Whew! It's finally here. I'm really sorry it has taken me so long to write this next chapter but here it finally is. It's angst galore so be prepared. Enjoy.

CHAPTER 5

The next day, Hannah and Dora told Castiel over breakfast that he simply had to come with them back to the ruin. They had talked to their game keeper and he had found a big axe to break down the locked door with. The girls were talking about the trip throughout breakfast and their mother had to tell them to be quiet or leave the table. She was getting a headache from their constant chittering. The girls giggled and left the table, telling Castiel and their brothers to hurry up so they could get going.

Castiel still hadn't had a chance to ask Harry if he had spoken to his father, but he suspected as much because uncle George looked very tired this morning. He decided to have a talk with both of them when he got back from the ruin.

To his surprise, Dean wanted to come along and Castiel did his best not be too close to him as they rode off. He was torn between anger and a strange feeling he couldn't shake. Now that he had had some time to think, it hadn't been uncomfortable being kissed by Dean, but he had been told all his life that two men kissing was wrong and he couldn't just change the way he was overnight. And Dean had kissed him without permission when he had been told several times that Castiel didn't want any part in it. That probably made him the most angry; the sheer lack of respect Dean showed.

Harry had gone with them and Castiel hoped that would keep Dean in line.

They had arrived at the ruin and Harrison, the game keeper, followed the eager girls to the door.

After a bit of prodding and poking he told everybody to stand back and then swung the axe at the door, making a small dent in the wood.

The girls made a disappointed sound. Even they could see it wouldn't be easy to break through.

"I wonder what's inside," Daniel said. "If they have such a big door and secure lock on it, it must be something important."

"Or maybe there's nothing, and this is all a waste of time and effort," George said.

They had to take turns with the axe when Harrison got too tired and soon the girls were running around exploring further, as they waited to have their curiosity satisfied. It took almost an hour before the hole was big enough to squeeze through. The girls had been over many times saying they could get through now but had to be told to wait because the boys weren't eager to let them go through by themselves.

They had tried looking through but couldn't see anything. Harrison had been foreseeing enough to bring a couple of lanterns in case the room was dark and it looked like they would need them.

Finally, Harrison was the first to crawl through the hole, the girls jumping up and down with excitement. Harrison held his lantern up high and the girls asked what he could see.

"Hmmm.., there aint much in 'ere," he said.

Dean crawled through next and then Hannah was finally allowed in. She had just made it through the hole when there was a cry and a breaking noise from inside the room. Then something landed below and everything went quiet.

"Dean!" Hannah called.

"Master Winchester?" came Harrison's voice and everybody on the outside crowded around the hole trying to look inside.

"What's going on?" George said in an urgent voice.

"Dean fell," Hannah said. She sounded close to tears.

"Master Winchester?" Harrison called again and then a flurry of calls started up, trying to ascertain if Dean was okay. George crawled through and a moment later Hannah came out, tears running down her cheeks.

"He's dead, he's dead," she cried.

Castiel went cold all over. Then he crawled through the door wanting to see for himself.

"He's not dead," George said, but he didn't sound too sure, more like he was trying to comfort his sisters.

Castiel stepped carefully over to Harrison and looked through the hole in the floor. It looked like it was rotten through and Dean's weight had made it collapse. Thank goodness it wasn't one of the girls who had fallen, Castiel thought, but he felt himself getting more worried as there was no sign of life from below.

They quickly decided that Harry would take the girls back to the house and tell their parents to call for the doctor. He should bring back some men who could help open the door completely and get Dean out.

"Where did he land?" Castiel asked when Harry and the girls had left.

"Maybe it's the cellar," Daniel guessed.

"If it is, maybe we can get to him that way," Castiel said.

"That's good thinking," Daniel said. They left the room and went in search of stairs leading down to the cellar. It took them a while, but Castiel finally heard Daniel call for him. He had found some stairs, mybe they were the ones?

They lit the second lantern and walked down slowly. If the floor was rotten through all over they had to be careful not to be hit by some falling debris. After a bit of discussion, they found the direction they thought pointed to dean and started walking. The cellar had a few small rooms and some long corridors. This was probably where the servants had lived when the house was in use. Daniel held the lantern high every time they came to a new room but there was still no sign of Dean. After an anxious search, they finally found him.

Castiel ran over to him. He was unconscious and bleeding from the head.

"Maybe his scull is cracked," Daniel said, crouching down beside Dean and making Castiel look at him with fear in his eyes.

"It's not," Castiel said sternly, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

Daniel liftet the lantern over Dean's face. He looked pale. Castiel checked his breathing. It was faint but it was there. Then they heard a commotion from upstairs. The rescue party had arrived. They called up for them to go through the cellar and after a while, four of the strongest men from the estate were there with a makeshift stretcher. They placed Dean carefully on it and started walking home.

The doctor was waiting for them when they got there and Dean was brought to his room.

Aunt Phillippa and the girls were alarmed at the sight of a pale and bleeding Dean and uncle George had to mix some whiskey in their tea to get them to calm down. That in itself was funny enough to make a great story afterwards. If Dean survived, that was.

They all waited in the drawing room for the doctor to come down and let them know how Dean was doing. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only 30 minutes, he finally came down with a serious look on his face. The girls were chased out before he could tell them what was going on.

"You should probably call for his family," he said to uncle George.

Aunt Phillippa exclaimed a gasp and the doctor continued, trying to calm her down: "I'm not saying he won't make it, but it's serious enough that they should be here."

Uncle George let out a long breath and Castiel sank down on a chair.

"Alright," uncle George said, quietly. He went to write the difficult letter and the doctor went back to sit with Dean.

The whole household fell into a quiet state as everybody waited to see if Dean would make it. Castiel sat with his family in the drawing room trying to comfort everybody as best he could and feeling terrible inside.