A/N: Wow, sorry this took so long, guys.
When they saw the 'Welcome to New York City' sign, Dean felt Castiel stiffen so he gripped his hand tighter, hoping to convey some form of comfort. He could tell Castiel was scared.
They pulled up to the hotel and all crawled out of the car, they'd been in there for three hours with one very short stop in which by the time they'd all gotten out Michael had hauled them all back in.
Gabriel collapsed onto the concrete and kissed the grounds before spreading out on it, trying to hug it.
"Gabriel, grow up, it wasn't that bad," Michael shook his head at his brother as him and Uriel went round to the back of the car to get the bags.
Dean smiled and he and Castiel went to help with the bags while Raphael and Balthazar helped Gabriel up. Castiel grabbed his own bag and Dean grabbed his but Michael batted his hand away when he went to grab another.
"We'll take care of it; you two go wait in the lobby," He smiled. Castiel shrugged and walked off to the Hotel and Dean followed after making sure Michael was sure he didn't need help.
They stepped into the lobby, which was decorated in rich reds and golds.
"Wow, this looks fancy, how much is this place?"
"I don't know, Michael didn't say," Castiel muttered, toying with the strap on his backpack.
"You okay?" Dean asked, bumping shoulders with Castiel.
"What do you think?" He snapped, then looked down and started biting his lip.
"Sorry," Dean scuffed his shoes against the carpet.
"You don't have to be, sorry I snapped at you,"
"It's okay, I get that your stressed out, it was a stupid question," Dean dropped his bag and turned to stand in front of Castiel.
"It'll be okay, I'll stay with you, okay?" He took Castiel's hands in his own and stepped closer so the toes of their shoes were touching.
"I know, thank you," Castiel smiled back, although it was slightly shaky.
Dean was about to say something else when Michael came in, him and Balthazar carrying all the bags – five each – and Rachael and Uriel dragging Gabriel in, who was complaining he wasn't done professing his undying love to the parking lot.
"Shut up, Gabriel," Michael rolled his eyes before smiling charmingly at the woman on reception. "Hey can we have… four rooms, three with two queen size beds each and one with one single?"
"Alright sir will you be paying with cash or card?"
"Card please,"
"Alright, put it in the machine and enter your pin please," She instructed sweetly, blushing when Michael thanked her and smiled at her.
Raphael and Uriel rolled their eyes and nudged Castiel. "You owe us five bucks each," he mumbled to him and Castiel nodded back, sighing. Michael got their keys and thanked her before walking back over to the group.
"Okay, Balthazar and Gabriel, you're in room 203," He handed them their key and they high-fived, glad they were sharing a room.
"Uriel and Raphael, you're in room 206," They took their key and smiled, collecting their bags; everyone had two bags each except Dean and Castiel who had one each.
"Dean and Castiel, you two are in room 204 and I'm in room 205,"
Dean was surprised him and Castiel were allowed a room to themselves and smiled his thanks at Michael, taking the key.
"Dean, can I talk to you for a second?" Michael asked.
"Sure," He shrugged, handing Castiel the key and telling his he'd meet him upstairs. Castiel took Dean's bag off him and followed Balthazar, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael up to the rooms.
"Okay, the reason I let you and Castiel share a room alone is because despite not knowing you for too long I trust you, and the fact that I trust you with Castiel means a lot, I find it hard to trust doctors with him, I'm very protective of all my little brothers but especially Castiel because of the things that have happened to him and his… problems. Now, I know you're both seventeen and you're both boys and Castiel told me about you two so I can't tell you not to do anything…inappropriate but… just make sure you're doing what you both want, okay? Don't force him into anything because I may like you now but if I find out you try and make him do anything I will not hesitate to tear you limb from limb," Michael warned.
Dean gulped; he could tell by the look in the man's eyes he was dead serious. Emphasis on the dead.
"I promise, I would never do anything to hurt Cas, I lo- really like him and I would never make him do anything he didn't want to do," He looked Michael in the eye, hoping he'd believe him.
Michael caught him almost-slip up and smiled slightly.
"And remember the walls are thin and your room is in between me and Balthazar and Gabriel," He reminded him, picking up his bag and gesturing for Dean to follow him to the stairs. They decided to take the elevator instead. They got in and Michael pressed the button to the correct floor.
"Michael, can I just say…" Dean started. Michael turned to give him his full attention. "I really admire the relationship you have with your brothers and how obvious it is that you all love each other, and you'd clearly do anything for each other," He looked at the floor, slightly embarrassed.
"Thanks Dean, I'm glad it comes across that way," Michael smiled.
They got to the correct floor and Dean retired to his and Castiel's room, Michael telling Dean to set his alarm for 7:00am before going to Balthazar and Gabriel's room to tell them the same. Dean assumed he would then tell Uriel and Raphael before finally going to bed himself.
"Hey baby," He said, walking into the room. Castiel was sat on the right bed so Dean dumped his bag on the left one and went to sit with Castiel. His bag was at the foot of his bed and he'd already changed into his pajamas. He was wearing a baggy black t-shirt and black and blue flannel bottoms.
"Hi. What did Michael want?" Castiel asked, moving nearer the wall to give Dean room to get on.
"He just wanted to make sure I didn't force you to do anything," Dean kissed Castiel in greeting.
"So, when did you tell Michael about us being officially together?" Dean asked, slinging an arm around Castiel's shoulder and dragging him back so they were laid together.
"He actually guessed. Remember when we stopped for gas and Gabe made a huge scene about fresh air like he'd been in prison for the majority of his life?"
Dean laughed at the memory; Gabriel had ran around the car whooping about being 'finally free to breathe in Mother Nature's sweet heavenly air'.
"Yeah,"
"Well while everyone was distracted by Gabriel's insanity he took me aside and said he'd noticed we were sat close and holding hands and stuff so I told him,"
"Ah, okay," He smiled. "Oh, he told us to set our alarm for seven,"
"AM? What but it's already one in the morning!" He whined.
They heard a faint "Get over it, Castiel!" Through the wall on the left side of the room where Michael was but ignored it.
"I know so we'll have to get some sleep now, you okay on your own tonight or do you want me to sleep here with you?"
"I'm a big boy, Dean, I can sleep alone," Castiel rolled his eyes while Dean stood up.
"Alright, let me know if you need anything," He lent down to kiss Castiel goodnight and smiled down at him.
"Night Dean,"
"Night Cas," He went back over to his own bed and slipped under the surprisingly comfortable covers and set the alarm on his phone, leaving it on the bedside table.
Tomorrow they were going to meet Castiel's Dad. He shuddered at the thought before trying to fall asleep.
Beepbeepbeep
"Ugh," Dean groaned. He didn't get much sleep last night, as he was so nervous about what would happen when they met Mr. Novak.
He heard a groan coming from Castiel's bed too and looked over just in time to see the black mop of Castiel's hair disappear under the covers. Dean smiled and reached over to switch off his alarm and got up to go over to Castiel's bed.
"Cas, come on we need to get up… why at this ungodly hour I have no idea but get up,"
Castiel shifted slightly but otherwise didn't move.
Dean sighed and reverted to what he always did when Sam refused to get up. Yank the covers off.
Castiel yelped at the sudden temperature change then whimpered, curling up into a ball.
Dean rolled his eyes, smirking, and put one hand on Castiel's side and the other on his shoulder.
"Get up! Get up! Get up!" He shouted, shaking Castiel.
"Alright, I'm up, god!" He whined, pushing Dean off him.
They got dressed – Dean wearing a gray undershirt and a blue flannel shirt with blue jeans and sneakers and Castiel wearing a baggy black t-shirt with a skull with blood dripping out of it's eye sockets on it and black skinny jeans with converse – and went down to the lobby to meet the others.
Uriel and Raphael were already there sat in the plush deep red chairs so they went over to join them.
"Hey," Castiel greeted them, sitting in a chair next to Uriel and gestured for Dean to sit in the one beside Raphael.
They said hi back and smiled at him and Dean. Not a greeting smile. An I-know-something smile.
"What?" Castiel asked them.
"Michael came to talk to us last night. About you two," Uriel smirked, looking between the two.
"He told you about us?" Castiel shifted nervously.
"Yep," Raphael leant back in his chair and clasped his hands together.
"And are you two… okay with it?" Castiel asked, turning his attention to the floor.
"Of course," Uriel smiled at him before turning to Dean. "Although we do feel we should give you the 'big brother' speech about not hurting him and crap we think Balthazar would prefer to do that. Just fyi," Uriel explained.
"Why Balthazar?" Dean asked.
"Because him and Michael are the most protective of little Cassie and Michael's too nice," Raphael shrugged.
"Speaking of," Uriel gestured to the stairs where Michael, Gabriel and Balthazar were coming down to meet them.
Uriel waved them over and they all stood up, Castiel was fidgeting nervously.
"Everyone ready?" Michael asked somberly.
At his words Uriel, Raphael, Balthazar and Gabriel's calm demeanors all vanished. They glance between each other and nodded.
Dean reached out and took Castiel's hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
Castiel smiled at him shakily and squeezed back.
"Okay, so everyone in the car. On the way we can decide what order we'll go in," Michael took charge, fitting into the role of leader very easily, making Dean think he'd been doing it for longer than he'd originally thought.
They all filed out to the parking lot where Michael unlocked the car and ushered everyone in.
No "Shotgun!" from Gabriel. No arguments from Balthazar when Gabriel climbed into the front silently. No muttered insults of immaturity from Uriel or Raphael and no light conversation between Dean and Castiel.
The tension in the car was almost suffocating and Dean was still holding Castiel's hand tight. Neither of them was quite sure which one of them was more scared of letting go. After ten minutes of sitting silently in traffic, Castiel dug in his pockets and got his phone out. Dean watched him unlock it and scroll through his music player and clicked on Highway To Hell by AC/DC and sniggered at the irony despite himself then pulled his hand from Dean's grasp and started biting the skin around his fingernails, still watching the screen, which now showed the track playing with the Highway To Hell album art of the band in the corner.
Uriel turned to stare at him then Dean saw him biting his lip and faced the front again, leaning forward to whisper in Michael's ear. Gabriel glanced at them with fake disinterest and Dean saw he didn't have the usual mischievous glint in his eyes. Gabriel must have heard whatever it was Uriel was whispering because he turned to peek at Castiel and pressed his lips into a thin line then we saw what he was doing. Dean didn't understand what the big deal was but he saw Michael glance back at Castiel several times.
The song finished and it changed to Make Me Wanna Die by The Pretty Reckless. Dean saw Castiel mouthing along to the lyrics. No one commented on the music and Balthazar leant back, gesturing for Dean to sit forward, and told him the loud music was Castiel's way of coping with uncomfortable silence. Dean nodded and thanked him then sat back leaning against Castiel slightly. He leant down and kissed his temple and Castiel smiled, leaning into Dean.
They eventually arrived and Castiel shut off his music, pocketing his phone again and taking Dean's hand as soon as they were outside the car.
Michael turned to his brothers, who were waiting expectantly for him to say anything.
"Well, I don't know what I can really say to make this any easier except… well, he can't hurt any of us, so…" He sighed, clearly not used to not knowing what to say.
"It's cool bro, he know what you're trying to say," Gabriel smiled and Michael smiled back gratefully. They all silently walked through the hospital to the room number they'd been given after telling the receptionist who they were and showing her Michael's ID. They told her Dean was their brother too so he could come with them.
Dean took Castiel's hand when they were out of sight of the receptionist and pulled him closer so he could whisper to him without the others hearing and slowed down so the rest were a few feet ahead.
"Hey, are you okay? You know, all things considered,"
Castiel nodded instinctively then when Dean carried on staring at him the nod turned to a shake and tears welled in his eyes.
"It'll be okay. I won't leave you,"
The group stopped outside a room and Michael turned to face the others.
"So," He realized they hadn't picked an order in the car and looked around at everyone. No one was willing to volunteer to go first.
"I think we should go in pairs," Michael announced eventually.
"But there's on odd number of us," Gabriel pointed out. "That means either someone has to go in alone or someone has to go in twice or someone has to be a group of three,"
"I'll go alone," Michael answered and Balthazar was about to protest but he held his hand up to silence him, telling him he was okay with it. They decided they'd go in order of age. Michael first, then Gabriel and Balthazar, then Uriel and Raphael and finally Castiel and Dean and they'd each have ten minutes but Uriel and Raphael both flat-out refused to see him so they would just wait for them all to be done.
Castiel asked Dean repeatedly if he was sure he wanted to come in but Dean couldn't bear the thought of leaving Castiel in that room with his father.
They sat on a row of chair as they waited for their turn. Michael came out after ten minutes, his fists clenched, and gestured at Gabriel and Balthazar.
They shared a look and stood up. As they entered the room, Dean saw Gabriel grip Balthazar's hand for comfort and smiled a little when he saw Balthazar squeeze back.
After seven minutes, Gabriel rushed out of the room and ran down the corridor away from the rest of his family and Balthazar emerged a few seconds later looking ready to kill. Dean could hear croaky laughter coming from the room as Balthazar ran down the corridor after Gabriel. Michael hesitated before he gestured to Dean and Castiel that it was there turn - obviously uncomfortable sending them in after what happened to Gabriel - and ran after his brothers, calling behind him to Uriel and Raphael to stay with Dean and Castiel.
Castiel stared after them, his mouth hanging open slightly.
Dean kissed his cheek and lingered there for a second. Castiel closed his mouth and looked at the door.
Dean stood up, still holding Castiel's hand and the smaller boy stood with him.
"Castiel, are you sure you want to do this?" Uriel asked.
Castiel nodded and they walked up to the door and pushed it open, slipping inside.
Dean looked over at the bed where Castiel's dad was laying, cuffed to the railings of the bed.
He was a cubby man and he had red spots all over his greasy face. His hair was black like Castiel and Michael's and his eyes were an amber color, like Gabriel's, but duller, more of a dirty brown. He had the same strong jawline as Michael and full lips like Castiel, only Mr. Novak's were chapped and fades with scabs in the corners.
"Hey kid!" He grinned creepily at Castiel and the handcuffs jingled slightly as he flexed his hands. Castiel took half a step back and nodded in acknowledgment.
"You going to introduce me to your friend, boy?"
"This is D-Dean," Castiel stuttered slightly, speaking quietly, and Dean waved at the man.
Mr. Novak nodded at him slightly and looked him up and down. "I heard your fucking my son?"
Dean choked on the air a little. "I'm his boyfriend," He clarified.
Mr. Novak nodded. "That's what I said,"
Dean looked at Castiel, who hadn't said anything in his own defense. He was just staring at his father. Dean squeezed his hand and Castiel turned to him. Dean smiled reassuringly at him. Castiel smiled back a little and looked back at his father.
"So," Mr. Novak spoke up in his scratchy voice. "You fucked him yet or what?" He asked Dean, completely ignoring Castiel.
"What? That's none of your business!" Dean exclaimed.
"So that's a no? You want to, though, right?" He leered at Dean.
Dean didn't know how to answer. If he said yes that might offend Castiel, even if it was the truth and it would most probably upset him or make him feel like that's all Dean wants. But if he says no it might make Castiel think he doesn't want him or find him attractive and that's a lie. He decided to avoid the question and just glared at the man instead.
He shrugged and turned to Castiel. "How are you, son?" He smirked, talking in a sickly sweet voice.
"I'm not your son," Castiel spoke clearly.
Dean and Mr. Novak both stared at him.
"Yes. You are. Unfortunately," He looked Castiel up and down in disgust.
"No, a father is supposed to love and protect his children from pain, not be the primary cause of it for most of their lives," Castiel shook his head.
"I fucked your mommy to make you, that makes me your father," Mr. Novak replied.
Castiel pressed his lips into a thin line before continuing, "What did you say to Gabe?"
Mr. Novak shrugged. "Nothin' that wasn't true,"
"What did you say!?" Castiel pulled his hand out of Dean's grip and stepped closer to the older man, clenching his fists around the metal bar of the railings at the foot of the bed.
Mr. Novak laughed throatily and grinned at Castiel. "I just told him his precious mommy was so disappointed in him when he couldn't protect his fag baby brother,"
Before Castiel could reply, Dean stepped next to him and glared at Mr. Novak. "Don't talk about him like that!" He clenched his fists and felt Castiel staring at him.
Mr. Novak laughed again. "Whatcha going to do about it, boy? Can't beat up an old man. And I'm sick," He coughed and tried to look innocent but there was still an evil glint in his eyes and the cough was obviously fake.
Dean gritted his teeth. "I've done worse," He glared back at the man.
Mr. Novak laughed and leant forward like he was going to tell Dean a secret.
"Wanna know something?"
Dean didn't respond so he took that as a yes.
"He's good. Real tight, and he writhes around a lot, just adds to the pleasure. And when he sobs and shakes," Mr. Novak sighed dreamily and Dean snapped.
He wasn't quite sure what happened but the next thing he knew security was dragging him out of the hospital room and Castiel was following close behind with a look of shock on his face. Mr. Novak had a hand over his nose and was screaming in pain. Oh and blood was pouring over his hand.
Dean was still yelling profanities at the man as he was dragged away. He saw the rest of the Novaks on their feet looking alarmed. Castiel stopped to explain what happened when the security guard said he couldn't follow Dean.
Dean eventually calmed down and followed the guard quietly. He was put in an empty hospital room and the door was locked behind him.
He paced the room angrily with his fists clenched until he heard a light knock on the door and it clicked open.
Michael walked in and closed the door, locking it behind him with a brass key.
"How did you get that?" Dean asked.
"When I was little I used to pick-pocket people for their wallets. A key was no problem,"
"I'm sorry, Michael," Dean apologized, looking down. He didn't want to upset Michael.
"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, Dean. Castiel told me what Father said. I would have hit him too," Michael placed a hand on Dean's shoulder and smiled.
"Am I going to be arrested? My dad is going to kill me," Dean sighed but Michael shook his head.
"I'm going to talk to the hospital lawyers and see if I can get it dropped because you were provoked,"
Dean nodded and smiled. "Thank you Michael,"
Michael smiled and nodded, he slipped out of the room again after telling Dean to stay put but didn't bother locking the door again.
Dean slumped down on the hard bed with a sigh. There were a few minutes of silence before there was another light knock and Castiel came in, shutting the door with a light click behind him.
"Hey," Dean smiled and stood up as Castiel came over to stand in front of him.
"Hi," He smiled back and draped his arms over Dean's shoulder while Dean wrapped his round Castiel's waist.
"Thank you," Castiel whispered.
"I couldn't stand hearing him talk about you like that," Dean shrugged and pressed his lips against Castiel's. Castiel kissed back and stepped closer to Dean as the taller boy pressed their bodies together.
"Thank you," Castiel muttered against Dean's lips. Dean's hands slipped to Castiel's hips and he pulled him back so that he was sat on the bed, pulling Castiel onto his lap.
Castiel straddled his waist and Dean moved his hands to grip Castiel's ass. Castiel moaned into Dean's mouth and pressed closer.
There was the sound of someone dramatically clearing their throat at the door and Castiel jump off Dean to sit beside him.
They looked up and saw Michael stood in the doorway with a man in a suit, looking awkward.
Michael chuckled and muttered something about them being teenage boys to the man, who laughed along and stepped into the room. The man was the hospital lawyer and explained that, because of the things Mr. Novak was saying, he was going to turn a blind eye to what Dean did and said he'd claim he banged his head against the headboard in an attempt to get the hospital in trouble.
Dean thanked the man profusely and Michael escorted him and Castiel out.
They went back to the hotel, all emotionally drained and went straight to their separate rooms.