The next day, Dean met at work at 9am, as usual. He didn't miss the looks his colleagues sent him as he walked past the cubicles towards his office, where he expected the angel to be already.
Yesterday had been a disaster, so he hoped today would be better with the angel. Though, he seriously doubted it.
"Dean!" Allan called, making Dean stop and turn towards him as the man walked over to him. "Hey man, first day on a hunt with feather-ass?"
Dean frowned at him. "Don't call him that, dude."
"What, you defending him now?" Allan asked, almost surprised.
"No, I'm just saying you shouldn't make a comment like that about people."
"He's not people," Allan said, staring at Dean like he was crazy.
That comment made something inside Dean twitch, and he felt anger. He didn't know why.
"Winchester!"
Dean turned to see one of his superiors approach him.
"I want you and Castiel to investigate some vampires which have been roaming downtown for the past couple of nights," the guy said, handing Dean some papers regarding the case. "The vamps are making it a living hell there at night, so I suggest you guys find out more about the case first, and then go to the clubs tonight to find those sons of bitches."
"Alright, sir," Dean said, staring at the files he was handed. There were photos of some of the people who got killed last night, and some details about how and where.
He walked into the office where Castiel was standing by the window; staring into the streets below. The angel turned his head slightly when Dean entered. Dean somehow felt relief that the angel at least acknowledged his presence a little more today.
"So, we got a case," Dean said and sat down by his desk. He felt the angel moving closer to take a look at the papers. "Vampires; making nightlife a living hell downtown."
When the angel didn't comment he continued. "We'll find out more about them today – information on all their victims, where they were sighted, what happened and so on. Then tonight when the clubs open we'll go look for 'em."
They started working; each investigating on their own. The only communication they had was about who investigated what. It was actually a little sad, but Dean had given up trying to come through to the angel.
Around noon, Jo showed up in the office.
"Hey boys, anyone hungry?" she asked as soon as she opened the door. Dean jumped in surprise, but Castiel remained perfectly still, only glancing up at her before going back to work.
"Jesus, Jo. You scared the shit outta me," Dean groaned and turned off his computer screen to give his eyes some rest.
"I know, that's why I'm doing it," Jo giggled. She handed Dean a bag containing donuts from the local bakery. "Here, I bought you this, thought you might need it."
"Ohh, thanks Jo, but… We're not really that kind of police," Dean joked.
"Very funny," Jo said, rolling her eyes. She looked over at Castiel who was still working. Her eyes rested on the white wings for a while before she looked back at the angel's face. "Hey, you, angel… errr," she looked back at Dean and whispered, "what's his name?"
"Castiel," Dean whispered back with an amused smile.
"Right," Jo said, turning back to the angel. "Castiel. You can have some too, if you want."
Castiel finally glanced up, looking between Jo and the bag Dean was now holding. "No thank you," he said, turning back to his papers.
"Hmm, not a big talker, are you?" Jo said; her hands on her hips as she studied the angel for a moment.
Castiel bit his lip; a gesture Dean wasn't quite sure what meant.
Jo remained silent for a moment, still studying the angel, before she clasped her hands together; almost making Dean jump again.
"Alright then! I'll see you guys later," she said and disappeared out the door before Dean could even open his mouth.
Dean sighed and started taking the donuts out of the bag.
"Dude, you really need to talk more," he muttered.
Castiel tensed even more, but didn't say anything. Dean sighed again and started eating.
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They worked on the case until the midafternoon, when they were done researching. They would meet up again later and go to town to find the vampires.
They didn't exchange many words, but Dean saw it as a progress that they at least hadn't gotten into another fight. Well, they almost had at some point, but that doesn't count.
When night came, they met up in an alley near the club where the vampires had most activity. Dean would have preferred them to be in a car rather than out in the open, but he realized that with those massive wings of Castiel's that was not an option. He doubted the angel could sit down anywhere where he couldn't let his wings fall to the sides.
How the hell do they get dressed then, Dean wondered.
He and Castiel were standing behind a dumpster with a clear view of the club's back entrance, waiting for the vampires to show themselves. They didn't talk, and Dean made an effort to just ignore the angel, like he ignored Dean. He would have preferred to do this case alone, but he wouldn't be able to identify the vampires that easily. But Castiel could.
"Damn, where are those bastards. It's getting boring here," Dean muttered after almost an hour of waiting. He had already sat down on the ground, leaning against the wall, because his feet were getting sore from standing. It didn't surprise him that the angel remained standing next to him.
"Are you even sure the vamps are here?" Dean asked when the angel remained silent.
"Yes," Castiel replied. He didn't even look at Dean; his eyes were focused on the back entrance.
"God, this is like talking to a wall sometimes," Dean muttered, mostly to himself. He heard Castiel shift next to him.
That was when the door to the back entrance swung open, and three guys walked out; all dressed in dark clothes with long, black coats, and they laughed and drunk something from a bottle.
Dean remained perfectly silent; his body tense and trying not to make a sound as he observed the guys.
"Vamps?" He whispered to Castiel, who nodded in return; eyes not leaving the vampires. "Awesome," Dean muttered, having his weapon ready in his hand.
Two of the vampires went back into the club while the third one moved towards their hiding place, seemingly unaware of anything around him as he walked in his own thoughts.
Dean took this opportunity and launched at the vampire; catching him off-guard and rolling him onto his back before he swung his weapon and cut the guy's head off. The vampire had managed to scream – alerting the other vampires which quickly rushed from the club and attacked Dean from behind.
"Dean!"
He heard Castiel shout his name when he was tackled to the ground by the vampires. One was pinning him down and sat on top of him and grinned.
An evil, smug grin.
No. No, not like this!
Dean panicked. This was almost how it had gone with the werewolves. Pinning him down with their strength, taunting him, grinning in his face while they bit him, clawed at him, broke him.
He couldn't move. He couldn't push off the vampire. He was frozen in fear. He could almost hear the dying screams of Jim; calling for his help… But Dean can't move. He can only listen to the screams of his friend…
"Hey pretty boy. Looking scared," the vampire grinned into his face, and Dean grimaced as he smelled the familiar smell of fresh blood in the vampire's breath.
"Fuck you," Dean managed to bite out.
It made the vampire laugh above him and before he could react, the vampire sunk his teeth into the flesh of his neck.
Dean screamed.
/
Castiel was grabbing the first vampire, while the other was attacking Dean. He slammed it into the wall with a loud crackle as some of the bricks were broken from the impact. The vampire was staring back at him in fear as he pinned him there. It tried to lash out at the angel's wings, but Castiel blocked the attack easily before he touched its face and light shined from it as he burned it out of existence.
He turned when he heard the agonized scream coming from Dean, and saw the other vampire sinking its teeth into his partner's neck.
Castiel acted as fast as he could, and yanked the vampire's face away from Dean, before he reached his hand around to its face and burned it to death with his Grace. He pulled the dead vampire off of Dean and threw the body aside.
Dean was clutching at the wound in his neck. He was bleeding badly, but that was not the biggest concern.
He had been infected.
"Cas," Dean croaked; his green eyes staring into the angel's as he leant over him. "Fuck," he cursed in pain as the infection spread.
Castiel frowned slightly at the shortened version of his name coming from Dean's lips, before he hesitantly put his hand on the human's chest.
He had never healed a human before. Had never wanted to, or needed to.
Humans were disgusting, selfish creatures, not worth using your Grace to heal.
But there was something about Dean in this moment. Something Castiel could not identify.
So he laid his hand on the human's chest and let his Grace heal him – healing the wound and burning away the infection.
/
Dean felt the wound in his neck knit back together; healing. The awful sensation of something alien in his blood also disappeared as the angel touched him. The hand was warm and comfortable against his chest and he dwelled in the feeling until Castiel drew his hand back.
Dean opened his eyes and stared into the piercing blue eyes of his partner. The angel was frowning at him, and for a moment Dean thought he looked concerned.
He groaned and sat up; rubbing his neck which was now fully healed and painless. He cracked his neck a little and sighed in relief.
"Thanks, man, thought I was done for," Dean finally said.
Castiel rose from his kneeling position as Dean made to stand as well. He stared when the angel's wings spread slightly to help him keep his balance as he stood up, but he quickly looked away from them. They stared at each other for a while before the angel looked away.
"Maybe you aren't as bad as I thought," Dean grinned.
Castiel's expression darkened and he glared back at Dean. "Do not pretend to know me," he growled; wings spreading a little in an aggressive gesture, before he pushed past Dean and stalked out of the alley.
Dean blinked. "Hey, what the fuck is your problem?" he yelled after the angel, but the angel just kept walking until he was out of sight. "Fucking angels," Dean muttered as he called the station to send someone to clean up this mess.
To be continued…
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I know this chapter was pretty short, but I promise that the next chapters will be longer. Hope it you enjoyed reading, and thank you for all your comments so far! :)
More will come soon.