Comrades and Brothers

Part 6

"Well just what are you standing 'round there for? We don't got all day, boy. Go make sure he ain't losing more blood while I go grab the med kit from the truck."

Jensen knew he shouldn't be just standing there, especially with a pissed off Bobby Singer, especially especially with a bleeding, dying Jared on the ground, but for some reason even with the immediate danger pretty dang fried, he couldn't seem to get his legs to work. Come on. One foot out, then the other. Baby steps, Ackles. Just. Fucking. MOVE! That seemed to do it and he suddenly staggered forward, caught himself just in time before he fell flat on his face. He righted himself quickly and darted over to Jared's bleeding body, knelt over him like he was trying to protect him from the sun.

He panicked at the sight of all the blood, still oozing out in a steady stream down one shoulder, soaking through the fabric of his shirt. God it was fucking everywhere. Jensen thought back to all the procedural cop shows he'd watched, all the hospital scenes in every damn movie he remembered. He laughed softly to himself as he held out his hands in front of him, clenching and unclenching fingers because he wasn't sure what else to do with them. He could see the slight tremble going up and down his arms, saw how unsteady he was crouched here next to his dying co-star that he worked with for just over six years, yet he knew barely a thing about Jared. He took a deep breath, blew it out through his nose, flexed his fingers and imitated what they always did to bleeding, dying people on TV.

Jensen was drifting through memories by the time Bobby came back with the medical kit, his hands slick wet with Jared's blood, keeping as much pressure to the wound as he could. Jared hadn't so much as twitched a finger showing just how deeply unconscious he had fallen. Jensen peered down at him, took in his pale cheeks, closed eyelids, the slight frown that he couldn't seem to get rid of even when he wasn't conscious. If it wasn't for the fact that Jensen could see the slight rise and fall of Jared's chest, he would've thought he was dead. Thankfully, he wasn't. Jensen didn't care much for the guy, sure, but indifference didn't equate to wishing death upon a fellow human.

"Alright move a bit." He was gently pushed back by a large hand and he got the message and scooted back some more to make room for Bobby. Bobby opened the kit and pulled out a roll of gauze. Jensen watched skeptically as he yanked a long strip off and gestured for Jensen to move his hands. Slowly, unsurely, Jensen did. Bobby moved fast, his hands a rush of blurs as he wrapped up Jared's shoulder. It must have hurt with how tightly it was wound up but Jared must have really been out of it, he didn't jerk or twitch, just lay still as a statue besides the steady rise and fall of his chest. "Going to have to haul him back to the truck," Bobby said as he rolled the gauze back up and stuck it into the med kit.

Jensen got to his feet as Bobby yanked Jared up and had an arm slung over his shoulder. He looked expectantly at Jensen as the actor scrambled over to them. He grabbed hold of Jared's other arm, hanging loosely to the side like a marionette. "Where we going? Are you taking him to a hospital?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Jensen felt instantly stupid. Fucking Supernatural, man, he thought. Since when did anyone here go to a damn hospital?

Just as he expected, he saw Bobby's eyebrows shoot up. "Ain't no time for a hospital," he replied, like the answer was that simple. Maybe it was to him, to everyone that lived in this messed up, whacked out world. "We're taking him back to the motel. Got some alcohol back there for his shoulder."

Yeah. Why have a real professional fix it up good as new when you can just pour some Champagne all over the poor sucker's shoulder? Jensen wisely decided to keep that comment to himself.

Jensen would say the alcohol process didn't go so badly, at least it didn't up to the point that Jared woke up. He more like jolted awake, like he had come out of a nightmare just then. It was bad timing. Bobby kept hissing for him to stay still but all Jared could process was the burn, the fucking burning everywhere, why was his shoulder hurting so bad, why did it feel like it was on fire, that he was on fire? Jensen felt bad so he knocked him out, clean on the back of the head. Bobby was livid when he did that but Jensen shrugged, said he couldn't let the poor bastard suffer more than he ought to. Bobby suspected there was something more to Jensen's actions the way he kept eyeing him suspiciously after that, and maybe he was right to. Jensen just thought, now we're even for what happened back at the warehouse.

Jared only started to rouse a few hours after that, after they had finished a more proper dressing around his shoulder. He didn't remember that Jensen hit him on the back of his head and Jensen was definitely not going to tell him that was the real cause to his headache. Bobby was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the small table, more relaxed than he had been all day, reading glasses on while he searched for an incomplete Sudoku puzzle in his little Sudoku booklet. Jensen wasn't good at those things. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, had been waiting for Jared to wake up, a copy of the bible in one hand courtesy of Bobby. He had been flipping through it ever since, bored out of his mind.

Jensen scooted to the edge of bed. "Scale of one to ten, how's your pain?"

Jared groaned as he rubbed his head. "For what? My shoulder or head? 'Cos it's maybe a five for the shoulder. Now, my head? That's, like, a seven." He let out another groan as Jensen tried to hide his surprise. Had he really hit him that hard? He looked over to Bobby who just shrugged and was back to figuring out the secrets to Sudoku. "I feel like I smacked my head hard against a wall or something."

Jensen chuckled and set the bible to the side. He got up and went to the kitchen to get some water for Jared. He ought to be thirsty by now, Jensen sure was at least. "Dude, that dog whatever tore you up real good. Like they say, if you can't handle the fire, baby, stay out of the kitchen." He filled up two glasses of water and got a beer from the fridge. "You must'a been out of your mind trying to take it out with a fucking pipe." He came back into the room and handed the beer over to Bobby who took it with a grunt and set one of the glasses on the table next to the bed for Jared.

"You two chuckleheads tried to take down a rugaru with a pipe?"

Jared grimaced as he reached for the glass. "Uh, not exactly one of my finer moments, I know."

Jensen snorted. No shit. "You should have seen him. He compared himself to Superman. Superman!"

"You called me Clark Kent first," Jared pointed out indignantly.

Jensen waved him off. "Semantics."

Bobby looked at the two with a mix of amusement and annoyance. He snorted and put the Sudoku book down. "What in hell were you two thinking, trying to take out a rugaru by yourselves anyhow? I left you back here for a reason you know."

Jensen fidgeted on the bed, took a small sip of his glass as he eyed Jared nervously, the wide eyed expression mirrored perfectly on his co-star. He scratched his cheek and shrugged. "We didn't even think it was a rugaru until Misha, Cas, whatever, the angel dude—"

"—Wait, Cas? He showed up?" Bobby cut in sharply.

Jared nodded eagerly. "Yeah. He told us you were hunting a rugaru and then he took us to you."

"Why did he come to you in the first place?" Bobby demanded. He looked pissed suddenly, like how he looked when he saw Jensen just standing there while Jared bled out.

Jensen put his hands up in a placating gesture, surprise showing on his face. "We uh called him. You sounded like you were in trouble and Jared, he thought you might've needed help so we called Cas and told him to bring us to you, and you know…he did."

Bobby rose from the couch. He seemed more calm after Jensen explained everything but the pissed off look didn't seem to be going away any time soon. Jared was watching him carefully, Jensen noticed from the corner of his eye. He was quiet, he got that way a lot on set, when he was trying to get in character, when he was real deep in his thoughts, when he was studying someone with an intensity that scared even Jensen sometimes. Finally, he seemed to have made up his mind on something and said, "What are you thinking about, Bobby?" He seemed to know something already though, that much Jensen could tell.

Bobby sighed and took off his cap, tossing it back on the couch. "Castiel. I just," he stopped for a moment, looked imploringly at them, then took a deep breath. "I just have a bad feeling is all. The boys, Dean and Sam, they trust their angel. But," he huffed out a laugh. "But I guess I never been good at trusting things other than human, and sometimes even then…" Bobby finished off with a helpless shrug while Jensen exchanged a look with Jared.

"What kind of bad feeling if you don't mind me asking?" Jared again.

"Look, I'm sure it's nothing. I mean, he's always in and out, but that's always been Cas' style. Angels, they don't exactly care much for etiquettes, and from what I've been told, things been going haywire upstairs. Angel war or something like that so I'm sure he's just been real busy." Bobby slumped back on the couch. He still looked unhappy but not as pissed, which was always a good thing in Jensen's book.

Jensen looked back to Jared who motioned for Jensen to come closer. Curious, Jensen moved over to the bed Jared was occupying. "What?" he said lowly so Bobby wouldn't hear.

"Cas. I been thinking," Jared said with a shrug to which Jensen snorted. He was always thinking. Jared smacked him on the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"Keep it down," Jared hissed to him. Jensen scowled, rubbed the back of his head. He wouldn't need to if Jared would keep his damn hands to himself. "Anyways, about Cas. You remember anything in the script that may have foreshadowed, uh, Cas shifting to the 'dark side'? I mean it is a bit suspicious he's always in and out with the Winchesters, well, us now. Right?"

Jensen thought about that, tapping his chin. He couldn't remember much of the script though and because of this particular story line he didn't get nearly as much screen time with Misha this year. Not as much as seasons four and five at least. He shrugged finally. "It's an angel civil war. And it's Cas. How else do you want him to act? He's always been, you know, flighty."

Jared raised an eyebrow at his word choice. He mouthed flighty? Jensen just shrugged again. He turned serious after a moment. "Well that's all I got," Jared said with a sigh. "I mean, why else wouldn't he answer my calls now?"

Jensen looked at him incredulously. "Dude, it's not like he's obligated to be on call for us. We're not actually Dean and Sam, hunters extraordinaire. We're just two losers that got caught up in this sorry predicament. Probably the only reason he and Bobby feel like helping us out at all is the fact we look like them." It was sad, but oh so true. And Jensen wanted out. Really, really wanted out. He wondered suddenly what Danni was doing now. Was she waiting for Jensen still to get home? Was Dean and Sam with her? The thought of his TV character using his charisma to charm his wife into having sex with her in their bed made Jensen suddenly angry, annoyed and angry. For the first time since he started on the show, he wished Dean was more like Sam, studious and good and well-mannered, not a womanizer and flirt that always managed to get his way.

"Still. It's still weird," Jared said, chewed the bottom of his lips.

Jensen scooted back with a shrug. Bobby snorted from the couch. He had gone back to the Sudoku book to give them some space, but one look at him and Jensen knew he had been listening to the whole conversation. It wasn't like he didn't have a right to know they had been talking about Castiel though, in fact he had every right to know, maybe more than them considering this was Bobby's world and he had to live here and deal with everything even when Jensen and Jared had gone back to theirs. He didn't ask though. At least not right away. "So when you meant you were actors, and you played as Dean and Sam, and this guy, Jim something, he was me, those scripts of yours…everything that happened, they happen exactly how it happen here?"

It was a good question and should have been a simple yes, but to Jensen's surprise, the more he thought of it, the more he figured he didn't actually know. He was sure, certain that them sitting here, Bobby sitting here in this motel, those weren't in the script. In fact 'French Mistake' didn't have Bobby or Jim Beaver. It had been set in the real world. And he was sure Castiel wasn't meant to be fleeting in and out at all, hadn't been scripted in until near the end really. He looked to Jared, found that he was also uncertain, pretty damn unsettled too, because the answer should have been yes, because Jensen still couldn't wrap his head around this, that all this, what they were doing, the people they were with, that it was all real.

Bobby looked between the two and shook his head. "Damn and here I was sitting, figuring I could be using ya'll to predict the future," he said wryly, though he didn't seem that worried. He leaned back and Jensen knew it had just been a joke. It was strange how quick the hunter seemed to be taking to them. Just yesterday he and Jared had both been at the wrong end of a gun barrel, had salt of all things thrown on them, their arms had been sliced and diced in case they happened to be shape shifters or something like. Now they were all here, cramped in a cheap motel, drinking beer and just generally hanging about.

He wasn't exactly sure what they were still doing at the motel, why Bobby wasn't ordering back in the truck so they could head back to Bobby's, maybe it was Jared's shoulder still hurting him, maybe they were all hoping for some supernatural thing to happen, like Jensen and Jared would just automatically teleport out of here and back onto the set again, so that Bobby could get his real kids back, real hunters that didn't get hurt trying to fend off a fucking rugaru with some small, measly pipe.

Just as Jensen was getting comfortable on Jared's bed, laying back so the upper half of torso was on the bed while the rest of him was dangling off, there was the sound of fluttering wings. Jensen shot up like a rocket to see Misha in the middle of the room, his face hard and expression unreadable. He could hear Jared scooting up to the headboard. Out of the corner of his eye Bobby seemed to tense on the couch. Misha didn't look at any of them, scanned the room like none of them were there.

Finally he said, his voice low, rumbling from his chest, "The Winchester brothers are still not back?" He frowned to himself, like that hadn't been the plan all along, like he hadn't ordered for them to run in another dimension. But Jensen knew this particular scene wasn't in the script, Jensen and Jared weren't supposed to be a part of the story. Somehow though, they were now. Misha/Castiel found Jensen's eyes and seemed to stare into his soul. "Balthazar told me about the spell he performed. I am sending you both back," he said finally, still looking perplexed, exhausted.

"I thought you said there wasn't any way for us to get back except wait it out," Jensen said, suspicious.

Castiel shrugged. "That was before I realized how easy it is to replicate the spell once Balthazar filled me in on all the ingredients."

"That's great then," Jared blurted.

Castiel's eyes turned to squint at Jared. It was in a moment that Jensen realized his gaze was more fixed on Jared's shoulder, the tightly wrapped dressing. "What happened to you?"

Jared's gaze trailed down to the dressing. "Rugaru," he bit out.

Castiel's expression turned thoughtful as he mulled over the answer. "I see. Come here." He motioned for Jared to come over. Jensen could see the slight hesitation in his eyes but didn't argue. When Jared was close enough, Castiel lay a hand on the bandages and closed his eyes, a bright light emitting from the touch. Jensen jumped back in surprise. Holy shit.

"That should do it," Castiel said as he opened his eyes, still gripping tightly to a shocked Jared.

Jared looked at his shoulder and gave an experimental roll. He didn't grimace in pain. After a moment, he pulled the dressing off to show pale skin, not a trace of the rugaru's bite. "Fuck," he said.

Castiel gave a wan smile. "It's more...useful to send you back unharmed."

Bobby's eyes narrowed at Castiel. "More useful for what exactly?"

Castiel's eyes flicked up, caught his gaze, then looked away. "I have a favor to ask." He cocked his head to the side when he looked back to Jensen and Jared. "If it has taken the Winchesters this long, I assume they're being kept busy."

Jensen raised an eyebrow at that. "With what? Signing autographs? Mobbed by fan girls?"

Jared snorted. "I don't think Dean would have anything to worry about in that department."

Jensen turned to look at him. "Do you really want to start something, Padalecki?"

He watched as Jared opened his mouth again but Castiel said, "Fan girls? I'm not sure what you mean by that, but it would be safe to say Raphael is keeping them…distracted."

Jensen turned back, brows furrowed. "How do you figure?"

"I saw him send an angel through."

"You saw and didn't do anything?" Bobby asked angrily.

Castiel whirled to face him. "I didn't exactly have my hands empty. This is a war, Bobby, and Raphael is on one side while I am on the other."

Bobby snorted but didn't say anything. "So what's the favor?" Jared finally asked.

Castiel's expression turned grim. "When I send you back, you must get the Winchesters back here at all cost. They have something…of mine and it's very important that I have it back."

Jensen exchanged a look with Jared. He licked his lips and nodded. "Okay. But how are we supposed to get back? There's…no magic in our world."

"You can call me by using human blood and citing the Latin exorcism," Castiel said.

"Human blood?" Jensen squawked the same time as Jared said incredulously, "Latin exorcism?"

"Yes," Castiel said, a trace of amusement in his voice as he took out an already filled bowl. "Uriel created the spell a long time ago, and he was said to be the funniest angel in the garrison."

"Right."

"Are you ready?"

Jensen grimaced, wiped his hands on his pants. He looked one last time to Bobby, then Jared and they both nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be," he mumbled. He watched as Castiel made the sigil for the spell on a window. Jumping out another window. Awesome. He walked over to the opposite wall with Jared, his right foot planted on the wall for momentum. He squeezed his eyes shut, blinked, and started out a jog. When the window came closer and closer, they leapt.

"Remember, find the Winchesters," Castiel's voice already sounded distant, like an echo through a tunnel, then suddenly he couldn't hear him anymore and Jensen snapped his eyes open to see the familiar fish tank he got a couple years back, a table with his laptop on standby, a cooler kept to the side, lights flickering overhead, a broken-in window above a couch. He rolled onto his back and laughed because he was in his god damned trailer.