CHAPTER FOUR
It felt like a lifetime later by the time Dean was tucking his brother into bed. The poor hunter had closed in on himself. Dean had barely managed to get him dressed and a few bites of food into him.
With a determined look on his face, Dean gathered up everything he needed. He was done yelling for Castiel and Gabriel and he sure as Hell wasn't taken another damn call. Dean struck a match and threw it into the pot. He knew without looking up both angels were now squarely in the room.
Without warning, he struck another match and tossed it on the ground. A quick fiery ring formed around the angels.
"Dean?"
Lifting his head, Dean finally allowed himself to look at them. If Gabriel's gaze was deadly, Dean would have been a melting puddle of hunter on the floor. He plowed on, not giving either angel a chance to speak.
"Sam is in agony because of you two. Cas, you barely said two words to him and I get that. But you," Dean glared at Gabriel. "You and I both know the more you push Sam away, the more he retreats into his fucking mind. You want to be angry with someone? Be angry with me."
Castiel frowned.
"Dean," he started.
Dean turned his glare to Castiel.
"No, Cas. I've been beating myself over it for days. I didn't need to work on the car. Kalen invited me out to go with her and I told her no. It's my fault her dog is dead and it's my fault someone took her."
Gabriel leaned back on his heels as he slowly closed his eyes. He had been angry, but like Dean, he had been angry with himself. He had spent more time with Sam lately. So much that he had missed out on a few lunch outings with Kalen. All four of them had been pushing each other away from their respective lovers.
"Dean, this is no one's fault. We had no way of knowing someone would take Kalen," Castiel explained.
Dean shook his head. He opened his mouth, but another voice spoke again.
"We should have known."
Castiel turned his head to his brother. Gabriel gazed at him with a long face. Dean remained silent.
"Brother?"
"Forget about the Hell Hound for a moment. You remember how you first treated Kalen? We know a lot more angels that wouldn't have hesitated to attack her. You only did because of Sam and Dean. We don't even know what state Kalen is in right now."
Castiel wanted to stomp his foot like a human child and deny his brother's words. Except he knew the truth. It's why they had been sneaking around their brothers and sisters the way they had while searching for the half angel.
Fwo-o-osh!
Castiel squinted his eyes and held a hand up to avoid the spray splash from the fire extinguisher. Dean finished putting out the fire ring. Gabriel turned his gaze from his brother to the hunter.
"It's bad?" Gabriel asked.
"Something happened. I don't know what, but it broke 'em. He's barely eaten anything," Dean answered.
Dean sighed when Gabriel disappeared. He stiffened up when Castiel stepped closer, but he allowed the angel to embrace him. He closed his eyes when his lover brought his hands up to hold his face. A warm kiss was pressed to his forehead before their heads gently touched.
"Dean, you must get past this. Kalen's situation is of no one's fault. Beating ourselves over it will not help her."
"I'm not sure I can, Cas," Dean murmured.
He accepted another small kiss, this time to the side of his mouth.
"Please try."
He returned the next kiss with a small smile.
"I'll try."
/…/
The hunter looked impossibly small curled into the archangel. Gabriel wrapped his wings further around his lover. Sam groaned, but it softened as he felt kisses dusting his face. The archangel held his face as his eyes fluttered open.
"Gab…re'l?" he slurred.
"Hey, kiddo. I'm sorry I've been neglecting your needs, but I'm going to fix that."
Gabriel rolled them until he was sitting on Sam's waist. Sam groaned when Gabriel shifted just right. He tasted the archangel's smirk when he dropped his head down to claim his mouth. He moaned deeply as he felt their clothes dissolve away so there was nothing between them.
Sam leaned back as Gabriel dipped his head down and bit into the side of his neck.
"I'm going to take care of you."
Nip. Suck. Moan.
"Gonna make sure you eat and rest and heal. Then we will focus on finding her."
Any protests died in Sam's throat as the lips moved further south.
/…/
Sam plopped down onto Kalen's bed.
"You think this is going to work?" Sam asked.
Dean shrugged. The scent of lavender wafted into the air.
"Incense and you laying in here? Gotta give it a shot, man," Dean suggested.
Sam nodded. He laid down and closed his eyes. Taking in a deep breath, lavender filled his nose. Suddenly, Sam's whole body relaxed into the mattress. He lurched back into Kalen's body. He could feel fresh wounds bleeding. The gaze was downward where he could just see the bindings being cut away.
"Waste of space. Abomination. I'll be glad to rid this pathetic world of you."
A glance at the window showed an unfamiliar figure standing behind Kalen. He reached around to pull her up under her arm and shoved her to the ground. She hit the ground as if her whole body was boneless. The reflection caught in the window as the angel drew an angel blade and raised it.
As he moved suddenly forward, without warning, Kalen/Sam's head snapped up. Wings snapped up, flinging the angel off his feet. A loud crash sounded off.
Pain surged as things blurred. He saw signs, dust, sigils, a door (locked), a window…
[No. No, look outside. What do you see?]
Kalen/Sam shifted back to the window. There was a faded but still visible sign outside. A scream of rage filled the air.
"Where are you, you filthy Abomination?!"
Sam flew up, gasping for air. On either side of him, Gabriel and Dean caught him at the shoulder.
"Sam? Sam!" Dean called.
"She's in Florida," Sam told them.
"You're sure?" Gabriel asked.
Sam nodded.
"I saw a sign. It looked old, but it said Cantleberry's Orange Groves," Sam replied.
Dean smirked. He squeezed his brother's shoulder.
"Good job, Sam."
/…/
Once Sam located the right sign, they had found their building. It took no time at all for Sam and Dean to sneak inside. They found the sigils and made quick work of the pieces Gabriel had pointed out to them. The angels appeared next to them.
"Find Kalen," Gabriel instructed.
Castiel and Sam split off from their brothers. Gabriel touched Dean's shoulder and moved them to the third floor. Castiel and Sam did a quiet, but careful search of the ground floor. They kept an eye out for the unknown angel while searching for Kalen. Sam prayed he hadn't found her first.
They turned into a small office and turned to leave when they heard a quiet voice.
"S-Sam…Cas?"
Both men whipped around. Hiding in the corner curled up into the smallest of balls, Kalen struggled to pull herself up to her feet. Castiel flew to her side, gently placing an arm around her and assisting her out of the corner.
Sam reached her a few moments behind Castiel. He touched her shoulder gently, gaining her attention. Kalen swallowed deeply while blinking slowly. Sam wondered just how well she could actually see him.
"D'n…Gabe?" she croaked.
"They're here too," Sam said softly.
"They are searching for the angel," Castiel added.
Kalen reared her head back slowly and spat a huge loogy of spit and blood on the floor.
"I know where the bastard is."
/…/
The angel was searching on the ground floor when Kalen suddenly appeared in front of him. With surprising ability, Kalen knocked the blade from his hand and kicked the unnamed angel hard in the kneecap. This brought him down to one knee. His head snapped up, but words died in his throat when cold steel touched his neck.
"Your mistake was thinking I didn't have allies," Kalen said.
"Where did you get that?" he demanded, careful to keep his voice and words neutral as he felt slight pressure.
"My brother lent it to me," she declared.
He couldn't contain the laugh from escaping. He gritted his teeth when the blade pressed close enough to almost draw blood.
"You have no brothers," he spat.
Kalen smiled.
"That's where you're wrong. You see, they've been looking for me and they found me. I'm not playing your sick game anymore," Kalen replied.
The angel chuckled.
"They won't touch me."
Kalen smiled while letting out her own little chuckle. She noted a small flash of fear in the angel's eyes.
"Oh, I wouldn't count on that, featherbrain. See, I got two older brothers that are particularly protective when angry and boy," Whoosh, "did you piss them off."
Without taking her gaze off the angel, Kalen spoke softly at someone's approach.
"Hello, Gabriel."
The other angel's eyes widened with a growing fear creeping up his face. Gabriel smiled softly as he was careful
"Hey, little sister. You let me and Dean handle this. Go home with Sam and Cas. We got this, kid."
The angel grew confused when Kalen turned and seemed to focus hard on him. She broke off in a small chuckle.
"That's fitting for you."
The angel sagged back in some relief when the blade drew away. Suddenly, he cried out in his pain as a swift movement landed the blade handle against his nose. He fell backwards clutching a broken, bleeding nose.
Kalen turned and patted Gabriel on the chest.
"Now you can have him," she said.
Gabriel didn't tear his gaze away until Castiel had whisked her and Sam away.
/…/
When they landed back in the bunker, Kalen sagged against them. Sam snapped a worried look to Castiel, but he let out a quiet sigh when he heard the half-angel sighed. They quietly guided her down the hall and into Sam's room. Kalen didn't question the large French doors that opened into a new room attached to Sam's.
She sat on the edge of the bed as the hunter and angel took stock of all her injuries. Castiel sat down beside her. Her eyelids drooped while her body leaned sideways against Castiel, drawing comfort from him. Sam left and returned with a washcloth and bowl of water.
He carefully cleaned away the cuts. He quietly gave instructions to the angel. Sam knew Castiel was reluctant to move, but did as requested. Kalen allowed them to clean and bandage her wounds. She didn't even flinch as they hooked her up to an IV.
Sam hung a saline bag and a bag of blood. Kalen murmured a small note of gratitude. Sam gave her head a small hug while whispering softly to her.
"Missed you, Kay," Sam whispered.
"You too, Sam," Kalen whispered back.
He leaned back up to standing as he heard his phone ring. He pulled it out and answered fluidly. Castiel settled back to sitting next to Kalen. He took her hand and held it. He wanted nothing more than to the heal the half-angel of all her injuries, but knew he was incapable of succeeding with such an act.
"Bobby? Yeah. Yeah, she's here. No, no broken bones."
Sam looked down when felt a small tug on his jeans. He leaned down when he realized Kalen wanted his attention. He frowned but nodded as he stood back up.
"Bobby? Kalen wanted me to ask you if Crowley's mad at her." Pause. "Why would she ask you that?"
There was silence on the other end.
"Bobby?" Sam asked.
"Tell her he ain't mad." Click.
Sam scrunched up his face as he hung his phone up.
"Sam?"
"Yeah, Cas?" Sam asked, looking down.
He noted the worried look on Castiel's face.
"She feels cold," Castiel said, noting the goosebumps breaking out across Kalen's arms.
Sam smiled.
"It's okay, Cas. She's going to get cold with the saline. But I'll get another blanket."
Sam was later in the kitchen pouring a cup of coffee when Dean appeared. Sam gave him a look.
"He won't be bothering us again, Sammy. Short Stack went to sit with Cas and Kalen. Benny's taking care of the building and the body," Dean explained.
Sam handed him the coffee cup and turned to grab himself a new cup.
"How she doing?" Dean asked.
Sam's shoulders drooped.
"Most of her injuries are superficial. She has a lot of bruises. I think her ribs are a little bruised and parts of her left leg looked swollen. She's on the third bag of saline right now and took two bags of blood," Sam answered.
Dean held his mug down at his waist and squeezed. He gave his brother a rough look.
"That's fine, Sam. But how is she?" Dean asked.
Sam slid the coffee pot a little heavier back into place than he meant to. His brother didn't call him on it. He placed his mug down a little more gently. He brought his hands up to rub up and back down his face. The taller hunter shook his head.
"I…I don't know, Dean. We don't know what she went through. We don't know what he put her through," Sam said.
"Them."
Sam's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
Dean turned and put his cup down after taking a sip.
"Before we took out that asshole, we managed to squeeze a little information out of him," Dean explained.
Sam crossed his arms over his chest.
"He had help? Who?" Sam asked.
Dean shook his head.
"We don't know. Not even Pint Size could get anything out of him."
END OF CHAPTER FOUR