Dean didn't really make good on his promise to chat with Castiel. Instead he flopped down on the motel bed and slept. It was not until that night, when Sam returned from the bar, that anyone spoke.
"Hey, Sammy!" Dean moaned, rolling over and blinking away sleep.
"Don't call me Sammy."
Dean laughed.
"Anyway," Sam said, taking a seat at the table near the door and opening a laptop. "I think I've found us a case."
"A case?" Dean sat up.
"Yeah, you know, the things we normally do when you're not abducting people for fun. There's been a string of murders in Nebraska. It's all women, all young. I think we've definitely got a serial killer."
"So what, you wanna pop out there and deal with it?"
"That's what I was thinking."
Thus far Castiel had been utterly ignored. He sat, tied up in his corner, barely daring to move for fear of attracting attention to himself. But it seemed it was all for naught for just then both Winchesters turned their gaze toward him.
"He can't come. We've got to kill him soon." Sam said.
"Why?" Dean moaned, "What's the point of taking him this far then killing him after a day? Come on, man, lets just hold onto Cassie a bit longer."
"He's a liability, Dean." Sam warned, "Taking him with us to Nebraska? That's just more opportunities for things to go wrong."
"Not yet." Dean insisted. "And besides, if we wait 'till Nebraska, nobody'll be looking for him there. We can dump the body without everyone recognizing him right away."
Sam nodded. "Good point. Fine. We keep him 'till Nebraska, then that's it."
"Since when were you in charge Sammy?" Dean's voice was light, mocking. He'd gotten what he wanted.
"Since you started taking home strays because you were bored." Sam was curt, but not aggressive.
Castiel did not sleep all that night. He did not know where they were, but he hoped it was more than a day's drive from Nebraska. Every day he was not lying dead in a ditch was another day that the police were searching for him, coming closer to finding him. He needed time.
He was lucky, the Winchesters decided to linger one more day in the motel. Castiel watched everything the two did. He thought maybe if he could just find a pattern, a method to the madness he could find a way out.
"Ex-excuse me?" Castiel asked, his throat dry, as the Winchesters sat at the table over breakfast.
"Yeah?" Dean looked up from his toast and mid morning shot of whiskey.
"Could I- could I have some water?" Castiel was hungry too, but he didn't want to push his luck.
"Sure thing, Cassie." Dean rose with a groan and went to fill a plastic cup from the tap.
He held the cup in his hands and raised it to Castiel's lips, spilling some of the water down the man's front. Still, it was the most welcome sensation in the world, drinking. His throat was so dry that swallowing hurt, but it was still wonderful. When Dean pulled the empty cup away, Castiel leaned forward, desperately, with his mouth. Dean placed his finger against Castiel's lips.
"No. That was enough."
Sam rolled his eyes.
"What?" Dean asked, heading back to his seat at the table.
"Never mind. Anyway, I'm gonna head over to the library today, do some research."
"Nerd."
"Shut up! Anyway, what're you going to do?"
"Well we can't leave Cassie in here alone. Too risky. I guess I'll stay here with him again."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, it's fine. We never did get that chat."
Sam left around noon, armed with his laptop and a knife tucked into his jeans pocket. This left Dean and Castiel alone again. This time they really did talk.
"Having fun?" Dean asked, grinning.
"Do you honestly want me to answer yes?"
"Nah. I just couldn't think of a conversation starter. Since I'm on babysitting duty anyway, I figured we could talk."
"Alright." Castiel agreed, wearily.
"I can tell Sam scares the shit out of you, even more than I do."
It was true.
"You know, he's actually the nice one. Sammy. He's a really sweet kid once you get to know him."
Castiel didn't really want to get to know Sam. He didn't want to get to know Dean either, but it didn't seem like he had a choice.
"You got any siblings, Cassie?"
"A few."
"You live with any?"
"Yes. Gabriel. He's my older brother." And he's coming for me just you wait. Castiel wanted to add that bit but knew better.
"So you're somebody else's pain in the ass little brother. What's he like? Gabriel?"
Why was Dean asking all these questions? It was better to answer them. That was certain. He had heard somewhere that if you were kidnaped you were supposed to try to appeal emotionally to your captor. Maybe this was his chance.
"Gabriel is… he's very kind. He's rather unmotivated and some might call him lazy, but there's a good heart under it all. And he's always been there for me." Was it working? He couldn't read Dean's face.
"That's cute. Good to know you'll be missed Cassie. I don't just kill anybody you know, I'd hate to go through all that trouble just for no one to pay attention.
"Now Sam, he likes to be quiet about things, slip in, slip out. Job done. But me, I like to make a show. I think the job ain't done 'till you've made yourself clear. I want people to be afraid of the Winchesters, Cassie. I want all those low down, dirty, monsters we hunt to know what we are. I want them quaking in their boots at the sound of our name. I want you on the front page of every paper, Cassie. So everyone can see your pretty face and know that we're serious."
Castiel gulped. Dean was kneeling in front of him, face inches away, as if he meant to kiss him. He did not. After a long pause, during which he seemed to taste the air, Dean drew back and sat on the bed.
"I bet you have to pee." He said.
Castiel nodded, slightly afraid to acknowledge the mounting pressure in his abdomen for fear he would explode.
"You can go to the bathroom, get up." Dean rose too as Castiel struggled awkwardly to rise without the aid of his hands. His legs were yet more sore than yesterday, and he stumbled as Dean led him through to the bathroom.
Dean untied Castiel's hands so he could unzip his pants, then watched the whole time, Castiel hadn't expected privacy but he still felt himself go red as he tried not to meet Dean's piercing gaze. He didn't know what to make of the man. Not that he had been good with people before, but Dean was stranger. One minute whispering promises of death, the next allowing little kindnesses. He didn't know what to do or how to reason it.
"Thank you." He said meekly, as Dean retied his wrists.
Suddenly Dean's phone rang in the other room. The Winchester dragged Castiel back to his corner and threw him down. Castiel stumbled and fell hard on his backside, hitting his head against the wall.
"Sam, hey! … Yeah, everything's great. … No, I'm not watching the news, why? … Okay, I will. …. Yeah, right now." Dean walked over to the old TV set mounted on the wall next to Castiel and turned it on. He had to flick through several channels before he hit the local news station.
"…search for twenty-three year old Castiel Novak, who went missing two days ago on his way home from work. Though Mr. Novak is believed to have been kidnapped, King County police still have no leads on the case."
"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered, still holding the phone to his ear.
Though he didn't show it, Castiel's heart had leapt. They were looking for him! There was still a chance, a small chance that he would be saved after all. On the screen there was a photo of him and Gabriel's phone number. This was it. He could still be saved.
"Well," Dean said, laying down the phone and switching off the TV, "looks like they're finally searching for you, Cassie. Not that they'll find you in time. Still, this is the attention I was talking about. Once they really start searching for you, once they figure out it was Sam and me, we'll be all over the news. Exciting, isn't it?"
Sam didn't find it quite as exciting when he returned from the library. He looked flustered, a rare emotion for the Winchesters from what he'd seen.
"We have to go," he said "right now, into the woods, we've got to shoot him now, dump the body, get out of the state. Come on."
"Wait, Sam," Dean cut in, "be rational. Killing him right now's not gonna fix this. It'll be traced to us anyway. Let's just enjoy the ride. Besides, what's one more kidnapping? We'll kill him in Nebraska. We're not changing the game plan."
"Don't be stupid, Dean."
"I'm not being stupid, I'm just saying, it's not like we're gonna get caught. We've gotten away every time. This is nothing to freak out about Sammy. Come on."
"Fine. Fine Dean, but I'm getting sick of this. After we kill him, no more random kidnappings, okay? We stick to hunting, to killing things and not taking them home, okay?"
"Whatever floats your boat Sammy."
"Don't call me Sammy!"
But Castiel had stopped listening. Something was changing in his mind, weather it was clicking into place or falling out, he had no clue, but he knew one thing, he had to stay close to Dean. Dean would defend him. Dean would protect him.