Chapter 6

Castiel slowly woke and pushed himself to a sitting position and looked around. He was confused as to where he was and how he got there. He remembered Sam praying for him to help Dean and went to the salvage yard. He healed Dean of his injuries, and something happened to him before he could break the connection. His awareness, spirit, was pulled out of him and brought to this place by someone or something.

He stood and brushed his clothes off and realized he felt different. He held his hand out to move a rock and couldn't do it. He tried to reach out to Heaven and couldn't find the connection. He could not hear angel radio, or for that matter feel any connection at all to any powers. He was as close to being human as he could get. He could feel it, there was something blocking his powers in this place.

After looking around, Castiel began to walk down the street searching for anyone else in this town. The wind blew down the street ruffling his hair and flapping his trench coat out behind him. There was something about this place that wasn't right. The air seemed heavy, and colors were pale and weak looking. This didn't seem like a real place, but one made up, like he was in someone else's dream. The only thing that made sense was somehow this had to do with Dean.

He finally came to a sign that told him he was in a town called Lawrence. The name was familiar to him since this was where the Winchesters were born. He had been watching over the Winchester family even before they were born. Somewhere in this place he knew he was going to find Dean. He just hoped he was okay.

Castiel began to walk again, not knowing where he was going but seemed to be drawn to a certain location for some reason. It took him a long time to roam the town not sure if he was going to find who he was looking for. He was walking down the middle of a residential street glancing at the houses on both sides when something made him stop at a two story white house with a large tree off to one side.

The door opened and a figure stepped onto the porch and looked at him for a moment before he stepped from the porch and walked hurriedly his way.

"Cas, you're here," Dean whispered before throwing his arms around the angel and hugging him tightly. "I felt you and knew you were the only one that could help me."

"Dean, what is going on? Where are we?" Castiel asked as he pushed Dean gently from him so he could talk.

"I don't know. This is Lawrence, but not how I remember it from the last time I was here. I can't find anyone else. Where's Sammy? Is he okay?"

"What do you remember?"

"We were hunting a demigod, Zortus, and he was going to hurt Sammy, but I jumped in front of him, and I woke up here."

"Sam is okay. You're the one that is in trouble." Castiel was surprised that Dean clung to him and was in his personal space. He knew how Dean felt about that remembering being reminded of it numerous times over the years.

"Me?" Dean questioned in a scared voice. "Cas, I don't understand. What is happening to me?" Dean clutched Cas's arm tightly as tears formed in his eyes. He looked around not sure what to do with a look of forlorn and helplessness.

"It's going to be okay Dean; we'll figure this out." Castiel studied Dean and could see this was not the hunter that he knew. He was different a person, but yet the same person. He put an arm around Dean and guided him back to the house that he came from. "How long have you been here Dean?"

"Days, weeks, I'm not sure. Time doesn't seem to work the same here," Dean told him. "This is where I was raised, but you probably know that," Dean told him as they stepped into the house.

"Yes Dean." Castiel knew Dean had not been unconscious that long. Sam had told him he'd been like that only a couple of days.

"I didn't know where else to go when I woke up here. It's been a long time since I was here. I have fond memories but also very sad ones," he explained as his voice saddened and he got a faraway look in his eyes.

"This is where your mother died."

"Yeah, upstairs in Sammy's nursery." He looked toward the ceiling as those memories flooded his mind.

"I'm sorry Dean."

"I've missed you Cas," Dean spoke softly. "I didn't know what our relationship was at first, but now I do. You're my brother. You're someone I can trust with my life, and I don't think I ever told you that."

Castiel looked to Dean as he spoke and saw he was sincere, but there were things missing about him. He was bearing his soul to him, and Dean would never do that. He had known him long enough to understand the walls Dean put up, so no one saw his true self. Dean didn't like 'chick flick moments', as he would tell his brother.

"You are like a brother to me too Dean."

"Do you know what we should do? Can you zap us out of here?"

"I cannot Dean. I don't have any powers in this place. I'm useless."

"No Cas," Dean insisted. "You came to help me. Maybe there's someone else here and we just haven't found them. Maybe Sammy is here somewhere and he's looking for us. Should we stay here and wait?" Dean rambled on. "That's probably not a good idea. How would anyone find us." Dean began to pace the living room as he tried to decide what to do. "What should we do Cas?"

"Calm down Dean. It'll be okay," Castiel tried to assure him. He wasn't sure how to handle a Dean like this because he had never seen this side of him before. He was used to Dean sorting things out and coming up with a plan.

"I feel lost Cas," Dean whined. "I wish I could communicate with Sammy someway. You sure you can't contact him?"

"No Dean. Something is blocking me from my connections with Heaven. I have no way of reaching out to him."

"Okay, right," Dean sighed helplessly. "What else can we do? Do you have any ideas?"

Castiel wasn't expecting this from Dean. He felt uncomfortable dealing with this Dean and knew he had to handle him carefully so he wouldn't fall to pieces. He was going to have to guide him through this and hoped they could figure it out and get back to their reality.

"You know what's strange?" Dean suddenly asked. "I don't feel hungry or thirsty here. It's like those things have been taken away from me."

"I guess that is a good thing Dean. At least you don't have to worry about finding food and drink."

"That's probably true. There's nothing here in the house to eat and I walked down to the gas station and the shelves were bare there too."

"What else have you done?"

"I've stayed here most of the time. I was afraid someone would come here, and I'd miss them. I wanted to go check the town out but wasn't sure what I would find. I don't have any weapons to defend myself. I was hoping I wouldn't need them anyway. I don't want to fight anyone. I just want things to be happy and peaceful."

"Well, I didn't run into anyone when I explored the town. I think we'll have to make a decision and plan out our next move."

"Are you sure? Maybe we should wait for Sammy to solve this mystery. You know he's good at that."

"Dean, Sam has no idea what happened to either of us. And if he does, how is he going to help us if he can't get into this world."

"You're right. I guess it is up to us to work this out. Do you think we can?" Dean asked sitting down on the couch looking hopefully at Castiel for answers. He leaned toward him like he wanted to keep physical contact with him.

"Yes Dean. We'll think of something." Castiel sat down beside him and tried to decide what to do next, as Dean leaned over and rested his head on Castiel's shoulder.

They both were startled and looked toward the door when someone knocked.


A/N: Castiel has found Dean but is not sure how he got there, or how much help he can be since he has no angel powers. All he can do is try to help Dean figure out how to get them back home. Thank you to any guest who left a review, they are appreciated. I do like reviews/comments. NC