Dean sat on the dock, the waves crashing against the beams as his fishing lure bobbed peacefully in the water. The sun was slowly creeping up along the horizon, leaving the morning air crisp with the coming fall. The sky line was painted in beautiful hues of blue, pink, and orange.
He sighs deeply as the cup of coffee he holds warms him up. He finds a sense of serenity while listening to the rippling water and the sounds of nature awaking to the new day. He can't remember the last time he went fishing or even how he got here but he's not complaining.
Dean smiles to himself, a small smile that most would miss, as the sound of wings flutter by him, birds chirping.
Wait, fluttering? He asks himself and jumps as the image of tan peeks through his peripheral vision.
He looks to his right where Castiel stands looking out over the water. His face is pulled together in concentration. "We need to talk."
"I'm dreaming aren't I?"
"It's not safe here," Castiel responds. He's scared. The human hasn't caught on to this yet. "Some place more private," he adds. He can't risk Naomi or the others hearing what he has to tell Dean.
"More private?" Dean asks incredulously. "We're in my freaking head." He scoffs a bit at the absurdness of having a dream with Cas telling him his own mind isn't safe.
"Exactly," Castiel agrees. "Someone could be listening."
This gets the hunter's attention. He looks up at Castiel, finally recognizing the cagey look in the angel's eyes. "Cas, what's wrong?" he asks, suddenly feeling the urgency in the situation building up.
"Meet me here," the angel says, slipping a folded piece of paper into Dean's hands. "Go. Now."
Dean looks down at the address. A question on his lips but is never uttered as Castiel disappears.
Son of a bitch!
When Dean wakes up he drags Sam with him to the address Castiel had given him. Not sure what to expect and based on Castiel's actions, both brothers are armed to the teeth. A part of Dean is hoping that Castiel just wants to talk about how they are going to get out of the cage fight with Lucifer without having to risk either Sam or himself. He never expected to get there and find the place looking as if a tornado ripped through it.
The warehouse had collapsed beams, cracked and broken concrete, and debris everywhere. Sam lets out a low whistle as he tucks his gun into the back of his pants.
"What happened here?" his question is rhetorical but Dean can't help the shrug and sense of panic as he scans the area looking for signs.
He sees a sigil painted along one of the still intact walls. The symbols within are clearly what he's learned to recognize as Enochian.
"Damnit, Cas," he mutters as he looks at it.
"Do you think he warded them out, including himself?" Sam asks as a groan floats through the air from one of the piles of debris.
"Cas?!" Dean shouts his question, rushing to the pile to remove the drywall and rebar. Sam hurries to help as the unbury the owner of the groan.
Amongst the rubble they find Castiel looking bewildered at the two men. He's bleeding from his hairline and for someone being buried under the building's material, he barely has a scratch on him.
Sam holds a hand out offering to help the angel up. The man takes it, dusting himself once he's up.
"Cas? What the hell happened man?" Dean asks.
The man looks at Dean, confused. "What do you mean?" he asks.
Sam looks at Dean, confusion clear in the little brother's face as he registers the voice that just spoke. Dean's blood runs cold like ice water in veins. This voice is more of a tenor sound with a hint of what would be called a Chicago accent. Not the low gruff bass that the brothers were used to.
Not Cas, Dean thinks before asking, "Where's Cas?"
The man's eyebrow jumps and his mouth gapes open in recognition. "Cas-You mean Castiel?"
Dean is speechless but Sam responds. "Yes, he asked Dean to meet him here."
Again the man's blue eyes flash in knowing, such a familiar color, but unfamiliar eyes for Dean. "The Winchesters," he says. Sam prods him again for an answer about Castiel. "I'm sorry, I don't know where he is."
It's funny how a simple phrase is sending Dean into a vicious spiral. Sure, the angel was annoying with the way he would get into Dean's personal space, or the way he would stare at Dean as if he was reading his mind, but the minute the angel's vessel - Jimmy Novak - said he didn't know where he was, Dean almost wished he was in Hell again.
The brother's had learned about Jimmy and how Castiel was able to use him as a vessel.
"He is a devout man. He prayed for this."
"Do you know why he wanted to meet us?" Sam asks as Cas -No not Cas, Dean chides himself - Jimmy starts on his third burger.
Jimmy shakes his head as he attempts to finish his bite. "I'm sorry, I don't."
"Do you remember anything?" Dean asks.
Jimmy nods. "Bits and pieces," he says with his mouthful. Dean wrinkles his nose finally realizing how gross it looks when he does it and gets a knowing smirk from his brother.
"That's why you knew who we were." Sam offers.
Jimmy nods again and takes a sip from his soda. "Yeah. Castiel had zero control when it came to you two. But when dealing with other affairs, he could control what I saw better."
"So you have no idea what he wanted to talk about or why he was so strung out?" Dean tries again.
Jimmy shakes his head. "I don't. Can I see my family now?"
Sadly that one question sparked a heated debate. The Winchesters knew that as a vessel for an angel, Jimmy was surely to be hunted by both angels and demons alike. While verbally, Dean was agreeing that this was the only reason why they couldn't let Jimmy leave, the silent reasoning was that he was hoping that the pain in the ass angel would come back.
That night, a frustrated Jimmy Novak went to sleep in Sam's bed as he and Dean shared a beer and strategized as to how best to keep the vessel safe.
"It's weird, isn't it?" Sam asked softly as he handed Dean a fresh beer.
"What is?" Dean asked, popping the cap and tossing it towards the trash.
Sam jerks his head in Jimmy's direction. "He looks like Cas, but he's not."
"Just like Ruby, man." Dean retorted before taking a long pull from his beer. He sighed at Sam's questioning look. "Like when we met the bitch, she was blond and a bit taller. Now she's short and," he shrugs, "not blond."
Sam just shook his head. "I guess, it's just weird. Like he has the same facial expressions and what not, but the voice, completely different."
"And the eyes," Dean adds softly.
"What?" Sam asks not hearing Dean clearly.
Dean clears his throat and sit up in his chair. "I said we should get some shut eye."
"Right. I'll take first watch, Dean."
Sam lied, he didn't take first watch. After he knew that Dean was sound asleep, he snuck out of the room to get his fix of demon blood and call Ruby. This allowed Jimmy to sneak out as well and head back to his family.
Dean was pissed when he woke up that morning to find that Jimmy had left. Sam had some lame excuse about getting a soda that he wasn't buying. Why would he wait until Dean to wake up before mentioning that Jimmy was gone? What if he was injured or dead? How were they going to get Castiel back?
"Why are you so pissed? You said angels were dicks." Sam snapped at one point while they were driving towards the home of Jimmy Novak.
"Because it's Cas, Sammy! Sure he might be a dick at times but he's helped us out."
Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Right. Like how he helped when Alistair nearly killed you?"
Dean's grip on the steering wheel tightened, his knuckles going white from the force. "Don't."
"Or how about all those times that we prevented the seals from opening and he just shows up like it's nothing."
"Sam," Dean voice holds a warning for his little brother to stop going down the path he is going.
"I don't get it, Dean. The only thing he's ever done that was remotely helpful was bring you back from Hell. It's almost like you have a crush on him or something."
Dean glared at his brother. "I what?!"
"Nothing. Forget I said anything." Sam mumbled, looking out his window letting Dean stew in silence. Sam knew there was something there. The times that he did see Castiel with Dean there was something that he couldn't explain between the two of them. He could see it in the way that they looked at each other, even in the way that Castiel would stand closer than needed. Sam had always brushed it off as the angel not knowing much about human interactions. However, when he thinks back to how Dean reacted when he thought it was Castiel under the rubble at the warehouse and the look on his face when it wasn't the angel but a human named Jimmy, it was hard to ignore.
"It's okay, Dean." Sam said softly, knowing that his next train of thought would question his brother's masculinity. "I mean, if you're attracted to Cas-"
"What the hell, Sammy? I worried about the nerdy little guy, okay? It's not like I want to - Jesus, Sam. Why are you trying to force a chick flick moment?"
"I'm not!" Sam threw his hands up defensively.
This was the exact moment that Anna, the red-headed angel, made an appearance into the back seat. Dean, needed to deflect from the previous conversation, comments on Anna's appearance.
"Now is hardly an appropriate time, Dean," she responds.
She begins to ask the brothers about Jimmy and what he knows. Dean was getting fed up with Anna's lack of concern for Castiel.
"What happened to Cas?" he asks shortly.
"He was dragged back home."
"But that's a good thing right?" he asks.
"No, it's horrible. Terribly, awfully bad. Whatever he did, he must have really pissed someone off."
Dean tuned out the rest of the conversation. All he could get was that she could give two shits about anything else other than knowing what Jimmy knew. When Anna finally left, they were down the street from the quaint little two story house that belonged to The Novaks. Dean wondered briefly if Cas understood what Jimmy had given up for him, something that Dean never thought he could have or need but secretly longed for.
Dean was pulled out of his thoughts when Sam nudged his arm and pointed at the house. A man in his early to mid thirties just entered and a female went running around the side.
"Demons," the brother surmised audibly in unison. Dean let out a heavy sigh and a silent prayer that wherever Castiel was, he would hurry and get his feathery ass down there.
At that same moment in time, Castiel felt and heard Dean's prayer. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do about it as he was being held captive in Heaven. The had captured him shortly after he had dream walked to Dean. He was nervous and anxious to tell Dean the truth, that he remembered their past. He had spent his time pacing the abandoned warehouse, his mind running through every scenario in which Dean would react to the news. Would he be elated? Relieved? Did he already know and that's why we would give Castiel the longing looks? Or worse, would Dean be angry? After all, Castiel was in a male vessel this time around and who was to say that Dean was even into that.
Castiel had been so immersed into his own thoughts that he never heard Esper and Ion coming. It wasn't until we was awake in the too bright room did he notice something was off.
He had a feeling as if he had been here before. Something about the bright white wall, furniture, carpet, even the harsh light of the fluorescents, sent warnings signals throughout his body. Little tingles, pulses and pops. As his eyes adjust to the brash intrusion he begins to feel his form again. His vessel is gone. Which tells him he was cast out, but how? Jimmy Novak wouldn't have done that. He was accepting of Castiel's grace. Eager, even, to be chosen as a vessel for the angel.
It's when Castiel can't move, that he realizes that he was cast out by another angel. He tries to move his head, desperate to see who has him bound, but he cannot. With each move of his head, there is a tinge of pain, almost as burning sensation.
"There's no use in fighting, Castiel." a female voice says from beside him. "I'll reprogram you as many times as needed until you learn your proper place." The body of the voice steps into his line of sight.
"Naomi," he spits through clenched teeth.
She smiles and smooths out the sides of her charcoal gray pant suit. "I decided to leave those memories so that you will remember who I am to you."
"My torturer?"
Naomi laughs. "Oh, Castiel! Uriel would be so proud to see the sense of humor on you. He always felt you were wound up too tightly." She walks over to her desk and leans against. Folding her arms over her breasts as she looks him over.
"I must say, Castiel, regardless of what you think you know. I truly do not enjoy having you in this chair."
"Then let me go."
She clicks her tongue in disapproval. "I wish I could. But you see, you've been compromised. Led astray. Blinded by emotions your have no right or authorization to feel."
"I have every right!" Castiel fights against his bindings.
Naomi lets out a dark chuckle. "Do you? You think that because you helped the Winchesters avoid the apocalypse you have some right to free will? Isn't that was Dean calls your little trio? Team Free Will?" She pauses only briefly as if she expected Castiel to react but instead he clenches his teeth, allowing for her to get on with it.
"Here's the thing, Castiel. You are an angel. You are not Dean Winchester's errand boy. You will only respond to what I tell you to do and you will only report to me. We may not need your precious Dean at the moment, but he seems like he wants to feel important, so we'll play along. For now."
"What do you want me to do?" Castiel asks.
"Simple. Play along. Make Dean think you need him to treat you like his little lost puppy. But keep your eyes and ears open, Castiel. Things are happening and I need you to be here when I call." She moves closer, her hands reach to somewhere Castiel can not see, but the pressure along his temple increases, sending blinding white spots across his vision.
"I just need to remove one more thing…" she trails off just as an image of Dean and Castiel from Dean's childhood floats to the forefront his mind. Slowly memories of their time together starts to rip from him. The pain is worse than being disintegrated by a snap Lucifer's fingers. Castiel is crying out for Naomi to stop. The vernacular that reaches his ears is not that of the familiar and comforting English spoken with Winchesters but that the angels. He can feel his grace wet with tears as the final memory his brother blessedly gave back begins to fade.
"I love you, Cas." A whisper from a much younger Dean is now gone.
Castiel feels the pressure release from his visage and moves his head to look at Naomi. She looks at him and cradles his face.
"Now do as you're told."