Febuwhump Day Sixteen: Does That Hurt? Human Castiel is abducted and tortured by demons. His only hope is for Dean to save him.

Title: No Wings

Human pain was different from the kind he felt before. It was raw, overpowering, and soul-stomping. Cas marveled at the pain Dean had been victim to and the way he simply pulled his lips back in a grimace or let out a brief groan when he was submitted to it. Both Sam and Dean had been to Hell and experienced things that Cas had never felt, even when his brain was being drilled into. When he first fell and the reaper pulled his own blade across his chest, searing him in ways he'd never known, he was terrified. Real, unadulterated fear. And when he watched in slow-motion as the knife plunged into his chest, Cas understood what it meant to be human.

Cas departed one evening, volunteering to get Dean something to eat at the nearby pizzeria, eager to be of service to his boyfriend. He could already imagine the smile plastered on Dean's face when he brought back an extra-large pizza stacked with his favorite toppings and his heart twitched in his chest. These were the small joys that stopped him from spiraling about his now human body.

"I'll be back soon," Cas promised and Dean leaned back in his chair to look up at Cas behind him. Cas pecked his forehead and began the journey to the restaurant. He was still wary of driving, but Dean told him not to worry, he had the best teacher and everything would be fine. Cas let the words sing through his mind as he drove.

His hands anxiously gripped around the wheel when he spotted something in the road. He slammed on the breaks and the car screeched to a halt. It was a girl, arms thrown out, body contorted, and face turned away from Cas. He jumped out of the car and raced to her side, gently laying a hand on her shoulder and turning her on to her back. "Hey," he tapped her arm.

He thought she might be dead from the unnatural position of her body, but her eyes shot open and she grinned wickedly at him. Something was wrong, but when Cas tried to stand and take a step back, two pairs of hands restrained his arms. "Let go," Cas grunted and tried to rip himself from their grasp, but the hands were supernaturally strong and he was stuck in place.

"I don't think so," one of them said and when Cas craned his neck to look behind him, a man with yellow teeth let his brown eyes transform into onyx black. Cas opened his mouth to speak, but something hard crashed down on the crown of his skull and the world went dark.

Consciousness slowly dawned on Cas. The first thing he felt was the back of his head splitting open. It felt like his entire skull was pulsating from the blow he'd taken and the pain dragged him to wakefulness, memories surfacing of the girl's broken body in the road and the demons that had nabbed him from the street. Cas squirmed when he felt his face pressed up against grimy concrete and he reached his hand to rub his head, but as soon as he moved, his wrists jerked against cold, metal handcuffs.

Cas pushed himself onto his knees, blinking until his eyes could focus. He was in some type of warehouse with shelves stacked full of wooden boxes all around him. In front of him stood three demons, two in male vessels and the other was the girl he'd tried to save.

"What do you want with me?" Cas growled, trying to think about anything besides the way his head made him want to fall back on the floor and pass out again just to escape the hammering.

The demon in the middle, a heavyset man with greasy hair and pockmarks on his cheeks, approached Cas. "Honestly? Nothing. We couldn't care less about you. I heard how you fell, Castiel. That you're just a pathetic, weak human now, no threat to anyone. And it's true," he laughed, "Look at you."

Cas glared defiantly back at the demon, refusing to let him see how the words had rocked him. Of course it was true, even if Dean insisted he was still valuable and could learn to fight. The reality was that he would never have the power of an angel again. He couldn't help anyone, even himself. "So why am I here?"

"We're looking for your boyfriend, but it'll be easier to ambush him here. He'll find us soon enough."

"Then what?" Cas fought the dread rising in his chest.

"What do you think? We kill him, but not till we've gotten a little revenge."

Cas glanced at the other demons with their arms across their chests, no hint of amusement in their faces.

There was an abrupt throb from the back of Cas's skull and he cringed.

"Does that hurt?" the demon asked, "Because it's about to get so much worse," he stepped closer, his feet inches from Cas. Cas tried to scoot backwards, but the demon leaned down and wrapped its hand around his throat, wrenching him to his feet so that he choked out a round of coughs. The demon squeezed harder and cut off the sound, leaving Cas to open and close his mouth in search of oxygen, then took its fist and buried it in Cas's gut.

Cas grasped at the demon's shirt and tried to shove him away, but he was weak and his small power didn't compare to the demon's.

It tossed Cas back down, falling on his back and thudding his already agonizing skull against the hard floor. Cas yelped and panted for air. The jab felt like it punched his organs and he rolled onto his side to wrap his arms around himself.

He desperately imagined Dean coming to his rescue, but he was repulsed with himself for it. These slimy, rotten monsters had easily gotten the best of him and he was at their mercy. This wasn't who he was supposed to be. He wanted to protect Dean, not the other way around.

The large demon whistled and the other two walked forward, forming a line of predatory faces. Cas caught his breath and placed his cuffed hands on the concrete to push himself up when the female demon moved forward and brought her boot down on top of his hands.

"Agh!" Cas screamed out and his fingers struggled beneath her weight. The crunching sound of bone breaking made Cas throw his head back and shriek, "Stop!" but the demon only rubbed her shoe harder against his hand.

Finally, after what felt like ten minutes, she lifted her foot and relieved him. He wrenched his hands to his chest, huddling protectively around them. "Disgusting," she muttered.

The large demon took his foot and pressed it to one of Cas's shoulders, pinning him down. Cas couldn't stand his hands getting smashed again and he held them as far away from the shoe as he could get, but the demon had moved on. He hunkered down, plopping himself on Cas's chest, the weight crushing him so that he couldn't get a full breath of air in his lungs.

God, where was Dean? He had to be looking for him by now. Any moment he would burst through the door and take them all out. Even though Cas would never be able to look at himself the same way, the self hatred drowning him until it was too much to handle, he needed Dean. Anything to stop this. The human fear in him was too much to bear.

Cas watched in slow motion as the demon lifted his fist and slung it into his face, snapping his nose and splitting open the bridge. He yelled out for help, not meaning to, and the next punch landed on his cheek. After that, they rapidly rained down on him until he lost count. He couldn't gather himself before another came crashing down and made his head spin.

When it finally stopped, he felt his eyes as they swelled, the cuts on his lip, the taste of coppery blood in his mouth. He gasped for air when the demon stood up, punting a kick to his chest for good measure.

"Pick him up," the ringleader demon commanded and the others gripped his arms and tugged him off the floor. His legs wobbled and would have given out if it weren't for their gruff hold. The large demon slid its hand into its pocket and withdrew a switchblade, clicking it open. Cas shook his head and wrestled against the demons, trying to step backwards, but they offered no give and he gave up hope.

The demon ran the blade along Cas's throat, a threat. With the slightest press, he could open his vein until enough blood spurted out to end his sad life. "I should kill you, but I won't. Not yet. You deserve to suffer. You know that, don't you?" in one fluid movement, the demon swung the knife from his throat and plunged it above his right collar bone. Cas howled and fought back tears, but they slid down his face anyway. "Dean," Cas pleaded.

"Dean's not here. You'll be dead long before he comes. You're never gonna see your boyfriend again."

That couldn't be true. Dean was the one thing that kept him going and Cas couldn't lose that. Just one last time, he wanted to feel his arms around him, to kiss him on the lips, to look into his kind, green eyes.

The demon ripped out the knife and bright red blood drained from the gaping hole. His vision went white before the ugly world came into focus again. "He'll kill you," Cas said hoarsely.

"He'll be dead before he gets the chance."

"No," Cas whispered.

"Yes, Cassie," the demon said and dragged the blade down his chest, tearing open his button-up. Cas couldn't feel himself screaming anymore, but he heard the faraway sounds as they reverberated through the building. The demon worked the knife across his torso, soaking his white shirt maroon. Cas heaved with sobs and writhed beneath the unforgiving hands holding him in place.

"Dean. Dean. Dean," it was all Cas could think to say. His brain wasn't working anymore and his vision darted in and out. When his eyes rolled back in his head, the demon would slap him with the back of his hand to yank him back to reality. The name seemed to infuriate the demon.

"Dean doesn't love you! You're just holding him back. I'm doing him a fucking favor, you worthless piece of shit," he raised the knife, poising into to slice across Cas's throat, when a BANG ached Cas's ears. One of the demons released his arms and when a second shot rang out, the other grasp was released, Cas lost balance and collapsed. He whimpered and curled to his side, pulling his wrists, bloody from the cuffs, to his chin, and shutting his eyes tight.

"Cas!"

Cas vaguely recognized the voice through the fog of his mind.

"Cas!" there were hands on his shoulder, but they weren't bloodthirsty and rough. The voice registered in his mind and he opened his eyes to see Dean looking down at him with panic in his wide eyes. "You're alive."

"Dean," Cas tried to say, but he broke into coughs. Blood spilled down his lips and consciousness dared to slip away.

"Please stay with me," Dean pulled him into his arms and dug his face into Cas's shoulder, but quickly jerked back when Cas let out a yelp, "What did they do to you? Oh, God," he saw the gash where the knife had been gouged into his chest.

Cas tried to speak again, but the words caught in his throat.

"Don't talk," Dean rubbed his thumb on Cas's arm, needing to touch him anywhere, but most of his skin was covered in bruises and open wounds, "It's over now. I've got you."

"I'm sorry," Cas wheezed.

"Sorry for what?"

Cas thought of what the demons had told him. He weighed Dean down, he didn't deserve all the time and energy he spent on him. All he wanted was to be good enough for Dean, but stripped of his angelic powers, he was good for nothing but bait. "This is my fault."

"What are you talking about?"

"You always have to save me. I can't do anything since I fell. I'm useless."

"Cas, you're not useless. If it weren't for you, I'd lose my mind. I was lost before I met you. So what you're human? You're everything to me. I love you."

Tears made tracks through the blood as they dripped down Cas's face. Seeing the way Dean looked at him now, he knew that the demons were wrong. Dean loved him in spite of everything. "I love you too."

"I don't know what those demons said to you, but they were lying. I don't care if you're an angel or not. I need you so much," Dean leaned down and pressed his lips to Cas's forehead.