Chapter Thirteen

Pajama day gave them a well-needed opportunity to relax, until Friday rolled around. Dean dressed up as Eliot Ness, complete with waistcoat, holster and fedora hat.

'Come on, Cas, hurry up,' Dean said, fidgeting impatiently in front of the curtain. 'I wanna see what you got.'

'I'm almost done,' Cas said.

Finally, he pulled back the curtain and revealed his outfit: a white suit, a set of feathery white wings strapped to his back, and he adjusted an LED halo on his head.

'What do you think?' he asked nervously.

Dean looked him up and down. 'Wow,' was all he could manage, before he cleared his throat and stammered, 'we should go.' He turned away and went downstairs before Cas could see his cheeks flush pink.

'Awww, you guys look great!' Mary said when she saw them, and started taking pictures on her phone.

'Mooom,' Dean complained.

'Dork,' Sam scoffed, snapping the strap of his holster.

'Cooler than you,' Dean grumbled.

'Come on, Sam,' Mary warned.

Sam tutted and helped himself to cereal.

'So what's the plan tonight?' Mary asked them. 'You want me to pick you up from school?'

'We're gonna get dinner with Jo and Kevin and then get back to school for the dance,' Dean told her. 'The swim team are having an after party, but I don't know if we're gonna go yet.'

'Cool. Let me know.'

'Sure.'

After breakfast, they hopped on the bus with Jo, who was dressed as the Queen of Hearts, but Dean pulled Cas aside before they walked into the school.

'What is it?' Cas said.

'Listen, they go a little crazy on Halloween here, so do you wanna put your stuff on now, or do you wanna see how it goes?'

Cas blinked. 'Oh - uh - I guess I'll put it on now.' He hesitantly put on the headphones and sunglasses.

'It's okay. You look great,' Dean said encouragingly, and walked into school with him.

He was right about the enthusiasm that had been put into Halloween, and there were flashing lights and decorations making noise everywhere. Cas looked uncomfortable, but he made it all the way to homeroom, not taking his headphones off until the door was closed.

Crowley looked up at him and immediately smirked. 'Well look at that, aren't we a pair?' he said. He was dressed as a demon, with horns, a tail, and red coloured contact lenses.

Cas rolled his eyes and sat down in his usual seat.

Kevin hadn't bothered with a costume at all. 'I'm a tired AP student,' he said snarkily when asked what he was supposed to be.

For the rest of the day, Dean kept a close eye on Cas, but after the morning's initial Halloween celebration, the rest of the school seemed to have calmed down in anticipation of the dance.

They walked to the diner close by after school. Crowley decided to tag along, but seemed disgusted by the food the entire time.

'Why does all of your food have to be drenched in oil?' he said, picking at some fries.

'Uh, because it's awesome,' said Dean. 'I guess you don't have flavour in England.'

'You call this flavour?' Crowley said with a sour look on his face.

Once they'd finished their dinner, it was finally time to go back to school for the dance. It had been lit up green for Halloween, and Cas dawdled outside.

'I'm fine,' he said, when Dean asked if he was all right. 'I'm just a little nervous… I never went to Homecoming at any of my other schools.'

Dean nodded. 'I get it, but don't worry, I'll be with you the whole time.'

Cas took a deep breath and walked inside.

The hallway had been well lit, and several photo booths had been set up. Some of the other students had gone all out after school, and were covered in fake wounds and blood, makeup smeared over their faces.

'Oh, we have to take pictures, come on!' said Jo, dragging them all over to the nearest booth.

Cas hesitated, looking at how much space there was in the booth.

'Or we could get Alfie to take our picture over there,' Dean said quickly, pointing at the space Alfie had set up, with his camera on a tripod in front of a Halloween themed canvas.

'How many devices we got?' he asked cheerfully. 'Five? Cool, pass them over. I'll get pictures with them and one for the yearbook, deal?'

'You got it,' Dean said, and they all passed Alfie their phones.

Their photos taken, they headed into the cafeteria that had been converted and decorated for the dance.

Dean briefly spotted Rhonda's pink hair on the other side of the room, but he didn't let it bother him. Instead, he turned to Cas and asked for a dance. For a moment, Dean could pretend it was real, spinning Cas around and watching him smile so brightly Dean was dazzled. He could already feel the ache tugging at his heart, knowing that the night would come to an end eventually, but he pushed it away, just to enjoy those few hours with Cas on his arm.

Their friends danced in and out of view, but for Dean, Cas was his whole focus, until the last dance of the night. Dean held Cas at the waist and slowly rotated on the spot.

'So, how was your first Homecoming?' Dean asked.

Cas beamed at him and his heart fluttered. 'I had a great time, thank you, Dean.'

But eventually, the song came to an end, the lights switched back on, and Dean was forced back to reality. He reluctantly let go of Cas's hand and watched him leave the room, allowing himself a melancholy sigh before following him out.

They regrouped with their friends, who were all looking significantly more disheveled than when the night had begun, but they were all in high spirits.

'I dunno about you lot, but I'm still up for a good time,' Crowley said, clapping his hands together and watching students stream in the direction of the after party.

'Yeah, I could go for some drinks,' said Kevin.

Jo nodded.

'How about you, how are you feeling?' Dean asked Cas.

Cas thought about it. 'I want to go,' he said.

'Cool, we'll go then. Let me just call Mom.' Dean stepped away from them and dialled her.

'Hey, honey, what's up?'

'We're going to the after party. It's not far from the school, so we're just walking there.'

'All right, you guys be careful. Try not to stay out too late, and call me when you want me to pick you up.'

'Okay, Mom-'

'I mean it, Dean. Call me.'

Dean chuckled. 'I know, Mom-'

'And your friends too, I'll take them home if they need it.'

'Mom, relax, it's the swim team hosting, it's not exactly gonna be wild.'

'All right, but still… You all be careful. I'll see you later.'

'Yeah, see you later.'

As Dean predicted, the party was quite relaxed. The captain of the swim team had a huge house with a pool, and his parents had agreed to let him host the party. There was some music playing, and drinks in the kitchen, but otherwise, most people were hanging around chatting, or dancing in the living room. There were a few people out back watching the team flip and dive around the pool, but it was a little too cold for it to go on for long.

The drinks in the kitchen were of both the alcoholic and non alcoholic kind, and while most people grabbed a solo cup full of beer, Cas grabbed a soda.

'I don't like to drink,' Cas said defensively at Crowley's disappointed expression.

'That's okay, he doesn't have to,' Jo said, scowling at Crowley.

'No, of course he doesn't,' said Crowley, rolling his eyes. 'I just thought it would be fun.'

'We can still have fun,' Cas said anxiously.

'Stop being such a douche, Crowley,' said Jo.

Crowley just tutted and walked away.

Then the track team spotted Cas as they walked into the kitchen and beckoned him over.

Cas turned to Dean, and Dean laughed.

'Hey, Homecoming's over, you don't have to be my date anymore,' he said. 'You go ahead.'

Cas smiled and hurried off to talk with the track team, and Dean wandered around the living room, slipping in and out of conversations and sipping on a beer.

About an hour passed, then there was a huge crash, and everyone turned towards the sound. Cas had been walking from the kitchen and fell into a table with a large vase on it, knocking the whole thing over. He threw his arms out to steady himself, drink in one hand, but he was swaying violently, completely unbalanced with a glazed look on his face.

Dean frowned and hurried over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders. 'What's the matter?'

Cas squinted at him, unable to focus on Dean's face.

'Come sit,' Dean said, worry creeping into his voice.

By then, some of the other partygoers had noticed the situation, and moved out of Dean's way so he could put Cas on the couch.

Up close, Dean could see that he was flushed and sweating. Dean looked around and spotted Crowley half way up the stairs. 'Crowley, get over here,' he called.

Crowley took one look at Cas and frowned, sitting down next to him. 'What are you drinking, sweetheart?' he asked in concern.

Cas turned to look at Crowley, or he tried to. 'Um… I thought… I had some beer,' he slurred. 'To have fun, like you said…'

'How much?'

Cas looked down at his cup, then back up at Crowley, lifting up the cup that was still only half empty.

'Just that?'

Cas nodded and Crowley's frown deepened.

'Castiel, darling, if I asked you if you wanted to come upstairs with me, what would you say?'

'How's that supposed to help?' Dean said.

Crowley waved him away, waiting for Cas's answer.

Cas giggled. 'I would - I would say - would you prefer to take my clothes off, or do you want me to strip?' Then he dissolved into a wave of uncontrollable giggles.

Crowley's expression went from concerned to alarmed. 'He's definitely been given something,' he muttered. 'Would you let me see that, dear?' He pointed at the cup, and Cas gave it to him.

He sniffed it, then took a sip.

'Don't drink that!' Dean exclaimed.

Crowley made a noise of disgust. 'Eurgh. Salty,' he said.

'What does that mean?'

Crowley looked around nervously. 'We have to get him medical attention.'

Then Cas began to shiver and his eyes rolled.

Dean shook him. 'Cas, stay awake,' he said urgently. 'Look at me, look at me.'

Cas did his best, but his head lolled.

'We should get him on the floor,' Crowley said. 'So he won't choke if he throws up.'

Dean nodded, and everyone in the vicinity cleared a space on the floor for him.

'What's going on here?' the captain of the swim team demanded, coming into the room after hearing the commotion.

'Somebody spiked him,' Dean said, lowering Cas to the floor and rolling him onto his side. 'We need a container for this - but don't drink it.'

The captain went pale and nodded, running to the kitchen for a plastic container with a lid for Cas's drink.

'Can someone find Jo and Kevin?' Dean shouted, and the call ran around the house until they appeared. 'Crowley, you gotta call an ambulance,' Dean said, his voice rising in pitch as Cas started wheezing. 'Stay with me, Cas - Jo, can you call my mom?'

Jo nodded, her face white.

'And call your mom too.'

Dean shook Cas's shoulder. 'Stay awake, okay?'

Cas looked up at him and weakly reached out.

'I've got you,' Dean said, grabbing his hand. 'Just look at me, you're not going anywhere.'

The ambulance was there within minutes, sirens blaring and blue lights flashing, and the paramedics burst into the room. They immediately put a mask on Cas and started taking his vitals.

'What happened?' one of them asked.

'He took something. Someone dosed him, I think,' Dean said. 'I have it…'

They took the container from him, and as soon as they were satisfied Cas was stable enough to move, lifted him onto a gurney and wheeled him from the house.

'I'll go with him,' Dean said to the others, following the paramedics out. 'You guys wait for my mom.' He didn't wait for a response and climbed into the back of the ambulance.

Cas was hooked up to several different machines and one of the paramedics sat in the back with them.

'Is he gonna be okay?' Dean asked in a small voice, barely audible over the sirens.

'We'll do what we can,' said the paramedic, but it was hardly reassuring.

Cas, thankfully, had managed to stay conscious, and again reached out for Dean.

'Don't be scared,' Dean said to him. 'You're gonna be just fine.'

They tore through the streets, pulled up to the hospital, and rushed him through the ER. Dean ran after them and watched them slide Cas onto a bed and hook him up to more machines. The cup of beer was whisked away for testing, and Cas began to groan loudly.

'What's wrong?' Dean asked, panicked.

One of the nurses took off his mask and thrust a tray under his chin just in time for him to vomit.

'That's right, get it all up,' she said, rubbing his back.

Cas threw up again, then finally passed out.

'Is - is that okay - is he okay?' Dean asked.

'We just gotta make sure he's still breathing,' the nurse said reassuringly, replacing Cas's mask. 'That's what all these machines are for, okay? They'll let us know the second anything goes wrong so we can try and fix it.'

'Okay,' Dean said in a small voice.

Then Mary arrived, hurrying across the room.

'Mom,' Dean said shakily, tearing up as soon as he saw her.

She threw her arms around him. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' he sniffed. 'Cas…'

Mary looked down at Cas. 'What happened?'

Dean couldn't hold it in anymore. 'I'm s-sorry,' he choked. 'It's all my f-fault, I - I wasn't watching him - '

'Dean,' Mary said firmly. 'Take a deep breath and tell me what happened.'

Dean nodded. 'I didn't see but somebody slipped him something. We weren't even drinking, not really. I only had one, and he only had half, and then he was just falling all over the place.'

'Okay,' Mary nodded. 'Listen to me, Dean, it's not your fault. Do you understand me?'

Dean sniffed.

'You did not do this to him. You did exactly the right thing. You stayed with him, you called an ambulance, you had someone call me, and you even kept what he drank. You did everything you needed to do, and I'm so proud of you, okay?'

'Where are the others?'

'Ellen's taking them home.'

Dean nodded and his lip wobbled. 'Is he gonna be okay, Mom?'

'Let's just wait to see what the doctor says, I'm sure they won't be long.'

Mary sat down next to Cas's bed, and Dean paced around near the end of it until the doctor at last showed up, accompanied by a nurse carrying an IV bag that she hung on a hook over Cas's bed.

Dean stopped and he and Mary looked up at the doctor expectantly.

'You're Castiel's legal guardian?' the doctor asked Mary, and she nodded. 'It looks like he ingested a high dose of GHB. It's a common party drug, but taking too much can be very harmful.'

'Why would someone give him that?' Dean gasped.

The doctor hesitated. 'I couldn't say for sure, but it causes weakness, decreased inhibition and amnesia. I'm sure there are people out there willing to take advantage of someone in that state.'

Dean put a hand to his forehead.

'What do we do now? Is there a treatment?' Mary asked, fiddling nervously with the necklace she was wearing.

The doctor shook his head. 'The only thing we can do now is give him fluids, keep him hydrated, and wait for the drug to make its way out of his system. The next couple of hours will be critical.'

The nurse put in the IV and Cas flinched slightly in his sleep.

'We'll wake him in two hours and check his responses.' The doctor walked away, flipping through the papers on his clipboard, and the nurse put a hand on Dean's shoulder.

'Let me get you a chair, honey.'

She sat Dean in a chair next to Cas, and he sat heavily on it, watching Cas's chest slowly rising and falling. He didn't realise he'd fallen asleep, head resting on the edge of Cas's bed, until the same nurse shook him awake.

'We gotta get in here and check him out,' she said gently, and Dean stood up, moving his chair out of the way.

The nurse began writing readings from the machines down, and the doctor examined Cas, taking off his mask and attempting to wake him.

It took an agonisingly long time, but eventually, Cas slowly opened his eyes. He looked around blearily, making a small irritated noise when the doctor shone a light in his eyes.

'What's going on?' he asked, slurring so much his words were barely recognisable.

Mary reached out to brush his hair from his face. 'It's all right, sweetie, we're just at the hospital. You drank something weird at the party, that's all.'

The doctor looked over all the readings and smiled. 'Good news,' he said. 'Everything looks fine, normal enough for the amount ingested. I'd say we're out of the woods.'

Both Dean and Mary sighed in relief.

'We'll keep him for the rest of the night to be sure, but you should be good to take him home in the morning. He's still going to be a little weak, a little unsteady for maybe a day or so, but he should be fine.'

Mary nodded and shook his hand. 'Thank you, Doctor.'

'You're welcome,' he said. 'Just make sure he's more careful with his drinks in the future.'

'Of course.'

The doctor left and Cas looked up at Dean, confused and still slightly unfocused.

'It's okay,' Dean said quietly. 'You can go back to sleep if you want.'

Cas's eyelids fluttered and he sunk back into a deep, deep sleep. He didn't need the oxygen mask anymore, breathing steadily all on his own.

Dean scrubbed his face and pulled out his phone.

Dean

He's gonna be ok

Jo H

Thank god

Dean

You guys get home ok?

Jo H

Yeah, my mom dropped everyone off

Kevin Tran

Glad he's ok

Dean

crowley u good?

Crowley 😈🍆

Indeed. Tell Cas I'm sorry

Dean

Not your fault man. You didn't drug him.

Jo H

Can we come see him?

Dean

Nah we're bringing him home in the morning. Doc says he's gonna be out of it for a while. Probably best to give him some space.

Jo H

Gotcha

'You wanna take a nap in the car, sweetie?' Mary asked Dean.

Dean shook his head. 'I'll sleep when we get home.'

Mary eventually dozed off in her seat, but Dean stayed awake, watching over Cas while he slept.