CHAPTER FIVE: The Bad News Continues

When Dean awoke, he was in what he could only assume as Crowley's office down in Hell. It had a Good Home's and Garden kind of vibe that just screamed Crowley! The Knight's wrists were still bound together but now the chain reached and wrapped around the leg of the desk, giving him about three feet worth of freedom.

Glancing around the room, Dean could feel the anger inside of him bubble as he yanked on the chains hoping they would break.

Crowley walked in while the eldest Winchester was mid-yank, looking like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"A tad upset, are we?" The King of Hell asked, smugly.

"Alright asshat, enough with your games. What do you want?" Dean spat, nostrils flaring.

"What I want is the indefinite servitude of a Winchester like I was hoping for!" Taking a calming breath, Crowley walked over to the desk to pour himself a drink, making sure to keep more than arms-length away from the agitated demon.

A dark chuckle escaped Dean's lips as he eyed the King with pity. "I guess you believed in the wrong miracle." Smirking, Dean barely had time to duck before Crowley's glass of scotch whizzed past his head.

"We'll see won't we. You'll come around, squirrel. I know it." With a quick wink to the pissed off Knight, Crowley walked out, laughing.

….

"What do you mean, you can't find him?" Sam asked, running frustrated hands through his hand. "Dammit, Cas! He's one demon how hard is he to find?"

"Something's wrong, Sam. He's must've warded himself from me or he's not on Earth. Either way, you're brother is invisible to me."

Leaning against the kitchen counter, the young hunter exhaled deeply. "Then let's summon him again." He offered.

Castiel shook his head sadly. "You tried that an hour ago and it didn't work. I don't know how he's avoiding the summoning, but it can't be a good sign."

"Just… just check everywhere. Check Hell if you have too." Storming off to his room to sulk, Sam turned his back on the angel.

….

Although Cas knew what awaited for him once he returned to Heaven, he did it anyways.

Almost immediately he was bombarded with multiple angels asking him to lead them and to give them advice.

Neither of which Castiel felt he could do properly.

Pushing past all of them, he made his way to Heaven's Prison and its lone occupant.

"Well if it isn't Castiel. What an honor." Metatron said, sarcasm lacing his words. "I gotta hand it to you, that microphone bit was genius. You really got me." Just the sound of the angel's voice made Cas want to strangle someone.

Clenching his fists, Castiel stared down the imprisoned angel. "How can we fix Dean." He said through gritted teeth, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"That's going to take a lot more than a hug and a heart-to-heart." Metatron said with a mocking tone.

"The Mark turned him into a demon. Is there a cure, yes or no." A dangerous tone of voice took over Cas as his eyes never left the scribe.

"No. Not even the cure you found before for a regular demon will do the trick." He said plainly, almost sounding bored.

"You're lying!" Cas spat, taking a step towards the bars.

"Why would I lie when the truth obviously hurts the most? You couldn't save him Castiel. Oh, you tried, but in the end that wasn't enough."

….

Dean was sitting cross-legged on the floor, hands lying uselessly in his lap as the door opened revealing a sly looking King of Hell.

"Don't look so down in the dumps, Dean. This is a good thing. Would you rather that angel and brother of yours to have their grubby mitts on you? You know they'll just try to cure you." Crowley tried to reason.

"They'd have to catch me first." Dean practically growled at the King.

"Did you just growl at me? Have some class." Sitting in a cushioned chair a few feet in front of the Knight, Crowley sighed. "I hate to do this, I really do. But, I need you a little more… compliant then you are at the moment. So." Pausing for dramatic effect, the King stood up and turned towards the door as one of his many followers walked in.

Walking over to Dean, the demon sent a swift kick to his ribs, causing him to fall over on his side. Glaring up at him, the Knight suffered through two more hard kicks before Crowley placed an authoritative hand on the demon's shoulder. "That's enough. Just take him down to the same room as her." Spitting out a mouth full of blood, the eldest Winchester tried to push himself up before the chains were yanked causing him to hit his chin on the floor, arms out in front of him.

The last thing Dean remembers was Crowley ramming his head against the desk.

….

"So what, we're trusting Metatron all the sudden? Come on, Cas." Sam spat.

"When I questioned him he said that the cure we already have knowledge of won't work as well as any others. He wasn't lying, Sam." Cas said, trying to get through the young hunter's thick skull.

Sam scoffed before looking at the angel in disbelief. "Last time I checked, you thought that same thing before he took your grace and shut the fucking Gates to Heaven. So no offense, but I'm going to go with he's full of shit."

Hurt and betrayal flashed past Castiel's features before he put on a blank expression like he's been doing for days whenever Dean was mentioned. "I was just telling you what I gathered. Take it into consideration or not, either way we have no Dean."

"So keep looking." With one last cruel look to the angel, Sam slammed his bedroom door shut in Castiel's face.

…

TBC

Please continue to leave and review. They make my day. Thanks for reading and following!