Chapter 10
It didn't make sense to Dean.
The whole idea was ludicrous and suicidal.
As he stared Cas down, he could feel his heart hammering away in panic. The urge to grip him tight, hold him close and never let go was becoming overwhelming. Dean watched the hardened blue eyes soften slightly, as though the angel could read his mind. The argument had been going on for about ten minutes now. Cas wanted to scope the place out, to see if he could sense anything, to find out any information before Sam and Dean went in all guns blazing. As much as he understood where Cas was coming from, he couldn't help but think that if he allowed this, then something bad might happen. Dean didn't know if he was strong enough for that, didn't know if he could handle losing him, especially after they'd only just started sorting themselves out. Bottom line: he needed Cas and he couldn't risk him.
"Dean," the angel sighed. "We need to be smart about this. And me finding as much information as I can before we go in with an attack seems to be the logical thing to do."
"Cas is right, Dean." Sam's voice echoed from across the room, where he was stood with his arms crossed, eyes narrowing in on them. He'd stayed silent up until that moment.
Dean shot him a dirty look before staring down Cas again. He couldn't let Cas do this. If anything happened to him, he would never forgive himself for it. He wouldn't survive the pain. He knew that. But he needed Cas to understand too. He was painfully aware his brother was stood right there, but he couldn't care less at the moment, his main priority was to get Cas not to go on this suicide mission. "I understand, I really do, Cas, but..." He fell silent, his eyes softening. He took in a large gulp of air. How the hell was he going to express what he was thinking?
"But?" Cas pressed.
Dean sighed. He just needed to go for it, he needed Cas to understand his side as well. "But I can't lose you." His voice broke and he felt his cheeks grow hot from the flush he was sure was making its way across his skin. He heard Cas suck in a sharp breath of shock. "If they capture you… I don't think… I don't think I'd survive it, Cas." He was practically begging him not to put him through this. He could feel his brother's eyes on him but he paid him no attention, his whole focus was on the way Cas softened his eyes, and the way he moved towards him, slowly and cautiously.
"I won't get captured, Dean. I promise I will keep my distance. We just need to know about their numbers, a rough estimate."
"But-"
Cas gripped his face in his hands and he felt the small tingle run through his face from the small contact. "You won't lose me."
Dean eyed him carefully. He knew this plan was the only one they had without going in there blind and he knew Cas had a point. He sucked in a steadying breath, then nodded. "Okay. But you check in every half hour."
"Dean," Cas sighed, dropping his hands and Dean immediately felt the aching loss of his touch.
"I need to know your okay. Please, Cas, every half hour." He was back to begging again and Cas's eyes widened in shock. Dean never begged which meant only one thing to the people around him, he really needed this.
Cas finally nodded. "Okay. Every half hour."
Dean gripped Cas's hand and intertwined their fingers. The touch was so intimate and held so much meaning. "You miss one deadline, Cas, and I'm coming to find you. You got that?"
Cas offered him an amused, crooked smile. "Yes, Dean. I get it."
Cas went to pull away but Dean gripped tighter, not wanting to let him go. The panic was filling him again. What if this was the last time they ever saw each other. He cursed himself for being so silly and clingy. He's never had a problem letting Cas go off into battle before, so what's so different this time? Because you're in love with him, an annoying little voice piped up. Yeah, he was but that wasn't the only reason. They've barely gotten started and he couldn't lose him now, not when they were so close to being what they both wanted to be.
"Dean?" Cas's voice pierced through his thoughts, startling him back into the room.
The need overcame him and he placed a soft, intimate, loving kiss on Cas's lips. Cas kissed back just as loving and just as soft, it made Dean hum with appreciation. When he pulled back and looked into Cas's blue eyes, he saw the love pouring from them. That annoying voice was shouting at him, telling him he shouldn't accept this pure, innocent love. He quickly tramped it down, he wasn't going to let that voice ruin this moment. He smiled at the angel. "Come back in one piece." It was a demand and he saw Cas throw him a reassuring smile.
"Of course."
Dean finally allowed his grip to loosen and he watched as Cas made his way up the bunker steps and out of sight. A few moments later he heard the bunker door slam shut. Dean flinched at it, the emptiness filled his aching chest. This was going to be torture, awaiting those phone calls, waiting for Cas to return with some news. But he could do it. He could get through it. He had to. For Cas. A distraction, that's what he needed. Slowly he turned and caught sight of his brother. His eyes were wide open in shock and his mouth was hanging open. "What?" Dean snapped. He was still pissed at his brother for the demands he'd tried to lay down. "I'm not in the mood for any more of your shit right now."
Sam finally closed his mouth and his eyes softened. "No, it's just… I realized how much of an idiot I was."
Now Dean was confused. "What?"
"You're in love with him, aren't you?"
Dean bulked back in shock. Had he really been that obvious? He was only trying to show Cas that he needed him, that he was worried for him. Dean didn't know what to say. Should he be honest with his brother? Then his thoughts drifted to the way Sam had treated him. Even if Dean was ready to be honest to the outside world about this, which he most certainly wasn't, Sam didn't deserve for him to be honest with him. Not yet anyway.
"Dean? It's okay. You don't have to say anything. Just… I'm sorry. I didn't realize it went that deep for you."
Dean couldn't move, couldn't breath. He watched his brother nod in his direction before heading towards the kitchen. He watched Sam until he was out of sight, it was only after that, he allowed himself to breath. Now was not the time to have this crisis with his brother. Instead he pulled his cell out of his pocket, checked it was on and fully charged, then sat down at the map table, placing his cell gently in front of him.
Yes this was going to be a torturous wait.
- SUPERNATURAL -
He felt it before he saw anything. Falling to his knees, he gasped in surprise, his vision blurring and the pain in his skull throbbing from the contact. He sucked in a steadying breath, glancing around, trying to find the source of the attacker. Nobody. His heart was beating erratically in his chest. From somewhere behind him, he felt hands grabbing each of his arms, pulling him. He fell to his face and groaned as his skin rubbed against the concrete.
Castiel tried to wriggle free, try to get the upper hand, but with the pain in his head and his vision blurry, there wasn't much he could do. He didn't know how many attackers there were, through the haze he could only see two, but there could be more behind. He tried to swivel his head around to get a better look. It was impossible. The angels seemed to be dragging him for ages, but Castiel guessed it was only a few minuets. Eventually they released his arms and in the distant he could hear a female voice. There was no way he could tell what she was saying, not through the ringing in his ears. He tried to move, tried to get a better look, needing to see how many angels he would be up against. But before he had a chance, hands grabbed him again, gripping and pulling everywhere. He groaned through gritted teeth, kicking his legs out, thrashing his arms, trying to find a target, but it was useless. They had him firmly. He felt the wind rush past his face as they hoisted him up, shackling his wrists above his head. His feet barely touched the floor. Looking up he found his vision was returning to normal. There were four angels that he could see. That was good. Better than he was expecting.
Glancing around the large abandoned warehouse room, he took in how many exits there were. Two. Both blocked by angels. He glanced at the dirty windows that skirted the border of the room. They were too tiny to squeeze through if he found that to be the only way out.
"Hello, Castiel."
He snapped his head to the female voice from before. "Naomi," he growled through gritted teeth. She looked as beautiful as ever in her crisp, white pant suit, her auburn hair tied neatly and securely in a bun. Her features held contempt and hatred.
"Well, I would say this is a surprise, but it really isn't. I didn't think it would take you long to figure it out." She took a step towards him and froze. She'd been expecting him to push his way towards her, even with the shackles on. But the only movement he made was jutting out his chin defiantly. He kept his mouth shut, hoping she would give him something about what was to come next. She didn't disappoint. "The easy thing to do would be to just kill you, right here, right now." She sighed. "But you need to be punished. I know that if I gave you a choice, you would always pick the human Winchesters over your own kin. So… here's what's going to happen-" She closed the distance between them, and Castiel just stared her down, the hatred pouring from every cell in his body. She reached into the inside pocket of his trench coat and pulled out his cell phone. "You are going to call Dean Winchester. You are going to tell him that I was here but have left. You are going to tell him that you think there might be clues as to where my next location is. Then convince him you need help with it. Once he gets here, we are going to kill him. With him dead, with both the Winchesters dead. I am going to take you home, Castiel, and you can be free from all these human emotions. We can forget any of this ever happened."
"And if I refuse?"
She let out a laugh. "Well, that wouldn't be a good idea."
Castiel just smirked. That was answer enough. There was no way he was going to agree to bring Dean here. Surprise was on his side. Naomi didn't know about the arrangement between Dean and himself. Naomi didn't know that Sam and Dean were going to make their own way here.
He just needed to last till they got here. That's all. He just needed to get through whatever torture Naomi had planned. It would all be worth it in the end. He was sure of that, especially if it meant Dean would be safe. That's all that mattered to Castiel now. Dean had to be safe.
This is what's safest for Dean. It wasn't the most ideal solution, but it was the better one.
He just hoped that they would get here soon.
-SUPERNATURAL-
It screamed at him. Yelling at him. Reminding him. The urge to shut it the fuck up became overwhelming. Perhaps he should throw it against the wall, that would shut it up. He hated it. Loathed it. He glanced away from it, eyes latching onto the whisky bottle on the other side of the room. He couldn't drink. He needed to be sober, but oh how it shrieked at him. There was two now. Two voices shouting at him. Why didn't they just shut up?
His eyes clung to the time again. Only another minute had passed. Is that all? Dean had the grand total of three phone calls from Cas. Everything had seemed fine. He sounded fine. But he should have called ten minuets ago. Nothing. His phone stayed silent, eerily so.
His body itched to run to him. It twitched with pent up adrenaline. Something has happened. He knew it had. He can feel it in the pit of his stomach. He can feel the emptiness clawing at his insides. He jumped from his seat and stared down at his brother who was typing away at his laptop. Sam stopped, his fingers hovering over the keys, his eyes searching Dean's face.
Dean could feel his hands shaking, could feel the need to do something surge through his whole body. "Something's wrong, Sammy." His voice shook and he hated how vulnerable he sounded.
"It's only been ten minuets. Give it until he's next suppose to call, and if there's still radio silence we'll go and find him."
Dean nodded. He could see where Sammy was coming from. Cas just might not be able to call, he might be afraid to be heard. It was the logical explanation. And yet… And yet he couldn't get rid of that feeling in his stomach. It was still gnawing away at it. He sat back in his seat and buried his face in the palms of his hands, letting out a low groan.
Time dragged after that. Dean had paced around the entire map room, library and kitchen. He had poured himself a glass of whisky, leaving it be when he remembered that he was suppose to stay sober for Cas's sake. He picked up about five books, leafed through the pages without actually looking properly. He opened up his own laptop and tried to distract himself with research, but he found he couldn't think of anything to type into the search bar, resorting to just staring at the page. The time continued to scream at him, yelling that it was still no closer to the allotted time. His cell stayed silent.
Finally Sam stood and Dean looked up eager. His brother nodded. Nothing else needed to be said. He was starting to worry as well. It had gone five minuets past the next time Cas was suppose to call and still nothing. Dean jumped from his chair, his eagerness coming off of him in waves. He needed to know Cas was safe. Needed to be sure. They both ran towards the garage. Dean had already started his car before Sam had jumped in. The sound of tyres squealing and echoing sounded throughout. Dean was not going to slow down, not for anyone. He glanced at his brother. Sam was looking at him with worried eyes. Was he worried for Cas or for him? He didn't care. He was going to find Cas and he was going to be just fine.
That's the only thought that propelled him forward. If he allowed the doubt to worm its way in, he would shrivel up and die. He needed to be strong for Cas. He needed to able to concentrate on what was to come next. He couldn't be distracted by anything, not even his doubts.
The drive felt like it took forever, but in reality it only took twenty minutes. He parked the car two blocks away. They didn't want any of the angels knowing they were there.
He climbed out of the car, slamming the door shut and moved around to the trunk. He pulled out the various weapons they would need and slammed the trunk down. He chucked some weapons towards Sam, who caught them, then started to move towards where the warehouse was situated.
"Dean?"
He didn't stop, didn't break stride. His heart was pounding, the worry was consuming him. "What?"
"Calm down. He's going to be fine."
"You don't know that," Dean growled.
It took only five minuets to reach the warehouse and instantly Dean didn't like it. There were no guards outside. Nothing. It was completely silent. He glanced at his brother who was frowning. Something wasn't right. Dean signalled for his brother to circle the building while he goes in the front entrance. Sam nodded in agreement.
Then they heard it. That sound. It pierced the still night sky making Dean's blood run cold. They both froze as they listened to that scream. It sounded like a dying animal. That was the only way Dean could describe it. He shivered as the reality of it hit him.
Cas!
Without thinking it through, without thinking how stupid he was being, he surged forwards, towards the building. Only one thought echoing in his mind. Save Cas. Save Cas. Save Cas. He heard his brother whisper his name, scared, worried. But he ignored it. He had to make that sound stop.
He barged through the doors, the panic swelling through his entire being. Where was he? He slowed his pace, angel blade drawn. He couldn't hear his brother, so he assumed he'd gone with the original plan. His kept his footstep slow and silent, and he glanced around every corner, every doorway. Finally he came to a large room. The doors were wide open and inside he could see Naomi and four angels. He watched as one of the men moved, angel blade in hand. Dean's eyes caught sight of Cas, dangling from the ceiling. His heart stopped at the sight of him. Blood pouring from random cuts across his face. His grace shone through a stab wound in his side. His head was slumped on his chest and sweat dripped from his hair to the floor. He could tell Cas was still breathing. That was a good sign. It took everything Dean had not to run to him. He couldn't do that, couldn't risk it. If he did that then he was sure to die and then where would Cas be?
He watched as Naomi stepped forward. "Come on, Castiel. This is pointless. All you need to do is to get Dean Winchester here."
Cas looked up and the hatred in his eyes was fierce. Dean almost stepped back from the power of it. "W-what for? So you… can… kill him? No… thanks!"
Oh God! He was suffering like this to keep him alive, that stupid son of a bitch.
He couldn't hold back any more, couldn't allow this to go on any more. He stepped into the room. He grabbed the nearest angel and stabbed him straight through the chest. The room filled with a bright, white light and a piercing scream. Then the body dropped and the light faded. He glanced at Cas. Dean reeled back from the sheer happiness at seeing Dean. Realization hit him. Cas had been stalling, knowing that Dean would come eventually.
Dean allowed his eyes to drift to Naomi. She was stood shocked to the spot, her eyes wide and mouth open. Another surge of bright light, from the other side of the room this time. Sam had arrived.
The other two angels surged towards them. And Naomi stepped towards Cas, angel blade in hand.
- SUPERNATURAL -
I know! I am totally evil and I am so, so sorry for the cliffhanger.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. Please tell me what you think will happen next. Or just tell me what you thought of this chapter, good or bad, all reviews are welcome.
Thank you again.
