Chapter Five: Metal Heart ((Garbage))

Upon waking up later the next morning, Dean remembered exactly why he hated pull- out beds. Over the course of the night, the metal bar of the bed frame had become very closely acquainted with his lower back. He groaned, shifting onto his side. It dug into his hip instead, but at least it gave his back a little reprieve. Fuck this bed.

He blinked an eye open. It was quiet. Sunlight streamed in through the small windows of Balthazar's living room. Dean wasn't surprised that the ex- angel was a late sleeper. Probably from years of running a night club. It was pretty late when they finally went to sleep anyway. He supposed Castiel would sleep late as well, suddenly having to make up for his body's lack of Grace keeping him all powered up and not needing sleep to recharge.

Dean looked over at the angel on the other side of the bed. He'd curled up a bit during the night, into a loose ball. He'd half- expected Castiel to refuse to sleep until he passed out, afraid of doing something so human in nature. Luckily that wasn't the case. He knew they had to get going soon; they needed to move quickly if he wanted to catch up with Sam. But he supposed they could wait a little longer. It seemed like a dick move to wake Castiel on his first night of sleep.

He was so busy staring at the shorter man that he didn't notice Balthazar stumble sleepily into the room. The blonde grinned, leaning against the door frame to the hall with a yawn. "Aren't you two just adorable?"

Dean jumped, turning to stare at him with a glare. The noise also startled Castiel, who woke with a surprised noise. He kicked out on reflex, his leg slamming into Dean's hip and knocking him straight off the bed in a tangle of limbs and blanket. He hit the floor with a curse, but not before that treacherous metal frame scraped painfully over his side.

Balthazar burst out into laughter. Confused, Castiel peered over the edge of the bed. "Dean?"

Dean made a face, rubbing his side. There were going to be bruises. "Yeah Cas… I'm fine."

"I think that comedy act earned you some toast, at least." Balthazar moved past them into the kitchen.

Castiel just stared at Dean from his place atop the bed. The hunter sat up, offering a grimace that he hoped passed for a smile.

Today was going to be a long day.

The pair left shortly after, a few pieces of toast sufficing for breakfast. Dean still wanted to punch Balthazar, but he had to admit the guy wasn't as much of a bastard as he'd thought. He'd let them crash at his place, told them about their brothers, and even fed them.

He still hated him though.

The ex- angel sent them on, directing them through the city. He estimated that they should reach the center in two or three days of walking. Less if they could get someone to give them a ride. Which he doubted, for the same reason he knew no one would've given them a place to sleep last night. Most of this town was populated by demons, and they wouldn't want anything to do with them. There weren't many angels in Purgatory, but those that were kept their distance from the demons. And vice versa. The angel magic on Dean would give them away as some kind of weird mix of human and angel. And Castiel was all angel, even without his Grace. Nothing would come near them unless they had a really good reason. Long story short, no one would hurt Dean without just cause, with the protection spell Jo had given him, but they wouldn't want to help him either.

So they were walking.

Even in the daylight hours, the city still seemed shady. It still held that old fifties vibe, and it didn't get any less creepy with the new day. Sunlight lit the streets instead of the lamps, and the buildings were five stories of brick against the sky. The spires Dean first saw in the meadow were taller now, telling him he was going in the right direction. It was still a little disconcerting that no one was around, even in the middle of the day. The only explanation he could give was that if the town was full of demons, maybe they were the nocturnal kind.

He made a mental note to find somewhere safe to hide out before it got dark tonight. He didn't want to take any chances.

"So," he decided to start a conversation awhile into their walk. "How'd you sleep?"

Castiel blinked at him, frowning a bit in confusion. "I closed my eyes and relaxed, just like you told me."

Dean grinned, shaking his head. Everything was literal with Castiel. "No, I mean did it go okay? It was your first night's sleep, right? How did it feel?"

He was quiet for a moment, considering this. The only noise around them came from their shoes hitting the sidewalk. Finally he ventured, "It was sufficient."

"Did you dream?"

"Angels don't dream, Dean."

He pointed a finger at the angel. "Oh no you don't… that excuse stopped working when you started eating and sleeping."

Castiel sighed. "I'm not sure. If I did dream, then I don't recall it."

"That's better," Dean seemed pleased with himself. "It happens a lot. Most of the time we don't remember dreams unless they're really vivid."

"Oh."

They walked in silence for a time after that. It wasn't uncomfortable silence. They passed buildings and businesses. Castiel looked around, blue eyes dancing around curiously, while Dean just passed them by, hands in his jeans pockets and humming whatever song popped into his head. A few hours into the afternoon, they came across a bus center. No one was around, but there were vending machines in the corner, and Dean figured that would do as well for lunch as anything else.

Remembering what the bartender had told him last night, Dean fished out a few quarters, feeding them into the machine. Castiel watched him, tilting his head as the hunter pushed a few buttons. The machine turned, and pushed out a brightly colored bag, which Dean took.

"Hungry?"

He looked pensive for a moment before nodding. That feeling in his stomach was back, the one Dean told him was hunger. Dean chuckled, putting another round of quarters in the machine before studying its contents.

"What do you like?"

Castiel shrugged. "I'm not sure. Apples were the first thing I've eaten. And the toast from this morning."

"Well then, time to get you started on something salty." He scanned the rows once more before pushing another set of buttons. His choice dropped to the bottom, which he scooped up with a grin. "And cheesy."

Dean tossed him the bag, which he fumbled in catching. The last of his change went into the drink machine, debating a moment before getting them a Pepsi. "We'll have to share this, I don't have enough for two."

Castiel nodded. "That's fine."

They sat on a bench at the bus stops, eating their chips and soda. Castiel had wound up with something called 'Cheetos', which he supposed weren't so bad, even if they were little more than foam with powder over them. He liked the apples better. He told Dean this, and the other retorted by calling him weird. He did like the Pepsi, however. The first sip surprised him. It was full of the same bubbles as the drink Dean had given him last night, the beer, but it was sweet. There was none of the bitter unpleasantness that the first drink had. He wound up finishing off more than his half of the drink, but Dean didn't seem to mind. He looked rather amused with Castiel finding something he actually had a preference for.

When Dean asked him if he wanted to try the kind of chips he'd gotten, Castiel nodded. Dean grinned at this, holding the small bag high above their heads. Castiel started at him.

"Dean…?"

"Gotta work for it Cas," he replied, waving the bag a bit in a tease.

He offered the hunter another strange look before reaching up for the bag. Dean pulled it out of his reach at the last second, standing up.

"What are you doing?"

"It's called Keep Away. It's a game." Truth was, Dean was bored out of his mind. They'd been walking all afternoon with no break, and walking for days on top of that. His relaxing at the club had been cut entirely too short by snarky ex- angels and he was going a little stir- crazy.

Maybe Castiel seemed to sense this. Or maybe he just thought the game was important. But he started trying in earnest to get to the bag. Dean wasn't much taller than he was, only an inch or two, but every time he thought he'd catch the plastic, the other would duck away, narrowly avoiding him. Castiel didn't see where the fun in this game came from.

Finally he lunged, catching hold of Dean's wrist with one hand, the other going to pry the bag from his grip with a satisfied noise. Dean almost laughed, before something knocked him abruptly away, slamming into Castiel and sending him into the tile wall behind them.

Castiel let out a surprised yelp, his attacker pinning him to the wall and knocking the air from his chest. It made him dizzy for a moment, trying to breathe again, giving the intruder time to slam him harder into the tile. There was a flash of metal, of light bouncing off steel, and there was a blade pressed to his throat.

Dean was up in a second, wasting no time in tackling the attacker to the ground and freeing Castiel. The knife clattered to the floor, skidding away from them. The enemy was larger than either of them, but Dean had surprised him, holding him to the cement floor with his own weight. Castiel slumped against the wall, rubbing a small cut on his neck and watching with wide eyes as the two stared at each other.

Their attacker was lit up as he hit the floor, the station's dim fluorescent lights casting a haunted glow over everything. Dean stared.

"Sam?"

The other made no move to fight him, instead smiling up at him. Dean was relieved, but he made a face.

"What the hell was that about, attacking Cas like that?"

Sam blinked. "I thought he was attacking YOU."

"It was a game," Castiel muttered from his place at the wall.

Dean rolled his eyes, getting up and offering a hand to his brother. "I was messing with him. Jeez. What are you doing here anyway, I thought you were a day ahead of us…"

Sam accepted the hand, getting to his feet, only to slam into Dean, enveloping him in a tight hug. "Ah, sorry about that." He cast the dark- haired man an apologetic smile before turning his attention back to his sibling, pulling away after a respectable amount of time. He knew Dean better than that. "I was. I guess. I didn't know it though. I got into a bit of a fight, so I lost a lot of time. Turned out to be a good thing, I guess."

Frowning, Dean looked the other over. "A fight?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle, don't worry."

Castiel left the wall, standing close to Dean. Dean nodded. "Right. Well, Sam, this is Castiel. He's an angel I sorta picked up along the way. Cas, this is my brother, Sam."

"Nice to meet you," Castiel replied quietly.

"You too. Sorry about the violence, really…" Neither missed how Sam's eyes widened a bit when the word 'angel' was mentioned, but neither chose to comment on it.

"It's fine."

Good. Introductions out of the way, now Dean could continue to grill his brother about his absence. "So what happened, man? I've been looking for you for days."

Sam shrugged. "I don't really know. There was that spell at the house, and when the light show stopped, I was in the city, right next to that night club. You were gone, and so was the girl that sent us here. Then this guy appears out of nowhere, and tells me I'm in Purgatory. Says I needed to get to the center of the city."

"To see some guy named Chuck, right?"

"Yeah."

"I got that too. Only from a blonde chick. She said he'd probably be able to tell me where you wound up."

"He'd also tell us how to get home," the taller sibling interjected.

Dean grinned. "Good. Now we can focus on that instead of asking him for a bunch of stuff. We still have to find Cas's brother too." He glanced at the angel, his grin widening at the half- smile he received for that.

Sam looked from one to the other and chuckled. "So what are we waiting for?"

As they continued toward the city center, they took turns explaining what had gone on while they were separated. Dean told Sam about Jo, and about the woods, about finding Castiel and even about that jerk Balthazar. Sam told his brother about his wanderings through the city. He got lost on the first day, after speaking to the man who'd helped him. Then he looked around the same night club Dean and Castiel visited the next night. And last night, he'd been caught in a group of demons who were curious enough to see how far the protection spell would go. Castiel just listened to the both of them.

Sam mentioning the protection spell once again made Dean think of how he received his own from Jo, in the meadow.

"So… you got a protection spell like I did." He glanced at Sam, arching a brow. "Did he kiss you?"

Sam gave him an incredulous stare. "What the hell, man?"

He laughed. "I'm just saying. That's how I got mine…"

Dean snickered as Sam's face turned red. Castiel just watched the pair curiously.

"Of course not!"

"Suuuuure, Sammy… I leave you alone for a day and you're off making magical boyfriends."

"Just shut up," Sam huffed, and Dean saw the makings of Bitchface Number Eight. "And after I didn't even say anything about you and the angel over here…"

He stormed past them. Dean blinked in confusion, looking at Castiel. Said angel merely shrugged, and the elder Winchester hurried to catch up to his brother.

"What about me and Cas? What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing at all."

Castiel sighed, walking faster to match the quicker pace. Their party had grown once more, and somehow he sensed that he'd lost some quiet with it. But he couldn't quite bring himself to complain. At least the brothers were amusing.

He put his hands in the pockets of his trench coat, as he'd seen Dean do during the walk that day. It seemed like a human thing to do, so he figured he should get used to things like that. Something brushed against his hand, making a crinkling noise, and he pulled it out with a thoughtful frown. Dean's bag of chips. They must have fallen into the coat's large pockets in the fight with Sam. Curious, Castiel shook the bag, looking inside. There were still a few left, and he picked them out, popping them into his mouth as he hurried to catch up.

He liked them better than Cheetos and apples.