16

With a Broken Wing

"NO MORE! PLEASE! PLEEAAASEE!"

The chain dropped him again, submerging him in the black, freezing water tank underneath him once more.

He screamed silently, nothing but bubbles coming out of his mouth. He was pulled up again, his coughing fit violent. He sobbed hard, shaking, chilled to his bones.

"P-p-please," he shuddered. "N-n-n-no m-more." He didn't like the water enough as it was. He'd almost died in it once before, and it had been much warmer than this, far less menacing. Warm…he didn't even remember what that was...

Zachariah grinned. "Aw, what's wrong, Cas? Don't want to go for a swim?"

"N-no, no, PLEEEAAAASSEEEE!" it was no use. He was dropped again and roughly yanked up by his bloody wrists.

The angel snapped his fingers and the tank disappeared, changing back into the concrete it was before.

Saphriel looked at him in silent agony, wishing there was something she could do right now. She did nothing as the other angels around her laughed and jeered in whispers to each other.

She was disgusted at their behavior, like lowly school children at this poor man's pain.

"Alright," Zachariah said to the others. "Let's go. William, keep watch outside."

Saphriel hid her despair. That meant she couldn't stay here with him. She looked at the broken, crying man, deeply saddened.

She locked her eyes with William as she went, hoping that he would understand what she was trying to convey.

A blink later and they were gone.

The room was nearly silent, Castiel's sobs echoing through the room.

William stared at the floor for a moment, unsure of what he should do, trying to decide if he should help or not.

He couldn't help but feel bad for him. He knew he must've been in a lot of pain, and scared, though he had never really experienced those things himself.

He stepped forward, flicking his wrist so a piece of bread appeared in his hand. He stopped a few inches in front of him, feeling out of place.

Castiel looked up, whimpering, trembling. William chewed his lip awkwardly, tearing off a piece and offering it to him. Castiel looked from the food to William, wary.

"You hungry?" William mumbled. "There's nothing wrong with it, I promise."

Slowly, Castiel leaned forward, opening his mouth a little. William fed it to him and continued tearing the bread into pieces until he had eaten all of it.

"Saphriel will figure out a way to get you out of here," he promised. "She won't let you die."

"Th-th-thank you," Castiel choked. William nodded, still feeling as if he shouldn't be there, turned and headed for the door.

Castiel cried freely in the empty room, his head bowed, so scared, so alone.

He missed his friends, he missed Annabelle. He missed not feeling so awful. He sobbed for what felt like hours in this freezing place, wishing he could have his clothes back for just a little while.

Suddenly someone touched his face. He jerked away, whimpering, begging.

"No, no, no, please!" He sobbed. "D-don't hurt me!"

"Hey, hey, easy, Cas." No, no it couldn't be. He looked up, hardly able to believe it.

"D-Dean." He smiled at him, touching his cheek.

"I'm here, buddy, it's alright," he said gently. "I'm gonna get you down alright? We're gonna get you out of here."

Castiel looked over his shoulder, at Sam, registering he was there.

"D-Dean, Z-Zachariah-"

"I know, I know, it'll be alright." He dug a paperclip out of his pocket and set to work on the shackles.

"We already talked to him," Sam said, looking detached.

"But we said no," Dean assured. Still smiling, trying to keep him calm.

Sam glowered at the back of his brother's head, looking murderous.

Before Dean could do anything else, Sam pulled out his gun, aiming for his back, and fired.

"DEAAAN!" Castiel screamed, fresh tears in his eyes. Dean's eyes went wide. He coughed, face pale, blood gushing from his mouth.

Castiel's innocent eyes watched the life leave Dean's. He collapsed almost in sow motion, eyes still wide open, staring up at nothing. Dead.

"NOOO!" He sobbed, his heart ripping. "DE-HEAAN, NOOOO!" He looked at Sam, who was grinning. "HE'S YOUR BROTHER!" He screamed, his chest aching from the magnitude of his cries. Sam laughed.

"He's not my brother," he chortled. "You are."

"No," Castiel gulped. "No, no, y-you can't-"

"Oh, but I am."

Castiel fell to his knees, right in front of Dean, terrified.

"Goodbye, Castiel." And he was gone.

Castiel looked at his dead friend, hardly able to believe what he had just witnessed. His bloodied fingers went to Dean's eyelids, closing them gently.

"Dean…" He choked. He collapsed on him, sobbing into his shirt.

He shuddered, crying harder than ever, completely shattered. In an instant, Dean had been taken away from him. Sam had said yes to Lucifer, and his hope was gone. Totally gone. He didn't know what he was going to do.

So he cried. Dean was already cold…

"Dean, no…" He sniffed, his burning tears seeping into the hunter's shirt. "C-come back…come back, pl-please…" But no such thing happened. Dean remained still and just got colder as the hours ticked by. Castiel sobbed on.

Zachariah sent me back to the warehouse, finally. I couldn't have been more thankful. Castiel was leaving, he was leaving right now, damn the consequences.

I passed William without saying a word. I walked into the large room where Castiel was being kept, expecting to see him still hanging there.

Icouldn't have been more wrong.

He was on his knees, bent over a body, crying into its' shoulder.

"Castiel?" She walked toward him. He didn't hear her.

Then I saw the face of the body. Dean Winchester. I understood now.

"Oh, God," I breathed. I knelt down next to Castiel, damning Zachariah to the lowest point of Hell. "Castiel, Castiel, look at me," I begged, coaxing his face up.

If I thought his eyes were heart breaking before, it was nothing compared to now. The wind left my lungs as I looked at him.

"H-he killed m-my friend," he whimpered. "H-he was m-m-my friend."

"No, no, Castiel, Dean is fine!" I said, touching his cheek. "What you saw wasn't real. It wasn't real, I swear. Dean is alright."

His ever-tormented eyes looked from me to "Dean's" corpse.

"Shh…" I soothed. "Zachariah tricked you, look." I snapped my fingers and the "body" was gone.

"No!" He gasped, looking down at where Dean should have been, his eyes begging her for mercy. "No, b-bring him b-back, please! Pl-please-"

"Castiel, it's not real," I held his face in my hands, gaining his attention. "You have to believe me. Have I lied to you yet?" He shook his head. "Then why would I now?" He just looked at me. "You believe me?" he nodded.

"Alright, I'm going to get you out of here, alright? You're leaving right now." I took the cuffs from his wrists damning the consequences I might receive for this. I helped him stand on shaky legs, making sure he could walk.

"Can you run?" I asked. He nodded. I snapped my fingers again. His clothes appeared back on his body. I saw relief flood his face. "Okay, Castiel, I'm going to make sure they can't find you, alright?" I touched his ribs. He cried out, doubling over. He screamed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I exclaimed. I sighed, tired from all that I had used up.

I held his shoulders. "Listen to me," his beaten, weary, fevered eyes looked at me, in agony. "When I open that door," I pointed to the one on the opposite wall, the one where William wasn't standing, "you run. You run as fast as you can away from here, alright?" He nodded.

"O-okay." God, he was so scared.

"I would send you somewhere safe, but…but I'm not strong enough to. I'm not strong enough to heal you either," I felt so terrible for leaving him like this. Sick, hurt, scared. But he had to leave, he had to run. He had to get away.

"When you can't run anymore call Sam and Dean," I said, pushing the phone into his hand that had taken me this long to get. He nodded again, tears still in his eyes. I could tell that he still wasn't sure if Dean was alive or not.

"They're g-going to kill you, a-aren't they?" He asked, crying. Why the hell was he worried about me?

"Don't worry about me." I shook my head. "Just get the hell out of here." I led him over to the door, wondering just how far he could make it before he collapsed. "Castiel, if you can't run, just tell me."

"I c-can," he shivered. "Th-thank you." I hugged him, feeling the heat of his fevered face on my neck. I softly kissed his forehead.

"Run, little brother."

And he did.