Chapter Two- Human!Cas

Sam walked over to his duffel bag and started packing rapidly, "Well, screw you Dude, I'm going to Bobby's to figure this out."

Castiel closed his eyes in concentration. After a moment, he looked back to Sam in bewilderment, "Whatever caused this is not a witch or demon. There are no hex bags or cursed objects in this room, and demons cannot come near without my notice."

Dean had finally stopped laughing, and processed that whatever creepy-crawly had done this probably had larger plans, that in no way, shape or form could be good. He exchanged an, "oh, crap" look with she-Sam before turning to the angel, "Well what else would it be? Can a demon do that?" He took one more freaked out look at his new sister, "Why?"

Castiel sighed agitatedly, "Witches are damned. When they die, they become demons in Hell. They can still work magic. As to why... you two tend to be disliked." He turned to Sam, giving him a stare similar to how mathematicians look at complex equations.

Today Isabella was on a roll. Part of it was she never posted on tuesdays and thursdays, so Fridays tended to be "new chapter overload" as she put it. She had several stories to update, and seemed well on her way to getting through them all. She felt confident that she was finally improving.

She proofread her next page one last time and posted it to the site. She opened a new bag of gummies (they were her favorite addiction) and started perusing through her computer, looking for the next story to update.

It happened quite suddenly. Sam disappeared from the motel room, and Castiel collapsed in a heap. Dean let loose a parade of expletives, grabbed his pistol from the bed, and ran over to his unconscious friend.

Dean gently turned Cas over and the angel inhaled sharply. Castiel winced and then opened his eyes.

"This is becoming very confusing." his voice held gravel as he slowly sat up.

"What the hell?" Dean helped pull Cas up, "Are you alright? and what the friggin Hell?" He was angry, confused, and very ready to shoot something. He was also a little scared at this point that he was next. Between his brother and his friend, he didn't want to see how the day ended. He looked at Cas only to find the angel lost, staring frustratedly towards the floor, almost muttering to himself.

"Cas!" Dean shook his arm, rousing his attention. "You ok?"

"No." Cas held his hands palm upwards, staring at them. He bowed his head slightly and concentrated. Nothing. He looked up at Dean, fear on his face.

"Cas...?" Dean lost his question to the look in his friend's eyes.

"Dean," He faltered, "Something's wrong."

In an instant several cuts appeared across Castiel's forehead and a bruise under one eye. They were strangely familiar cuts. The same injuries Cas had received after a fall onto a fishing boat in Louisiana. His landing place after blowing himself to Kingdom Come in Van Nuys.

Isabella was just hopping onto Facebook when she looked at the clock. "Shit!" She leapt out of her chair and ran over to the little tank in the corner, on top of her dresser.

"I'm so sorry Donnie! O shit, you must be starving!" The goldfish slowly nibbled the flakes, and Isabella watched, fascinated.

When the fish was done, she noticed a grocery list sitting on the dresser next to the tank. She sighed and grabbed her car keys. Before leaving, she placed a sticky note on her computer, reminding her of the next story she would post.

Cas turned to Dean, the fear on his face increasing, as he glanced at his feet.

"What?" the question was barely out of his mouth when his eyes shot up, looking directly at Dean. "I'm sorry, I know you won't admit it, but it's true." The words came out clear enough, but his inflection was wrong. His face distorted in confusion. He even put a hand over his mouth. It was almost funny, like he couldn't stop himself.

"What-" Dean began to ask, then his own face took on overt surprise and he spoke again, "No it's not, Cas. You aren't going anywhere. If you don't feel helpful, I'll teach you to shoot."

By this time, both of their body languages were speaking volumes. They had lost control of their words, and no amount of arm flailing and covering their mouths would make it stop.

Castiel stepped towards Dean, wide-eyed, "And what good would it be? It is the Apocalypse, time is limited. If you feel you need more help, call a hunter. I'm only a hindrance now."

Dean managed to slip through a swear word before he lost control of his voice again, "Dammit, Cas, no you're not! Whether you believe it or not, you've saved all of our asses so many times already that we can't give up on you! Not when we are so close! You're a part of this, and powers or no, we need you!"

Castiel closed his eyes and tried to turn the other way, but the force behind this dialogue was intent on him staying put. "For what? To die? Because that is about all I can do for you in this. And who has a soul left to sell for that? You? Bobby? Or is it Sam's turn now? All of you are so desperate to keep each other safe that you fling yourselves to Damnation without second thought! I have given everything I have to save you! To help you! I left everything for you, and now you three are the only family I have left and I will NOT let you destroy yourselves! If I stay, I will be the first one to die, and I know how you boys handle that. Not this time."

There was an agonized silence as both tried to move, to speak, anything against whatever was forcing this ridiculously outdated and most certainly fictional argument. Apocalypse? What the flying coconuts was going on? That was when Sam walked in, very male, holding a large bag of fast food. The look on his face was every bit as freaked out as the others.

"You guys ok?" The question seemed to make sense, but apparently Sam hadn't intended on saying it anyway. Dean spastically fought against it, but he walked over to the bed and sat down.

"Yea, Sammy, we're fine. Cas was just being an idiot." The veins in his neck jumped as he tried to stand, to scream, something.

"Dean-" Desperation colored the word, but Castiel was as stuck as the others.

"No, Cas, go ahead. Tell Sam what you told me! He'll say the same. If you run? We will drag your holy ass back to Bobby's panic room and lock you the fuck inside until you see sense! We owe you at least that! Don't you see?" He stood, though apparently not from his own willpower, "You saved us. All of us! Time and again. We can't give up on you. You're family, like it or not, you can't run."

Castiel turned, red-faced and shaking, to Sam who was quivering with the strain of trying to move. Instead he spoke, "He's right. How far do you really think you'd get? You're not running"

Cas stepped forward, "Watch me."

It was odd, like breaking the surface after swimming up from the bottom of the pool. Release came, and all three of them were left panting.

In unison came a loud, annoyed, "What the fuck?" A lovely trio of angry male voices.