LANKEER
CHAPTER FOUR
To Sam and Dean's combined relief and horror, Cas didn't hit the ground. Relief because the flying machine performed a spectacular maneouvre and caught the wounded winged man.
Horror because the flying machine sailed off with Cas imprisoned within.
Dean threw the Impala into gear and tore after it. "Sammy..."
"Already on it." Sam lowered what had once been the flap to the glove box. Now it was a small navigation and weapons control station.
The Impala had been altered as much as the brothers themselves had. It was now perfectly suited for ground exploration on alien worlds. It boasted a complete life support system, solar and oxygen cells constantly recharged for fuel, a propulsion system that was mute testimony to Dean's skill with electronics, and a full array of weaponry. A computer net wound throughout her body, making her all but sentient. All of it was controlled by the tiny board now resting on Sam's lap.
Each of the three had tracking devices implanted behind their left ears before they had left the main B'shain ship for the MaryJohn, and it was this that the computer was now tracking. "Ten degrees northeast," Sam reported. "They're taking him to that city he said he saw. Want me to see if I can tap into their computer system? Assuming they have one?"
"Go for it," Dean said, gritting his teeth against the worry blooming.
Cas's right wing had been shredded. Could he retract it? Would their brother ever fly again? It would kill Cas to be grounded. You don't live however the hell long Cas had lived as an angel and then come out of it mostly human but still able to fly for a reason - only to be crippled and have one functional wing.
That would be the cruelest of fates for someone like Cas. And if Dean could help it, it was a fate he was not going to permit to happen. He was learning more and more and more about the MaryJohn every day. He could learn to use the Infirmary's equipment for something other than parts fodder.
They would get their brother back. And once they'd healed Cas, those responsible for hurting him would be made to pay.
Dean would see to it personally.
"There," Sam pointed at a tower complex. "They're flying there."
"Looks like it's on the other side of the city," Dean said. He abruptly changed direction, steering the Impala away from the city!
"Uh...Dean?"
"Quicker this way than fighting traffic."
"You're still assuming it's like Earth."
"You're still chiding me instead of trying to crack their computer system."
Sam shot him a glare, then turned back to his work.
"Sammy, I know you can do this, okay?"
The smile was real as Sam replied, "Thanks." Cas had been talking to them about their "appalling communications skills" and it seemed to be taking root. There was a moment of tense silence as the miles were eaten away under the Impala's tyres, then Sam grinned. "Got it."
"You're in?"
"I'm in." He tilted his head up. "You were right, that tower's their central command. We get there, we get Cas out, we get out of here."
"Wonder if that's why this planet is such a Bermuda Triangle," Dean said, angling the car toward the city at last. "They capture everybody different?"
"Not everybody," Sam pointed out. "We're still loose."
Dean grinned at that, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "And these people have no idea what they've just unleashed when they shot Cas down."
Sam nodded, pulling his gun out of its holster in the side of the door. "Do we have any idea what they've unleashed?"
"Not yet," Dean admitted. "But give me a few minutes."
Sam couldn't help the laughter. Some things, it seemed, never changed.
And he found that incredibly reassuring.
SPN LANKEER SPN
His first sensation was pain in his right wing. His next was that he was gasping for air and dripping wet.
His third was a cold voice. "General, he wakes."
"Good." This voice was a woman's, dripping icicles. He felt fingers entwine in his curly hair, using it as a lever to jerk his head backward. "Open your eyes."
He forced his eyes open and beheld a woman approximately 40 years of age, with a single thin strip of white down the centre part of her raven hair. It complimented her olive skin perfectly, and her eyes - though beautiful - blazed with anger.
And that was the instant Cas realised he really needed to stop reading pulp novels before he went to bed, if that was how his internal thoughts were going to sound.
"What are you?" the woman growled, her face so close to his that Cas could smell the spices from her latest meal lingering on her breath.
"M'Cas Winchester," he slurred through the pain.
"I asked the what of you, not the who of you!" She released him and his head fell forward.
"...m'wet...why'm I wet?"
"That was my doing," the first voice spoke again. "I threw water on you to rouse you."
"M'wing..." He wobbled his head up. "...please...need t'heal it..."
"Yes," the woman sneered. "Your wing. You are a winged man."
His head wobbled in a nod.
"A ba-bird?"
"No...not spirit..."
"No, that is plain," she said with a nod. "You are a man."
"Yeah..."
"A human man."
He wobbled a nod.
"With wings."
He shifted position and grunted as the injured wing screamed in protest and froze when he realised that he was strapped to a chair.
She leaned in close again, not touching him this time. Her voice was low and hissing, resembling a serpent more than a female voice. "You. Are. An. Abomination."
Cas felt his eyes go huge. Never in his long life had he been spoken of like that. "No...m'not..."
She backhanded him, snapping his head around so hard he gasped. "Silence, Abomination! You will only speak to answer questions!"
Unable to stop the soft sob that erupted from his throat at the unexpected blow and repeated words of poisonous untruth, Cas squeezed his eyes shut and prayed harder than he had ever prayed in his life.
Please...let Dean and Sam find me quickly...
SPN LANKEER SPN
Finding a spot for the Impala was not difficult. Sliding into the city proper was a bit of a jolt, when they realised their comparatively pale skin made them stand out like beacons.
"How are we gonna sneak into the tower?" Dean whispered as they neared it. "We're already getting stares because we're light..."
"Your blond hair especially sticks out like a sore thumb," Sam whispered in return. "Not to mention we're both at least a head taller than most of the population..."
Dean scoffed. "So used to standing next to you that it's strange to feel tall." He grinned at the glare, then slapped Sam's arm. "Hey, I got an idea. Come on."
Rolling his eyes heavenward for just a moment, Sam followed his brother.
If anyone would have asked Sam, he would have told them that the idea was too simple to work - a thrown rock, a yell of "Stop! Thief!" and the guards would take off in that direction and they'd slide into the tower.
But it did work - partially. One of the guards took off after the sound. The other one was taken down quickly by the butt of Dean's gun to the back of his head.
One of the last things they knew from the Impala's scanners was that Cas was being held in one place now - near the top of the tower. A straight elevator ride would have taken too long, so they alternated between elevators and stairs until they were at the top section of the tower.
Then they methodically searched every room. Every closet. Every stairwell.
Dean's frustration was growing with every empty space and every person they found that wasn't Cas. "You're sure it said he was here?"
Sam's was doing a quieter burn, but it was burning nonetheless. "Yeah, I'm sure - as sure as I can be. We are dealing with technology, after all..."
Dean growled something unflattering and barely audible.
"...and honestly, it's not like either of us has any practical experience with away missions. Lifelong viewings of Star Trek and Star Wars notwithstanding, this is our first time actually doing it..."
There was a long moment's silence, then Dean turned to face him with a grin. "Why, Sammy," he said, his eyes glittering with mirth. "You make it sound like something salacious..."
Sam's jaw closed so fast Dean actually heard his teeth click together. "Jerk," he snarled, glaring at his brother.
"Bitch," Dean chuckled. "Come on, let's get going."
The next three floors were just as frustratingly empty as the first ones had been. By now, Dean was doing a slow, silent burn of his own.
By now, Sam was starting to notice something that he wasn't very happy with. "Hey...Dean?"
"Yeah?"
"Where are all the guards?"
Dean stopped walking and looked over at him. "You're complaining because there aren't guards up here?"
"They have flying machines with armaments capable of shooting Cas out of the sky. They are seemingly well-armed and mobilised. We followed a spaceship here, after all. And they leave a tower - presumably their main base of operation and we definitely know it's where Cas is being held - somewhere - unguarded? It doesn't make any sense."
Jade eyes narrowed to furious slits. Dean's voice was a low growl. "You're saying we're bein' herded."
"Yeah," Sam said, shifting position and glancing around. "That's exactly what I'm saying."
"Big question is, where are we being herded to."
"Right."
Dean licked his lips. "I'm thinking we go along with it for now. I've got this feeling that we're being herded right to Cas."
"Yeah...but why?"
"Haven't gotten that far, yet."
"What do we do when we get there?"
"Haven't gotten that far, either."
"Wow," Sam couldn't help but chuckle. "You suck."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Come on."
SPN LANKEER SPN
Four unfruitful floors later, Sam opened a door and there was the most welcome sight in the world. "Dean! Found him!"
Dean joined him in the doorway. "Cas!"
They both surged forward. Cas was strapped to a chair by his forearms and calves. His damaged right wing trailed the ground behind him and his left one was strapped to his shoulder. His head wobbled up. "No...get out..."
"Not without you," Dean said, crouching in front of him and starting to work on the knots.
"No...No...trap..."
"We know," Sam said. "We're still not leaving without you."
Cas shook his head, azure eyes huge. "Please...go..."
There was a loud slam and they turned to find the door out of the room closed. A man smirked at them through a window that was suddenly in the door, then it was closed.
Dean slowly stood. "...the hell?"
Cas closed his eyes. "...too late..."
Sam pulled the ropes free and lifted Cas into his arms, careful of the damaged wing. "Window?"
"Window." Dean moved toward it, drawing his gun to shatter the window once he reached it.
He never reached it. A skylight sighed open and a round object the size of a baseball was tossed in. The skylight was hurriedly closed.
Clouds of grey-white gas began to billow from the object. "Move!" Dean yelled. "Move, move!"
They raced toward the exits, coughing from the gas. Dean's knees buckled and he fell mere feet from the door.
Sam felt Cas go limp in his arms and he raised his foot to kick the door open. Overbalancing, he fell onto his back, Cas's unconscious body sprawled over his.
I'm sorry, Cas was the last thing that crossed Sam's mind before unconsciousness stole him away.
SPN LANKEER SPN
His first impression was that his chest hurt and felt tight. It felt like he was a little boy again, struggling to inhale as the asthma strangled his lungs and laughed at him.
An attempt to draw in a breath was successful, and the tight band constricting his chest eased a bit. More deep breaths cleared it completely.
Once breathing was taken care of, he took stock of his situation. He realised he was tied to a chair - exactly as Cas had been when they had finally located...
Cas.
Sam.
Dean slowly shook the miniature Impalas off of his eyelids and forced them to raise. As he'd feared, neither of his brothers were in sight.
He was not alone in the room, however. A man in a military looking uniform stood contemplating him. "Ah, you finally wake."
A jolt of pride surged through Dean - his translation program had done its job! It was quickly followed by anger. "Where are my brothers?"
The man's head tilted and Dean was immediately reminded of how Cas had acted when they had first met. "Brothers," he mused, fascinated by the plural. "They are both akin to you?"
"Yeah," Dean snarled, testing his bonds. "They are both my brothers!" He saw no need to mention that they had adopted Cas or that his Winchester DNA had been given rather than inborn. "What have you done with them?"
But the man seemed to have his brain stuck on the fact that they were brothers. "Brothers..." he repeated, moving toward the door.
"Hey!" Dean yelled.
The man waved a hand toward Dean. "Stay there," he said distractedly as he headed through the door.
Dean snorted. "You're kidding, right? Hey!" he roared. "HEY! GET BACK HERE! WHERE ARE MY BROTHERS? HEY! HEY!"
SPN LANKEER SPN
A searing ribbon of fire roared its way down into his shoulder. The shock of it sent a gasping cry ripping from his throat and his closed eyes flew open as if they had sprouted wings of their own.
"That is sufficient." His head turned and there was the woman from before, her features impassive as she stared at him.
The sudden retreat of pain very nearly caused him to black out again. He blinked the darkness away as he saw a man walk from behind him. "...what...were you doing..."
The man smirked. "Testing a theory," he growled. "That your wings feel as the rest of you do."
"They are part of me, if that's what you mean," Cas replied, as part of him marveled that he could still speak through a throat scraped raw from screaming.
"That is what I said," the man frowned. "Do you not understand my speech?"
"It is...stilted," Cas said, panting slightly from the pain.
The woman nodded slowly. "Then you are hearing us through a translation program. You do not speak Lankare."
That didn't translate - that meant it was the proper name of something. Cas nodded. "That is correct."
"Your speech sounds stilted to us," the man said. "So your translation program is translating your words for us." He turned to her. "That would be why his lips do not match his words at times."
"Makes sense," she nodded again.
"I would like to test other theories," the man said, looking at Cas.
"Such as?" she asked.
"Birds have hollow bones. I would like to see if this bird-man does as well."
"How do you plan to do that?" the woman asked.
The man smiled and the sight of it made coldness slither down Cas's spine. "Why, break one, of course." He waved a hand. "Though, with him being the abomination that he is, perhaps we won't stop at one."
Cas felt the coldness only deepen at the woman's answering smile. She opened her mouth to answer the man, and a second man walked in. He whispered something in her ear, and she frowned deeply. "You are certain?" The second man nodded, and she turned back to Cas, her eyes narrowing. "Do nothing yet," she ordered the first man as she followed the second out of the room.
Perhaps it was only his imagination, but Cas thought the first man appeared disappointed that he had to wait.
Cas couldn't allow himself to feel relieved, yet. His torture was not over.
It had merely been delayed.
SPN LANKEER SPN
Sam raised his head when the woman and man who had talked to her came into the room where he sat lashed to a chair. He fixed her with the fiercest glare he could manage.
She smirked at him. "Brothers. The three of you are all brothers."
Sam didn't answer her.
A dark eyebrow rose. "You can forget the silent act. We heard you speak when you were trying to rescue the Abomination."
That caused both of Sam's eyebrows to shoot up, but then his eyes narrowed and his lips thinned. He still made no sound.
"Fine. If you will not give us what we need, we shall take something of yours." She nodded to the man with her. "Bring me his hand." She spun on her heel and left the room.
The man drew a machete and approached Sam. "Please...Please, tell us what we need to know. I don't want to do this."
Sam just glared up at him.
The man tightened the strap holding Sam's right hand immobile. He took hold of the back of it, forcing it flat and put the sharp edge of the machete onto the cuff of Sam's shirt just below the strap. "Please."
Sam turned his hand over and gave the man's a forgiving squeeze before he turned it back and closed his eyes.
How was he going to explain this to Dean?
He felt the man raise the machete.
He heard the man's whispered, "I'm sorry."
Then he heard it hiss through the air and felt it impact his arm with a metallic thunk.
CONTINUED...