Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.
Sorry about the wait again. Been really busy at work. Enjoy.
The scene from the other night played on rewind in his mind as he lay in bed into the wee hours of daytime.
The man's body was drenched in blood all thanks to the claws of the werewolf that cut into him so deep that their victim couldn't in the end be saved. Madison had been the one chosen to deal with the body as the three of them refused to go near it. Cas had wanted to (how he wanted to) but Dean - he held him back.
Unbidden, the Alpha's voice came to his mind.
"We feed on the blood of the living. The meal is never quite adequate for we are always thirsting for it. It is not our fault, it was just how our maker created us."
Never mind the fact that there was something above the ancient alpha that actually created their species, the fact remained that what he said was true. Cas was hungry. Being back with the brothers meant back to the cold, refrigerated blood of before.
It was disgusting.
How could the brothers enjoy that, that filth?
Castiel groaned and turned over under his sheets. Before he knew it, he was drifting back to sleep again, dreaming about nothing and everything he wanted.
The days after the werewolf hunt were quiet and that left everyone thinking about just where their next case was going to be taking them. Dean finally found a good one a few hours away.
"Guy claims his double killed his girlfriend."
"What's so strange about that?" Castiel asked at the time.
"Guy claims he doesn't have a twin."
The three of them piled into the Impala and drove off to the small town of Louisburg, Kansas, just under an hour away from them.
"Alright, I'll check us in. Be right back," Sam said, walking towards the motel office.
Castiel and Dean remained standing at the trunk of the Impala, side by side with their arms crossed against their chests. There was a park right directly across the street from them. It was nearly seven o'clock at night and there were a few stragglers out and about in the fading light. Castiel felt an itch in his gums and closed his eyes, taking several unnecessary deep breaths of air.
"You all right, Cas?"
Castiel turned to see Dean, a concerned look on his face. How does he do it?
"I am...tired."
Dean stared at him for a second longer until Sam appeared with their room key. This room was only marginally better than the last one but at least the smell wasn't as awful.
"Okay, let's go through the notes and come up with a big picture," Dean announced while throwing down his bag. "We'll have this whole thing planned out by bedtime."
Why did we go with the first plan?
Castiel asked himself that as they rounded the corner, all three of them with pistols in their hands, Dean looking the slightly more beaten up of them.
"This plan sucks," Dean said.
"Three shifters," Sam said. "Three shifters working together."
"Brothers," Dean said. He and Sam shared a look.
After interviewing the victims (it turned out to balloon up to five after several hours of internet articles) and using their brains, their most logical solution had been just a shifter. One shifter. Two wasn't something neither Sam nor Dean had ever encountered. Three was unthinkable all together. And the familial angle...
"Come out," a familiar voice called, causing Dean to flinch, "Come out, wherever you freaks are."
Dean tucked his gun into the waistband of his jeans and pulled out a silver knife (by the handle) from his back pocket.
Sam nodded to him and Dean took the lead while he and Castiel played backup. The six figures met in the center of the factory floor. Three duos of identical men: two Deans, two Sams and two Castiels. It was obvious from the jump that everyone was going to split into their pairs.
Dean and his doppelganger circled around each other before Dean moved in for the attack, easily slicing the other with his knife. While it was distracted, Dean dove in for the kill, easily stabbing the shifter right in the heart, ending its life.
As the shifter crumpled to the floor, a shot rang out. Dean turned to find that Sam had easily dispatched his own look-alike leaving only one left. But Castiel and his double weren't in the room with them.
"Where's Cas?" Dean asked, running to his own brother.
"I think they're outside," Sam said, just as another gun discharged, causing them both to look towards the nearest door.
"Cas," Dean called, running outside with Sam right at this heels.
Lightning cracked overhead, illuminating the alley behind the abandoned factory.
"Cas?" Dean yelled again.
"...Dean."
The brothers ran and turned another corner, to the front of the building where one Castiel was lying dead while another was standing over him, holding a gun in his hands, his hands shaking. The alive Castiel turned his head to face the brothers and, with a hollow shudder, dropped his weapon so it clattered to the ground.
Dean looked back at his brother and walked forward to Castiel who was stumbling over to him. He walked just slightly to the left of Dean before leaning over and emptying the contents of his stomach. Dean put a hand on his back and rubbed small circles, hoping to make him feel just a little bit better.
By the time that they got back to their place, Cas was long ago passed out in the back seat and Sam himself looked like he was about to do the same.
"Home sweet home," Dean said, turning off the ignition. They both looked behind them at their sleeping friend.
Sam sighed. "Think he's going to be okay?"
"I don't know," Dean said back truthfully.
Who knew what kind of affect this would have on him.
"Why don't you head inside," Dean said. "I'll bring him in."
"You sure?"
Dean nodded and Sam opened his door and got out. Dean reached out to Castiel and just barely prodded him on the shoulder when the guy woke up with a sharp inhale.
"Easy. Easy, Cas."
It took Castiel a few seconds to come back to himself. He looked around the interior of the car, almost not even remembering where he was.
"Dean?"
"Hey Cas; you okay?"
Castiel opened his mouth and then shut it. He opened it again and, slowly, said, "I killed a man."
"I know."
"No, but Dean, he...he was only trying to help his family."
Dean frowned. "How do you know?"
"He told me. He told me just before...before I shot..."
His voice had risen at the simple word and Dean jumped as the guy began thrashing.
"Cas; hey, hey - calm down."
Castiel looked at Dean and felt tears running down his face. "Dean, this is the second person I've killed in a month. I-I..."
Right. Cas' first kill.
"You remember?"
The tears began to increase and Castiel let out a choked sob.
"Dean, she was my sister. She - I looked up to her. She got me to move out to Kansas because this was where she went to school and she had a good job at the hospital. She - she was going to get married. She was seeing this guy, a nice, good guy and he told me on the sneak that he was going to pop the question on her birthday which was last week and, god…"
Dean looked back at the house before getting out of the car and opened the backside door. He climbed into the seat beside him and put is arms around Castiel, pulling him in for a hug. Castiel cried some more on Dean's shoulder and Dean let him for as long as he wanted. When he felt him calm down, Castiel pulled away and wiped away his eyes.
"I remember my first kill was a girl too," Dean said. He leaned back and put his arm around the back of the seat.
"Sam wasn't there. I don't know what he was doing at the time. We were both sorta still panicking about being turned at the time. The Alpha gave us his offer, room and board, and we said we were going to think about it. While Sam was washing off the blood on his face, I left the motel on my own. There was this dingy little bar right next door and I went inside, knowing I needed a drink. In the corner, there was this...her name was Lindsay. She was a waitress probably on her break and sitting in the corner texting her friend or something. I don't know. I didn't care at the time but god damn it I was thirsty. She saw me, standing by the doorway and, I don't know, she came over to me and before I knew it we were outside and the hunger was just building and building and building and then...and then, it was over."
Somewhere in the process, Dean's hand ended up around Castiel's shoulders and Cas' head was against Dean's side.
"What happened to the body?"
"I don't know. Someone probably found it eventually. I told Sammy, told him what I did, and we were out of there before daybreak, heading for North Dakota."
"Dean?"
"Yeah, Cas?"
"I like the taste of fresh blood better than that refrigerated crap."
Dean chuckled and put down his arm. Castiel smiled and sat up.
"Come on and let's go inside, have some of that crap and, and we'll see."