if that's not something you can handle then just say so."
Dean's eyes widened at her defiant tone and he backed up a step or two with his hands raised. From the bed, Sam laughed.
"I like you, Elena," Sam told her, sitting up and swinging his legs out from under some fabric on the rectangle he had been lying on.
As he stood up and came over to stand with them, Elena was surprised at how tall he was.
"Look, Elena, I'm sorry if my brother offended you. He's a jerk, so please ignore him." Elena glanced at Dean, who looked a little apologetic, before she looked to Castiel. He was looking at her with a small smirk on his face. She felt comforted by his expression and smiled as she looked at him. Something about having him next to her made her feel very nice.
"Whoa, what's going on?" Dean asked.
Elena looked away from Castiel and to Dean, then Sam, then back to Dean.
"What do you mean, what's going on?" she asked.
They were both looking at her with the same furrowed brow that Castiel had earlier, but neither of them were tilting their heads side to side like he had.
Maybe that's something only angels do.
"You started, uh, glowing," Sam said. "Didn't you notice? Didn't you feel anything?"
"I didn't notice or feel anything. I have no idea what it's like to be a human. Is that peculiar?"
Sam and Dean looked at each other and then back to her.
"Well, I guess it's not stranger than any of the other stuff we've seen, but we've never met a human who glows before. We've never met a unicorn-turned-human before, either, so maybe it's normal," Dean offered thoughtfully.
Elena looked at herself, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. She didn't want to be a human at all, and now strange things were happening even by human standards.
"Am I glowing still?"
Dean shook his head.
"Nope, the moment you looked at us you stopped. Cas, do you know anything about what we might expect with this?"
Castiel looked at Elena intensely, his head tilted to the side again.
It has to be an angel thing.
"Up until a couple of hours ago I was unaware unicorns still existed," he finally said. "To be honest, I was hoping the two of you could help me track down some answers for Elena. I don't know how those men turned her into a human," he said, looking back to Dean and Sam. "I was expecting demons but they were just men." He turned his attention back on Elena. "Elena, do you recall anything particularly odd about the attack?"
Elena looked at the ground and thought for a minute. She raised her head suddenly as a thought crossed her mind. She subconsciously brought her hand to her hair, which was now a nearly white shade of blonde instead of her usual silver mane and tail.
"There is one thing, actually. One of the men did grab hold of my mane and cut some off. I just thought he was trying to kill me, too, and missed, but maybe it was on purpose…" she trailed off as she thought back to the fear she had felt.
Remembering looking around at her fallen family surrounding her, covered in blood, more hot liquid started burning at her eyes again.
"Why does this keep happening, what's wrong with me?" she asked Castiel as she gestured at her eyes.
Dean and Sam looked to Castiel, both confused.
"I think she means crying," he explained to them. "I presume your traits are much like that of a horse?" Castiel asked, and Elena nodded. "You are experiencing sadness. When humans are sad, they cry sometimes. The greater the sadness, the higher likelihood they cry. Unless the human is a man. From what I've observed, human men rarely cry. I'm not sure if it is an evolutionary trait," Castiel said, his head tilting as he spoke thoughtfully.
"Not so much evolutionary as cultural, but yeah, Cas, that's a good enough explanation," Sam said. "It almost sounds like some sort of spell. They'd have to be really powerful to have crossed into a different realm to attack you, come back, bring you here, and transform you in the process. No offense, Cas, but wouldn't something or someone that powerful be able to fight back a little bit more against you?"
Castiel nodded, frowning as he thought.
"Yes, I would expect much more powerful beings than what I encountered. What they did was an abomination. They must have had help. Perhaps I can track down whoever is responsible and reverse the spell."
Elena felt them all looking at her.
"That wouldn't bring back my family, though," she said softly.
"I'm sorry," Castiel told her, again with such sincerity that she felt her legs starting to give out.
"Whoa!" she heard Sam and Dean call out, and Sam and Castiel helped steady her.
"Why don't you rest here for the night," Sam offered.
Elena looked nervously to Castiel.
"Could you please stay with me?"
Castiel nodded.
"Of course," he told her.
"I'll go get another room for you guys, then," Sam said. "Why don't you sit in a chair or on the bed in the meantime?"
Elena looked to Castiel again.
"I don't know what that means," she explained.
Dean gestured at the rectangle.
"Well, this thing's what we call a bed. It's what humans sleep on. The good ones have a special machine that when you feed quarters into them—" Dean stopped abruptly as Sam looked at him, disapprovingly.
"Dean, seriously man, there's something wrong with you."
Sam shook his head and left the room.
Castiel steered her over to a different odd shape in the room.
"This is a chair," he explained. "Bend your knees and you can sit on it. They're not particularly comfortable, but not much about being a human is," he told her.
She followed his instructions and sighed in relief at the weight being taken off her legs. He did the same in the chair across a raised round surface opposite her.
"I don't know, Cas, she looks pretty damn comfortable now if you ask me," Dean laughed. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I really need to hop in the shower."
Castiel gave a brief nod. Dean walked into a smaller room and closed another one of those rectangles behind him. Elena looked at Castiel, confused again.
"Shower? What's that?" she asked.
"Humans are naturally smelly, and they need to clean themselves off quite frequently with water and soap, something that helps them stay less offensive to the senses," he explained.
"Sometimes we used to play in water," Elena offered. "Splashing around and swimming, but I don't believe I've ever had to worry about being clean. We just sort of always were, no matter what we did. I guess it's a unicorn thing," she said, sighing.
When she looked at Castiel, he was staring intensely at her again. She felt her throat tighten, captivated by his gaze on her.
She didn't even hear Sam come back in until he announced "Hey, you're glowing again!"
She and Castiel broke their gazes away from each other and looked to Sam.
"Oh, you stopped again. Weird. Both times you were looking at Cas," he said. "And when you looked away you stopped."
Elena didn't know why, but the comment made her feel self-conscious and she felt her face get uncomfortably warm. She glanced at Castiel and realized he was staring at her intently again. Elena quickly looked away and around the room, hoping the warmth in her face would pass. Sam seemed to notice her discomfort and cleared his throat.
"Anyway, I got the room next door on the right to ours. It's only a single bed, but I didn't think you'd mind Cas, considering you don't sleep. Here's the key."
Sam held out some sort of object toward Castiel, who took no notice of it.
"That will be fine, Sam, thank you," Castiel replied, all the while keeping his gaze on Elena.
She looked to Sam, hoping he would say or do something to break this feeling. She could tell Castiel was still staring at her and knew that if she looked at him, she wouldn't be able to look away.
"Cas, why don't you help her up, I don't think she's too steady on her feet, yet," Sam said.
Castiel only glanced over at him when Sam cleared his throat.
"What? Oh, yes, of course," he said, standing so quickly he knocked over the chair he had been sitting in.
Elena tried not to but couldn't help a smile that escaped along with a little laugh. Sam joined in.
"Hey, you're starting to get the hang of this human thing, I think," he told her.
Castiel stared at Sam before shaking his head. He helped Elena out of her chair and took the key from Sam as he led her over to the rectangle they had entered the room through.
"We'll see you in the morning," Sam called out and Castiel nodded.
"See you then," he replied.
Elena glanced back quickly, afraid to look back too long and lose her balance again.
"Nice to meet you both!" she called out behind her.
Castiel opened the rectangle to the right of the one they came out, and Elena saw that practically everything in this room was the same, just a slightly smaller space and with only one bed.
"Why do they call you 'Cas'?"
He looked at her thoughtfully.
"Humans like to call each other shortened names as a sign of affection or endearment. Though sometimes it is done in a manner of teasing, and sometimes also it is done cruelly."
"How do you tell which is which?"
Castiel shook his head, still looking thoughtful.
"It can be rather difficult at times, I must say. I have spent a lot of time with humans, and I am still not always sure if I am reading the context accurately."
Elena frowned. Hopefully it wouldn't be an issue for too long. All she really wanted was to go back home, though at the same time she dreaded returning to an empty land. Castiel seemed to sense she was elsewhere in her mind and waited patiently.
"How does a bed work?" she asked him finally. "Do I wear your coat in it?"
"Generally humans wear some form of clothing to sleep, though not always. I suppose it is up to you, I have no preference or inhibitions either way you choose."
Elena nodded, then removed the buckle of the belt from the cinch and let the coat fall off her.
"I'm not used to having anything on my skin and it feels heavy and strange," she explained. "If I can avoid wearing this I prefer it."
Castiel nodded and kept his gaze locked on her eyes. She felt that tightness in her throat again, warmth spreading through her body. To distract herself, she glanced to either side of him. She hadn't really paid attention to it before, but she realized that she could see a secondary figure of him, or at least something that appeared different visually. The air around him was strange and Elena only saw it more as she stared. If she looked quickly, the air to the sides of him seemed to vibrate a little. The more she looked directly at it, the clearer it became and she saw broad wings as clear as the rest of him. Castiel noticed her gaze and tilted his head.
"Can you see them?" he inquired.
Elena glanced at his face briefly before turning back to what she was looking at.
"Your wings? Yes, I just realized that I can. I saw them before for a moment, when you told me to close my eyes before you…" she trailed off, not exactly sure how to phrase the next part. "Before you took care of those men," she finally settled on.
"I did what needed to be done," he replied.
Elena didn't know how to respond, so she focused more on his wings. They were beautiful. Strong and broad, with long layers of feathers on top of each other. The underside was white with flecks of gold throughout, the gold stronger at the tips.
"Can...would you mind if I touch them?" she asked him, wondering what they might feel like.
"I am not sure you would be able to—"
He stopped abruptly as her hand brushed against a wing, flinching a little before straightening again. Elena drew back her hand and looked at him, worried she had hurt him. Castiel seemed to have trouble finding the words for a moment.
"I did not expect you would be able to touch them," he said finally.
Elena held his gaze, feeling that same tightness in her throat. She felt hot all over and could feel her heart pounding. The more she stared into Castiel's eyes the more the feeling grew. She realized the room was brighter than it had been a few minutes ago.
"I'm glowing again, aren't I?" She asked, and without removing his gaze he nodded.
Elena reached her hand again and stroked the underside of his left wing while they stared at each other. It felt strong and durable, smooth but fierce. She could feel power radiating from it. Castiel stepped so close he was practically on top of her, and she had to look up to maintain his gaze. He brought his hands down and gripped her hips as he leaned in and kissed her. Elena felt her body responding automatically. She felt something primal kick in and she could feel the heat radiating from them both. With his mouth he explored hers, and she felt herself answering.
She pulled back after a minute, panting. As she looked at Castiel she realized that there was a slight glow coming from him as well, a white hue meeting her purple one. She stepped back slightly, putting a little space between the two of them. Castiel just stared at her, his expression indeterminate. As her breathing returned to normal, she tried to talk.
"How do I sleep?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Castiel stared at her for a minute without answering before turning to the bed.
"Follow me, I can demonstrate for you."
He pulled back the fabric on top and climbed onto the bed. He patted the area next to him and Elena climbed on, sliding between the fabrics like he had. She remained sitting upright.
"I've never slept on my back before. I'm a little afraid to lay back," she confessed.
"I will stay with you tonight, if you would like," he said, and Elena nodded her agreement.
He put an arm across her shoulders, warmth spreading through her once again at his touch.
"Lean back with me, you will be safe."
Elena closed her eyes, bit her lip, and let herself lean backward with him. She felt like she had fallen down and fought the instinct to scramble back up and right herself. Laying on her back was a vulnerable position, but she felt safer with Castiel next to her.
"Thank you, Castiel," she whispered as she snuggled into his right side. He moved his other arm across her, tightening his hold. Elena felt him shift a little and saw him move his left wing out a little and wrap it around her as well. She felt warm and safe and quickly fell asleep in his arms.