A/N: YOUR QUEEN LIVES! Hey guys! I'm sorry I didn't update this story for such a long time... but I had so much school work to worry about that I couldn't even look at the word documment. The other day I had a problem with my computer and I thought I had lost the 3k words I had already written, so I finished the chapter. HERE IT IS!

Again, sorry for the long wait... I hope you guys like it! ^w^

Chapter 30 – Late Night Talks

"Calm down Sam." Gabriel said as he hugged Sam.

They arrived at the Novak's about four hours earlier. They managed to wake Dean up and treat his wounds, but when they started asking more than five times if he was alright, Dean rose from Gabriel's bed, grabbed his backpack and slowly stumbled down stairs.

Dean wanted peace and quiet, he didn't want to have Sam and Gabriel worrying over him, so as soon as he arrived to the living room, he passed out on the couch.

"I can't calm down Gabe!" Sam replied, his face buried in his boyfriend's shirt. "My dad, he… he will never be alright with Dean. Do you have any idea what it feels like to see your brother get kicked in the gut by your father?" Tears were streaming down his face and he couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Shh" Gabe hushed, trying to calm him down. "I don't know what that feels like, but I do know that I hate it when you cry." Gabriel kissed the top of Sam's and raised his hand to sooth the younger Winchester's back.

Sam didn't talk for a while, his mind was too focused on how his brother was, he wanted to walk down stairs and stay up all night to see if Dean was alright, but he knew that was only going to make Dean angry; he would want Sam to rest so he could have a good day at school.

Meanwhile, in the next room, Castiel looked at the digital clock he had in his desk. He knew it was late, but reading what would most likely be tomorrow's lesson at History was more important than sleeping.

Since Dean and Sam left the house, Cas walked to his room and started doing his homework; it would have been done by now, but he had stayed with the Winchester's and his brother watching that movie… So now he was doing his usual routine. The only time Cas got up from his desk was to go to the bathroom one hour ago.

The clock marked 1 a.m. and Cas' stomach ached for food. With a low grumble, Castiel stood up and walked out of his room. When he walked close to Gabriel's room to ask if he had food, Cas noticed the door wasn't fully closed; he heard Sam crying and saw his brother hugging him.

That's weird… Didn't he leave like five hours ago?

Shaking his head, Castiel decided not to interrupt, it looked like Sam was rather distressed and he didn't want to make it worse.

If Sam's here; then maybe… Maybe Dean is here too.

Cas walked down the flights of stairs and when he was about to enter the kitchen, he heard a whimper coming from the living room. Castiel wasn't sure what it was, so he decided to go investigate. He walked slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements. Once he was inside the room, he noticed a figure sleeping in his couch. Slowly, he walked up to it. His face moved closer to inspect the person, and soon, he realized it was Dean. The youngest Novak wasn't sure what he should do, Dean was sleeping and he shouldn't be staring. But there was something off about Dean. The right side of his face looked too dark; the way Dean was turned looked rather odd, as if he was avoiding sleeping in his sides or stomach… Something wasn't right.

Cas wasn't prepared for the moment when Dean's eyes shot open. Dean blinked two to three times before he noticed Castiel standing close to him, staring at him.

"What the hell, Cas?" He asked confusion tangible in his voice. Slowly, Dean raised his upper body from his makeshift bed and so he could face Cas better. He looked somewhat annoyed and confused.

Cas took a step back, distancing himself a bit from Dean.

"What are you doing here?" Castiel's question sounded loud and clear in the silent room.

Dean looked at Castiel, his eyes showed he was both in pain and afraid of what would happen next.

"Hmm… I-I…" Castiel frowned, looking directly at Dean's eyes. "Me and Sammy got mugged when we were going home." Lies… There were always lies. "And the guy was gunna break into our place, so we came back here."

Cas pondered on that for a few moments, as if trying to decipher if Dean was telling the truth and what he would be best to ask.

"How long have you been here?" The black haired teen asked after staring at the carpet of the living room floor for what felt like an hour.

Dean looked around the room, searching for a clock. When he finally found one on the wall, he frowned.

"I don't know." Truth-be told, Dean didn't remember what time it was when they got to their place, and had even less idea when he left it. Getting dragged by Sam to the Novak's was something he didn't even remember happening. All he remembered was Sam asking him to keep going and then everything went black… When he woke up he was in Gabriel's bed, Sam was shaking his arm, tears straining his face and Gabriel was trying to put an ice pack on his face. After he got taken care of he said goodbye and found himself a place to lie down and sleep. "I wasn't paying attention."

Castiel nodded.

"You don't look okay…" He mumbled mostly to himself. "Not even a little bit."

If Dean heard him, he didn't say anything.

"What are you doing here at…?" Dean hesitated trying to take a glance towards the clock once again, only to find out it was too dark to see anything.

"It's 1 a.m., Dean." Castiel supplied. "And I'm hungry… I skipped dinner and I really needed to eat something. I wouldn't have noticed you if you hadn't whimpered when I came down."

Dean groaned. He was the one to be blamed for this! If Castiel found anything because he so much as groaned in his sleep; he would rather die. In a moment of self-hatred, Dean threw his back on the couch, which proved to be a bad choice; the way his back fell to the couch made Dean groan in pain and clutch to the pillow behind his head.

"I'm fine…" He tried to sound convincing.

"No you're not." The only light in the room came through the window and was shining directly towards Dean's face, making the marks on his cheekbone evident; there was also, of course, the way his whole face twisted in pain. "How did you even get your face this hurt and bruised?" Concern transpired in Castiel's voice.

Dean wasn't sure how he looked like, he hadn't dared look to the mirror to see how bad it was, and simply went to sleep.

"I told you…" Dean replied. He hated to lie, but this was an extreme situation and he had been lying about his bruises during almost all of his life… "I got mugged; I wouldn't give him my wallet, and he kicked my ass."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Castiel could be many things, but he wasn't stupid. "I know for a fact you can defend yourself enough to not let this kind of things happen to you. You may not tell me, but I will find out Dean. Just like I will find out who the hell has been hurting you."

When Castiel stopped speaking, Dean was left speechless, he knew Castiel wasn't going to give up trying to find who it was, but he didn't think he would still be this convinced he would find out.

"And when I find out, I'll freaking kick his ass!" Cas' eyes found their way towards the walls around him, fury present in his eyes.

Dean's mouth stood ajar; Castiel sounded so angry, so protective and that left Dean at a loss. He didn't know Cas that well as to have him avenge him.

The simple fact that there was so much emotion in Cas' voice was enough to make Dean falter. He simply didn't know how to handle the situation. As much as he wanted to pretend he didn't know what the dark haired teen was talking about, Dean couldn't help himself.

"Thank you…" He murmured, so low that it was mostly to himself; as if he was speaking his thoughts without even realizing it. Dean was caught in a moment of weakness when he acknowledged he actually wanted someone to kick John's ass; to make him suffer as much he did.

Despite how low Dean spoke, Castiel heard it. All the anger he had showed just a few seconds before, he calmed down to look at Dean.

"As much as you want to hide who it is, I will find a way to make this person suffer." He reassured. "Just wait and see."

There was a slight smile in Castiel's lips, as if he was daydreaming what it would feel like to punish someone for hurting Dean.

"This is becoming kinda creepy Cas…" Dean mumbled, the way the other boy was smiling was actually creeping Dean out.

Cas chuckled lightly.

"I just like thinking I can make someone suffer when they deserve it."

Dean turned to face the couch instead of Cas.

"If you like doing that, then why do you let guys like Crowley and Alastair behave like fucking creeps who used to beat the shit out of me every day? Or guys like Gordon who liked to not only kick me but also emotionally drained me?" Dean couldn't face Castiel; he knew that he couldn't say those things to Castiel while looking at him. He might be getting better at facing his fears, but there was no way he would be this front-forward with a guy that could hurt him if he wanted… And there was also the fact he had a crush on said guy.

"You know what? I let myself be controlled by power. I used to like being around my siblings and you know what happened? They weren't there for me. When bad things happen, families start behaving like one. So when something bad was about to happen to a friend of mine I took charge and became the worst thing I could possibly be. I didn't care if I started acting like someone I wasn't. And I sure as hell didn't try to think it through." The way Cas was venting everything was almost too much for Dean; of course Cas wasn't mentioning important details, but he was still sharing part of his story. The story of how he became who was. There was so much information in that speech that the Winchester was having a bit of trouble processing everything.

"But you became what you were trying to face." Dean acknowledged as Cas' words sank in. "Maybe you weren't as bad as them, but you became a bully and I'm pretty sure your friend didn't like that."

Cas huffed.

"As I said," Annoyance was starting to sound in Castiel's voice, "Power started to become more and more difficult for me to handle… And I just can't switch it off… Except that I can."

Dean frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"What I'm trying to say is that once I got remembered my initial reasons I got back to where I was before." He replied carefully. "I might still be a jackass but now I remember that I'm only pretending to be a jackass to keep people safe. I have the power to control freaks like Alastair or Gordon or Crowley… Now they're my bitches!"

Dean wasn't sure what he should say next. What Castiel said made some sense, but it didn't sound like everything was explained… Like, how did he even got back to his old self?

"Can we please talk about something else? I don't want to get worked up this late." Castiel asked.

As soon as he heard those words, Dean blushed.

Does that mean he wants to keep talking to me?

In a spontaneous moment of curiosity, Dean slowly turned his face towards Castiel. Once he noticed Castiel was staring at him, Dean looked back to the couch again. His cheeks were burning, bright red coloring them.

So many thoughts crossed Dean's mind. After all, he had dreamt of having Castiel looking at him so many times, but that's all those dreams were; dreams. He never actually expected to have a full stare directed to him, dammit!

Cas was the one who broke the silence.

"You're not gunna tell me what actually happened to you, are you?"

Dean took a deep breath. He needed to calm down, Cas was gunna keep asking things and he needed to answer them as well as he could.

"No." He replied in a small voice.

Cas sighed.

"If you so adamantly refuse to tell me, then you must really be afraid of this person…" Cas stopped speaking for some brief seconds. "Is it the same person from before?"

"Caaas…" Dean groaned, he didn't want to answer anything else. His head hurt from all the blows it got from John and he needed to sleep. "Stop asking things I can't answer!"

Castiel rolled his eyes.

"Fine! No need to get so worked up about it! But by your reaction, I'm gunna assume it was indeed the same person."

"Will you just stop it? There are things you don't want to talk about, and there are things I don't want to talk about. So let's not talk about any of them! Please…"

"I'll stop talking about it if you just turn around and face me." Cas argued his eyes still fixed on the back of Dean's head.

Reluctantly, Dean turned around and sat down on the couch. There were so many things he wanted to do right now, like sleeping, or talking with Cas about Pride and Prejudice. Talking about his father wasn't one of them.

"Are you ever gunna explain me what you meant with Wickham and Darcy or do I have to ask it on Yahoo?" Dean asked, trying to make a funny comment out of something he considered deadly serious.

Cas pondered for a while, trying to decide if it would be worth it telling or if he simply didn't want to share his story.

"All I'm gunna tell you is what I've told you before… You assume I'm Wickham, because people like me but I can also be a cruel bitch…" Cas stopped and there was a hint of a smile in his face. "But I'm actually more like Darcy I don't like to say I'm a good person, because I've done a lot of bad things in my rogue years, but I have done a lot of good things too behind people's back. I don't like to have too many lights focused on me. I'm Darcy because I am more of a knight-in-shining armor than I am a bloody bastard. So that's all I'll say."

Dean nodded. If Castiel was saying the truth, that meant he was actually a good person underneath.

"If you're Darcy, then who am I?" Dean asked, his eyes following Castiel's body as he sat next to Dean in his make-shift bed.

Cas stopped to think for a few seconds. There was a dazzling smile in his lips when he answered.

"You're obviously Elizabeth."

Dean looked away quickly. Oh My God! He knows I like him! Despite his internal overreaction, Dean heard as Castiel kept on speaking.

"You're obviously Elizabeth because you're oblivious to all the good things I do… You don't know that I can be a good person and you just think of me as a cruel person-"

"That's not true."

"What?"

"I said that's not true."

Castiel looked at Dean speechless for a couple of seconds.

"Yeah, maybe I think-thought- you're a cruel person in the past, but on the last couple of days you've been nothing but kind to me… And though that scares me, because I don't know what to make out of it, I know you can be a good person. I just don't- I think that-" Dean had always had trouble with his words; he knew that he had trouble expressing himself when he needed it the most. Dean huffed annoyed with himself. "You know what? It's true. I thought you were Wickham. I thought you only liked to be known as a popular guy whom everyone loved. But you know what? I also think that you can be unpredictable as fuck. Every time I see you you're either very good to me, or you try to make me fear you, and that makes me scared to mark you as someone nice, because so far you've proven you'll kick me right after I think you're a somewhat decent guy."

Castiel kept on looking at Dean's face. He was trying to read the other teen but that was proving to be a difficult thing to obtain. He understood what Dean was saying. He was pretty much a dick to Dean, but that was understandable, Castiel was like that to everyone. He knew he should try harder to be a better friend and not let his wishes win whenever he felt like it was time to play with someone's feeling or their head.

"I'm sorry." He offered. "I just let my head speak louder than my heart. Whenever I'm near someone I like, my head tends to make me want to see how easily they will break and that makes me interested in them, I mean, if they're easy to break no, but if they're too easy –just like you were- that means there must be something going on, and I have this need to figure it out and try to help them… I just kinda want to figure out what I have to do before I show my bright side to them."

Dean was tired of talking about this. His head was too confused for such a serious talk.

"Can I ask you something?" Dean inquired. Upon Cas' nod, he continued. "Where are your parents? I've been here like twice today and I haven't seen them? Are they here?"

Cas shook his head and laughed.

"That's actually a funny story." He said. "They grew tired of our shit and gave us the house to ourselves and bought a house down the street for them. They may have mentioned we were pigs that don't do the laundry, don't clean the floor and don't know how to cook. Since then, we've been living in different places and we visit them all the time, but we still have our own place."

Dean didn't know if he found the situation funny or if he was too shocked with it to find it funny. His mouth was ajar and his eyes were wide open.

"You should close your mouth Dean." Cas said, a smirk coming to his features. "Don't make me close it for you."

Dean blinked a few times before actually closing his mouth. There was already a deep blush forming in his cheeks.

"So they just left this place all for yourselves?"

"Basically."

"And you guys don't have any adults here… Like ever?"

Cas looked towards the wall behind Dean.

"Not really, we still have dinners together like once a week or so."

"Oh… Wow. I never thought you guys lived here all by yourselves." Dean commented, feeling a bit uneasy. He was thinking how good it would have been if his father had decided to do the same, if he simply let them in one place and only visited every once in a while… That would be a dream coming true.

"It was weird at first, but now we're kinda used to it, ya know." Cas simply shrugged as if his situation was the most common out there.

No. Dean didn't know, but he felt knew that he would feel so much better if he was in a similar situation as Castiel.

"Yeah." He simply opted for the easy way out.

Some subtle steps on the stairs made both their heads turn. Gabriel was walking down the stairs and his head looked inside the room.

"Dean-o! Cassie! Good that you're both awake! I just wanted to let you know the Winchester boys are gunna be here with us for a while." Gabriel said walking inside the room.

Dean shook his head.

"No."

Gabe looked at him in shock.

"What do you mean 'No'? You can't…" He shut his mouth before he said something in front of his brother. "Sam said you guys were gunna stay here for a few days. Since your dad isn't home-"

Dean kept shaking his head.

"We can't. We have to take care of everything. He would kill us if we left the house just like that."

Gabriel huffed.

"I'm not having this conversation with you. Your brother's in my room, you should go talk to him and tell him that yourself. I don't want him to kill me instead." Just like that he turned to Castiel. "So, Cassie! You missed dinner! Lemme get you something to eat! Come here, bro! Lemme make you an omelet! You know you love it when I cook for you!" He grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him towards the kitchen, all the while ignoring Cas' protests.

Dean sighed loudly and decided Gabriel was right. Sam should hear him first… There was no need to kill their ally just yet. Gabe could still be useful, but Sam would most likely kill the messenger and they didn't need that to happen.

Slowly, since his whole body ached, Dean got up and started walking towards the stairs. It took him a while to get to Gabriel's room –seriously! Why the hell do they even have so many stairs? - and enter the open door to see Sam sitting in Gabriel's bed, red all around his irises.

"Sammy" He called tentatively. "How are you?"

Sam looked at Dean, bewildered.

"You're asking me how I am?!" Sam asked, his voice rough from crying. "I'm the one who should be asking you that! God! Dean… How're you feeling?"

Dean looked at his own feet. He hated admitting just how damaged he was, and Sammy looked so sad already.

"Nothing I can't take." He answered with a wide smile and assumed a pose that he usually used when he was comfortable. The whole movement hurt like a bitch, but Dean was more than willing to take all that pain if it meant Sam would be happy. "We need to talk about something, Sam."

Sam nodded, he looked visibly calmer, but he still looked like he was in shock with the situation.

"Yeah. We gotta figure out when we can go home to get our thi-" Dean interrupted him as he was about to explain himself.

"We have to go back."

Short and simple. Dean didn't want to make a big speech about how they had to go back home.

"Wh-What?" Sam asked, shock being the main emotion in his face.

"We have to go back." Dean repeated. "You know it Sammy. He will be worse if we don't go, and he needs help… We can't just leave him there…"

As much as he knew he should just pack his things and leave, Dean always knew he would never be able to leave his father behind.

"How can you say that, Dean?" Sam asked with a huge frown. "After everything you're still sayin' that we gotta go back there and take care of him? What the hell Dean?!"

Sam was pissed. Dean could feel his rage radiating all over his body and all he could do was stand still and watch his brother kick all the things his feet could find.

"I know Sammy… But, it would be wrong to leave him…"

"What he does to you is wrong." Sam counter argued.

Dean huffed. He knew this was gunna be a hard fight; Sam would want to leave John and never look back. But in the end, Dean couldn't let go. John was always there telling him how to do things and he just didn't know how to live without it.

"Fine. You don't want to go? Stay here. But I'm going back there. He needs me Sammy… I can't just leave him there." Dean reasoned.

Sam groaned in frustration.

"Ugh. There's no chance in hell I'm going to let you go back there on your own. He would never leave you alone. If you're going back, I'll go with you. But remember that I do not agree with this one bit! I hate that you're making us go back there!" Sam voiced all his thoughts and sank in Gabriel's bed.

"I know, Sammy… I'm sorry, but I can't do it. I can't not be concerned if he's alright or no-"

"I know Dean. But we found something good here… Gabe is good for us, and he would let us stay here for as long as we needed… I hate that you want to go back there, but I'm not letting you go alone."

"Come on, Dean! You kick like a girl!" Benny joked, as he avoided another kick from Dean.

They were practicing kicks, and since Dean had mastered kicking the boxing bag, Benny set him to try and kick a moving target; Benny himself.

So far, Dean only managed to hit Benny once and it was only on the side, it was so light that Benny barely felt it at all.

"I wo-would…" Dean panted a light smirk on his face. "…kick you if I thought you could handle it."

Benny laughed and Dean tried to kick his gut, only Benny was fast enough to not only grab his leg but also turn it around.

"Quit joking, brother. You know that I can take five of you!"

"You wish." Dean set his foot free of Benny's reach and quickly switched his feet, so that he could kick with the other foot. Luckily for him, that caught Benny out of guard and he actually got to kick his teacher. Though he didn't get to kick his gut, he kicked Benny high on his chest, hard enough to make him stumble slightly.

"That was a good kick brother!" Benny laughed, his hand caressing the place Dean touched. The teen smiled, but there was something off. "That's it for today."

Dean let his posture down and suddenly became aware that he was avoiding almost every facial expression that would make his face hurt.

"Are you gunna tell me what happened to you?" Benny asked, turning away from Dean. "'Cause I know for sure that those bruises weren't there last time I saw you."

Dean hated lying. He hated that he had to hide the truth, especially to those who were so good to him, like Benny was.

"I was mugged. The guy was like a karate master or something." This time, he already knew that saying he had been mugged wasn't gunna stick. If Castiel knew he could fight, Benny was sure of it. "He kicked the shit out of me."

At least there was some truth in his words… John really did kick the shit out of him.

"You know what, Dean?" Benny asked, turning around to look at Dean again. "I know you enough to know when you're lying, and I wish you would just tell me what the hell is going on… Why are you always so damaged, kid? Who's the person behind this? I wanna help you, but you gotta take that first step and come clean about it."

"I wish it was so simple." Dean murmured. His eyes were on the floor; he was avoiding looking at Benny. He didn't want to see the disappointment in his friend's eyes. "It's nothing Benny… It was a stupid thing, and I don't want to talk about it."

Benny shook his head.

"Just like I told you before, you're the one who can make it better. When you're ready to talk, you come to me and tell me… Hell, if you don't want to come to me, go to someone else… But someone's hurting you and if that keeps going, you might get really, really hurt Dean. And ya know I don't like to see you hurt. You're an amazing kid, and I am proud of how far you've gone, but there's one more step you gotta take. Just admit you're not alright and ask for help… You already did it before, when you came to me to learn how to fight, but right now, Dean, you're in a battle and you need someone with you. You can't keep doing it alone."

Dean knew all those words were true. He wanted to tell Benny everything, but he just couldn't… Not when the consequences would be too great. Losing his dad to a facility wasn't his problem, John would be okay there. The risk of losing Sam to a foster home was what really scared him. He couldn't lose Sammy. Never Sammy.

A/N2: The next chapter might take a while to come too... I have to study for my math and portuguese finals, so sorry but I won't have much time to write. So I'm telling you in advance that it might take a while. The only things I had time to write were one-shot... I wrote: Perfect Realm, Purgatory Tales and Highschool AU, so if you guys want to check it out, you're free to do it ^w^

Thank you for reading!