A day early due to reviews xxx I hope this meets expectations.
Well, after asking for a vote, there were 5 votes for Desitel and 5 for not Destiel…FAIL! Not helpful guys ;)
Well, in an attempt to satisfy everyone, I will include strong bromance and friendship for the next few chapters and will have two endings, one with some Destiel…maybe smut (we can have another vote) and one with just friendship. Those of you who don't want to read Destiel can read the first ending, those who want Destiel, read the seconds (or both I guess, they will have the same plot, just one with added romance.) Anyways…enjoy the next chapter!
Open Wounds
Skillet – Open Wounds
How could you, how could you, how could you hate me?
When all I ever wanted to be was you?
How could you, how could you, how could you love me?
When all you ever gave me were open wounds?
Downstairs the enemy sleeps,
Leaving the TV on,
Watching all the dreams we had turn into static…
Sam and Dean were sitting at the motel table miserably, Dean staring into an empty beer bottle whilst Sam was frantically typing on his laptop, trying to ignore the pain in his shoulder. Dean had already removed the bullet and stitched up the deep gash after his temporary patch up job at the cottage, and Sam had downed a fair few shots of whiskey but the burning sensation was being incredibly persistent.
"Have you found anything?"
"Not really. The only thing in the direction they took of in is a roadside café, a motel and an old playground."
"I guess the motel would be our best bet then." Dean got to his feet quickly and grabbed his duffel, ready for action and determined to find Cas before the situation got any worse, if that was even possible.
"How would they have been able to check into a motel in that state? Surely the receptionist would notice the blood and the fact that one of their customers was unconscious and had been stabbed."
"I don't know Sammy, but we have turned up at plenty of motels in a bad state and have never had any trouble, maybe they were just able to wing it. Look, it's the best option we have right now and I am not prepared to sit here twiddling my thumbs whilst Cas is bleeding out and more likely than not, having the shit beaten out of him."
"I don't like this any more than you do Dean, I just think that we should come up with a plan or something…"
"When have our plans ever worked Sammy? If we leave it any longer, we might as well go to bed and buy some white roses for Cas' grave in the morning. I am not going to sit here and let him die, which is what will happen if we don't leave now. We're leaving." With that, Dean strode over to the motel door and pushed his way out into the corridor, leaving Sam with no choice but to follow.
"Ok, ok. Wait up Dean, I was shot a couple of hours ago you know, or did that escape your attention." Dean glared at his brother momentarily before allowing his expression to relax.
"Sorry Sam, I'm just worried about the kid."
"Me to." It wasn't long before Dean was hotwiring some beaten up old truck, with Sam keeping an eye out for anyone watching them. That dick is going to pay for hurting my baby; I don't believe I am being forced to drive this tin can…bloody pile of scrap-metal crap on wheels!
When Dean was done, Sam climbed into the passenger's seat and stared out of the window until they reached the cottage, where he shuddered and began giving Dean instructions on how to get to the motel where they guessed, and hoped that Cas was being held hostage in.
"Left. Left again. Right….DEAN! Slow down, we will be of no use to Cas if we die in a car accident because you were driving too fast"
"Yeah, and we'll be no use to Cas if he has already bled out." Sam flinched and bit back a retort, continuing to call out directions and letting out a small sigh of relief when a luminous, lit up sign announced that they had reached their destination. It had taken the brothers just over fifty minutes to travel an hour and a half's worth of road. I think that drive just took ten years off my life. God, I hope Cas is alright. Please let him be alive.
The brothers walked through the motel entrance with matching grins, hiding their guns beneath perfect Winchester-smiles and a leather jacket, or in Sam's case his favorite gray hoodie.
"Hello, how can I help ya?" The receptionist, who was doodling on a notepad and chewing on some gum barely looked up as the nrothers walked in, which was probably a good thing.
"Hi, we'd like to book a room for the night."
"Just the one?"
"Yeah."
"Twin or double?"
"Twin." Dean answered on automatic piolet before realizing that it really didn't matter what sort og room they ordered, it wasn't as if they were planning on spending the night in this place, even if it was less of a dump than their current motel.
"All rightie… One twin room it is, number 14…Here are your keys, have a nice stay." The receptionist dropped her bored tone and resumed her doodling for a moment before Sam interrupted her.
"I don't suppose you can tell us whether a tall blonde man checked in a while ago, grey eyes, wearing a grey T-shirt."
"So what if he did?" The woman finally focused on the Winchesters, suspicious.
"He's an old friend of ours, we're meeting up for a work reunion and wanted to pop in and see if he was up for a few beers tonight."
"Oh, ok, second floor, Room 37."
"Thanks love." Dean quickly ushered Sam away before the woman saw their guns and allowed himself a small grin.
"Surely there are customer confidentiality rules or something?" Sam couldn't quite belive their luck, since when did things ever work out as well as that? Usually within the first ten minutes of a hunt one of them had been thrown into a wall, something had fallen over, someone had been pushed downstairs and someone or something had been shot, or a combination of the above had occurred, often at once. It was obvious to Sam that their luck was not going to hold out.
"Don't question it, as far as I'm concerned this is a gift horse, and I'm not going looking for teeth. I'm sending that dumb chick a damn fruit basket!"
"I guess." Far too soon the Winchesters found themselves outside room 37, and they exchanged looks.
"Do you think we should…" Sam was cut off by Dean picking one of his many credit cards out of his pocket and beginning to fiddle with the gap between the door and the wall until with a small creak of protest the door opened.
"Too easy. Anyway, you find Cas and get him the hell out of here, I'll sort out Lucifer, buy you some time to patch him up a bit, we don't want to move him if he is in too much of a state."
"Sure thing Dean, just be careful."
"Aren't I always?" Great, the Dean Winchester Sarcasm, impeccable timing as ever…oh great now you're at it. The sooner this is over the better.
"Whatever jerk."
"Bitch." With that Dean pushed open the door and took a quick look around, immediately spotting Lucifer lying sprawled across a sofa, his hand hanging off the edge and loosely gripping an half-full beer bottle which was on the floor, surrounded by about five empty bottles. He had gotten through a whole pack! Dean noted that the television was on, emanating a high pitched wailing noise and showing nothing but static. It made him sick to think that whilst his little brother was dealing with a stab wound, this man…monster, was getting pissed and watching television. He was some sick fuck. Dean found it hard to believe that the brothers were related, surely someone as innocent and harmless as Cas couldn't be related to such an evil dick!
Deciding that it would be best to leave Lucifer asleep if possible, both Dean and Sam entered the bedroom section of the motel room, which was sectioned off with a thin partition-wall. There, lying on the bed with his wrists and ankles tied was Cas. He looked worse than ever, his skin was grey, apart from the areas which were marred with black and purple bruising, such as around his closed eyes and his jawline. His newly fixed nose was oozing blood and looked as if it had been broken again.
Both Winchesters approached cautiously, not wanting to startle Cas into making a loud noise and waking Lucifer up. It was Sam who approached first, gently pressing a couple of fingers to Cas' neck to check his pulse. That was when a pair of blue eyes flickered open and Cas let out a small whimper.
"Shhh. Cas, it's us. Be quiet, your brother is asleep." Castiel nodded weakly but couldn't help but let out a quiet shriek when Dean began to untie his wrists, further chaffing the skin which had been rubbed raw and was bleeding over the off-white bed sheets. Sam flinched slightly as he pressed his hands against Cas' mouth to quieten him, feeling guilty at the desperate look Cas shot him, but convincing himself that it was for the greater good. Castiel moaned into Sam's hand and allowed himself to fall limp when Dean finally managed to untie his wrists and moved on to his ankles.
Sam decided it was safe to remove his hand from Cas' lips, instead taking both of Cas' hands and squeezing them in his own, far bigger hands for reassurance.
"You're alright now. We're gonna get you out, hang on for us." Sam began to whisper quiet reassurances as Dean carefully lifted Cas' shirt off and let out a small groan of relief when he saw that Lucifer had at least bandaged the stab wound to Cas' side. It wasn't much and Cas had already lost a lot of blood, but at least the bandage had now staunched the flow and had probably kept Cas alive this long. For a moment Dean thought that maybe Lucifer regretted hurting his brother and was trying to make amends by treating his wound, but then he realized that the sadistic dick was probably trying to prolong his younger brother's suffering.
"Stay with us man." Cas' eyes had begun to roll into the back of his head, and Sam had to slap him on the cheek twice to gain a response. Don't you dare die on us now, breathe Cas, just carry on breathing.
"S'm?"
"I'm here. C'mon, you need to get up. We're leaving now." Cas shook his head miserably, shifting into a sitting position and looking up at the Winchesters. His eyes were dry, but Dean could see how much pain their friend was in from his frown, which was even deeper than usual.
"I can't, y-you s-should go b-before he…" Cas was cut off by a thudding sound from behind the partitioned wall and everyone froze.
"I'm not leaving here without you, understand?"
"I-" Castiel was about to protest when the bedroom door flew open, revealing a staggering Lucifer. The smell of beer hit Dean first as he grabbed his gun and moved himself next to Sam, blocking Cas from harm.
"Ahh, boys. You found me. I guess we can have some real fun now. I thought I had given you enough warning to stay away from me, but clearly not." Lucifer slurred his words slightly, but the alcohol was not having as much of an affect on the man as Dean had hoped, his body really must be used to alcohol abuse!
Lucifer moved with startling swiftness considering his drunken state, managing to bowl into Dean, who fell back onto the bed next to Cas with a grimace. Dean began to kick out and scrabble at Lucifer, all too aware that every one of his movements was jarring Cas' wounds.
"Dean!" Sam cocked his gun and shot Lucifer in the shoulder blade at point blank range, relishing in a moment of sweet revenge for his own throbbing shoulder. For a moment he thanked his lucky stars that he had had the sense to fit a silencer to his gun, they didn't need any unwanted attention right now, but he was quickly pulled from his musing when Lucifer turned and punched him hard in the stomach with his uninjured arm.
Sam gasped in surprise as Lucifer winded him and could do nothing to stop the shorter man from kicking him against the wall, he was too busy struggling to breath. Sam hit the wall hard, crashing through the plaster and hitting his head hard on some metal piping before slumping to the ground, unconscious.
"You!" Dean shot off of the bed and tackled a doubled over Lucifer to the ground, punching and kicking until the man beneath him stopped moving, going limp beneath Dean's body. Dean quickly rushed to his brother's side, picking him up and turning back to Cas.
"I'm gonna put him in the car, I'll be right back to help you out." Castiel nodded, completely shell-shocked. Someone had actually managed to hurt his brother. With a low groan Cas was able to swing his legs out of bed, and prop himself up against the wall. With a fleeting feeling of triumph he took two steps foreword before he felt something wrap around his ankles and pull him down.
"You really though it would be that easy?" Lucifer's grey eyes were wild with pain and fury as he pulled his brother down, grabbing his Cas' mouth to prevent him from making a sound.
"You really thought that your pathetic little friends would get around me so easily?" Castiel glared up at his brother, no longer feeling any love, only hatred and anger. How dare he hurt my friends? That was when Cas realized what Lucifer was about to do. Dean didn't know that Lucifer was conscious, Lucifer was going to jump him, and he now had the gun which Sam had dropped when he was thrown into the wall.
Castiel began to struggle for all he was worth, biting at his brother's hand and kicking out, trying to ignore the blinding pain that was flashing through his side.
"Stop struggling, you can't escape me, we are family after all." Lucifer beamed at Cas, a deranged smile sneaking across his features in an almost comical display of victory and amusement. A flash of anger flowed through Cas and he managed to lash out with what little strength he had left, biting down hard enough to draw blood from Lucifer's hand.
"YOU LITTLE!" Castiel heard Dean's footsteps and just had enough time to call out a warning.
"DEAN! He's not…" It was too late, Dean had already taken a few steps into the bedroom, and Lucifer had already taken him by surprise and was holding him by the neck against the wall. Dean struggled violently, his face turning red before he dropped the gun, trying desperately to gain air. He glanced over at Cas, green eyes begging for the boy to get up and run, to get away from this dick but Castiel could not just leave his friend there to die.
"Let him go Lucifer."
"Pardon Cassie, I didn't quite hear you, I'm a little preoccupied killing your little friend here, he's been a bit of a handful don't you think. Just give me a minute." Cas snapped, his brother's sarcastic tone pushing him over the edge of reason.
"Put him down now or I'll…"
"Or I'll lie down like a good little boy and wait for me to deal with you…good." That was it. Cas reached out for Dean's gun before pulling himself up, using the bed for support and ignoring the pain that was causing black spots to dance in front of his vision and the waves of nausea which revealed that the contents of his stomach were planning on making a reappearance.
"Please Lucifer…don't make me." Although Castiel's tone was cold, there was one last hint of emotion in his voice. He was begging for his brother to change his mind, to let Dean go and make everything alright.
Dean let out a strangled gasp before violently twitching, he no longer had control over his body, or enough air to fight back. He could vaguely make out Cas' tall, limber figure behind Lucifer but different colored lights were dancing around in front of his vision and the sunlight streaming in through the window almost made it look as if Cas was glowing, radiating power and fury. For a brief moment Dean smirked, fancying that he saw the light creating a shimmering halo above Cas' head before he closed his eyes.
He didn't want to see Lucifer's face as he died, instead he began to picture the Impala, Sammy sitting in the passenger's seat and singing loudly, proudly and badly to Bon Jovi. It was one of the few happy memories that he had left.
That was when Dean was snapped back to reality by the sound of a gunshot and the sensation of falling.
Cas stared down at what he had done, eyes wide yet strangely devoid of emotion. Blood was pooling out from his brother's back and the red liquid had already soaked through his T-shirt. Lucifer was completely limp, his limbs sprawled out awkwardly as if he had dropped from a great height, fallen from the heavens. As his brother lay curled up and unmoving, it suddenly struck Cas that his brother was really quite small.
"Cas?" Dean managed to stumble to his feet, massaging his neck absently and staring at Cas, who seemed to have frozen. Dean just couldn't believe what had happened. Cas, the broken boy had saved his life, killed his own brother to save his sorry ass. It was a strange feeling to be saved by someone else, it was usually Dean saving innocent, or not quite so innocent people. He didn't think he would get used to the sensation any time soon.
"Cas? You with me?" Again Castiel did not reply, he didn't even flinch or show any sign that he had heard Dean speak.
"CAS!" Castiel turned around and finally seemed to snap back to reality, the gun dropping from his hand and hitting the floor with a dull thud. Cas' blue eyes followed the gun as it bounced next to the bed. He then wrenched his gaze away to face Dean, who was still gasping in breaths as if there was a limited amount of oxygen in the room.
"Dean?" Dean was not quite sure if it was a question or a statement, Cas' voice was hard and his jaw was still set. Dean wasn't quite sure how he expected Castiel to react to the death of his brother, but he would never have predicted this.
"Are you alright?" Stupid question there Dean…think of something decent to say…don't be your usual insensitive self, don't be an asshole…just say…
"I'm fine." Cas answered after a long pause, looking own again at his brother and the blood which was pooling out from his crumpled body, staining the pale blue carpet. Strangely, it was true. He did feel fine. In fact, this was the best he had felt in a long time. Cas finally felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, so he decided he would do nothing.
Something inside of him had hardened, at the moment where he had seen Sam being hurt, and then Dean. It had all been too much.
Maybe I have finally snapped, I've finally lost it.
Maybe I am more like Lucifer than I thought, cold, murderous.
I killed someone.
Oh God, forgive me for I have sinned.
Please forgive me, I'm sorry.
I repent.
What have I done?
Cas felt a familiar sense of nausea rush over him as he doubled up vomited weakly into a nearby trashcan, not even noticing when Dean placed one arm around his chest, and used his other hand to support Cas' head as he gasped and choked.
"Cas? C'mon. Lets get you out of here before anyone finds us, they wouldn't have heard the gun because of the silencer, but someone probably heard all of that thudding and shouting." Cas gave a small nod and straightened himself out, pulling away from Dean's grasp and taking a few, shaky steps towards the motel corridor. The throbbing in his side seemed to have lessened now, probably due to adrenaline, but he was still struggling to draw in deep breaths and his wrists and ankles were aching, small droplets of blood trailing after him.
Dean watched wearily for any sign that Cas was about to collapse, but he gave none, managing to sneak out of the fire entrance and make his way to the Impala with slow, heavy steps. He didn't look back once.
Dean cautiously opened the passenger door and watched as Cas climbed in and drew his knees up to his chest. Sam was still unconscious in the back seat and Dean knew that they needed to go to hospital. He usually avoided them like the plague, well, better than the plague, but Castiel looked awful and would probably need a blood transfusion or something. Furthermore, Sam probably had a concussion and Dean wasn't sure that he had enough energy to take care of a concussed Sammy, let alone a practically catatonic, injured Castiel.
"Cas, are you with me?"
"Where else would I be?" Cas sounded genuinely puzzled for a while and Dean shook his head, slightly exasperated.
"Don't worry. It's just a saying. I'm gonna take you to hospital and I need to make some calls, do you think you can stay awake…" Dean realized he was fighting a loosing battle. By the looks of things Cas' adrenaline fueled energy had finally run out and the boy was breathing heavily, fast asleep. Great, peachy.
Dean drove as fast as he could without gaining the attention of any police officers, going over a state border in order to ensure the police would not find them any time soon, just in case Bobby was unable to dig them out of this one.
He quickly explained away the wounds, saying that they had been out on a guy's night in the town and his friend and brother had been mugged. The staff didn't take too much persuading. They had seen far too many stabbings to be overly suspicious and the wounds seemed to fit, broken wounds and a deep abdominal wound on one patient and a concussion with the other. Nothing they hadn't seen before, but in most cases, victims with such deep stab wounds did not survive. Not that they had told the frantic looking man sitting in the waiting room this. It had been all "he is receiving the best possible care," "the doctors are doing all they can for your friend," "try to get some rest, we will notify you as soon as we hear anything. If something happens, you will be the first to know." Dean didn't believe a word of it, ignoring the nurses sympathetic looks and staring into his plastic cup of bitter black coffee.
He had been given a ridiculous amount of paperwork to fill out and he found himself automatically filling out their fake details, making up a new ID for Castiel, calling him Jimmy, the first name that happened to pop into his head. Castiel had been wheeled off for emergency surgery, and as Dean had suspected, a blood transfusion. That had been two hours ago and he hadn't heard anything, the butterflies in his stomach turning to a herd of wild wildebeest, pounding on his internal organs. He realized that the sensation he was feeling was fear, an emotion which was usually reserved for airplane flights. After all, Dean was a fearless hunter, he did not get frightened easily.
He only left the waiting room to call Bobby, who promised that he would pull a few strings with the local police department. The sheriff owed him some favors after an incident with a particularly pissed off ghost and it looked as if Lucifer's death would be passed off as an accident of some kind. Dean and Bobby didn't particularly care as long as it meant no one would be arrested.
Another hour later, a leggy brunette nurse made her way over to Dean, smiling and informing him that his brother was conscious and doing well. He hadn't suffered from any brain damage and would be able to leave the next morning.
"What about C-Jimmy?" The nurse didn't reply, averting her gaze to her newly cut nails before she placed a hand on Dean's knee and gave him a weak, sympathetic smile…
Tee-hee. I know, I'm evil. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Once again reviews would be appreciated! Anyone have any more ideas which you want to be included before I wrap up…apart from Balthazar and Gabe, who I will include (in chapter 7…I now have it planned) due to True Love Kis5's review… I do try to listen to you guys when you don't give me mixed messages haha…
Well, in an attempt to satisfy everyone, I will include strong bromance and friendship for the next few chapters and will have two endings, one with some Destiel…maybe smut (we can have another vote) and one with just friendship.
Those of you who don't want to read Destiel can read the first ending, those who want Destiel, read the seconds (or both I guess, they will have the same plot, just one with added romance.)
Anyway…please review, and those of you who want Destiel..romantic smut with a sex scene (I have never written a proper one, but maybe now is the first time fore everything, I kind of want to give it a go…in that case the last version of the end chapter will be M) or just romance without the smut. LET THE VOTE COMMENCE ;)
Next update should be Friday x