Oh, yeah, everything is unbeta'd. All my mistakes are my own.
Disclaimer: Kripke owns all Supernatural characters. I'm only borrowing them.
Pairing: Dean/Castiel - very graphic. This is my first attempt at something like this because this muse wouldn't leave me alone. Please let me know what you think, constructively.
Overall Warnings: Rated M for swearing, graphic sexual content with S and M undertones, implied forced sexual torture and other adult subject matter.
Mainly swearing in this chapter.
Chapter 8 – The Aftershocks
Dean looked down at his food again but really didn't feel like eating anymore. He grabbed his plate and scrapped it off into the trash. He placed it on the countertop before grabbing his water bottle and heading for the couch in the study.
"So we got a case or something?" He called out as he passed the men still sitting at the table on the way to the study. He desperately needed a distraction and hunting always calmed him down. His back was to Sam and Bobby so he totally missed the exchange of glances between the two men at the table as he walked out of the kitchen.
"Not really," Sam returned reluctantly, following along with the change in conversation topics. "We were trying to find the demon that infected you to find out more about it but got sidetracked when you wouldn't wake up." Both Bobby and Sam got up and quickly straightened up the kitchen.
"Yeah, okay," Dean called out easily then vetoed harshly, "and I vote to never set eyes on that SOB as long as I still breathe. Oh, yeah, and why did it take you guys three days to call Gabriel to wake me up?"
Sam loped into the room while he responded irritably, "We didn't wait that long. The first two days he popped in and told us to let you rest, that you apparently needed the rest, but today he actually looked confused and assessed you. He touched your shoulder and it seemed to shock you awake."
"Huh," Dean commented.
"So why don't you want to hunt this thing down?" Bobby wondered in confusion as he sat down behind his desk and leaned back in his chair. He had a hard time seeing Dean let this go. It was very uncharacteristic of the normally eager hunter.
Dean blinked with a slightly confused look on his face then pursed his lips thoughtfully before shrugging, "Don't know. Just don't want to. Have you even found a trail for it or anything?" He so was not going to explain his real reasons for this. That was need- to-know information and no one but Cass needed to know. Besides, the absolutely last thing he needed was another dose of venom from this creature while Cass was decidedly unavailable.
Wow! That was a weird thought. Cass? Whoa. Wait. Why did his mind immediately go to Cass and not chicks? What the hell was he thinking anyway? Maybe it was because Cass was the one with him last time. Oh, yeah, and the sex, and the sex was like, beyond awesome! Holy crap, did he really think that? He so needed to find a chick, like yesterday.
"No, not really," Sam admitted dejectedly as he sat down in the chair in front of Bobby's desk. "It just disappeared. You don't remember anything about it?"
Dean stared at Sam and thought back to their previous hunt then admitted, "Just what you already know about the case, stuff that we went over during the hunt. Most of it came from you and your research. You know that's never my thing."
"What about when you were waiting for Cass to show up?" Sam prodded doggedly.
Dean frowned intently while he searched his memory and tried to remember anything but his mind kept shying from it, like it knew better than to remember. He shook his head and sighed in frustration, "I really don't, but somehow I know that I don't want to either, which is weird, right?"
Bobby frowned with concern but agreed, "Yeah, that's weird. Anything else you can tell us?"
Dean cocked his head while he thought. After a long minute or two, he shook his head. "Sorry, guys. Everything is blacked out."
"What about when you woke up with Cass?" Sam continued questioning.
"What about it?"
"How did you feel? What were your symptoms?" Bobby prodded, picking up the questioning.
"Weird. Confused and fuzzy. Killer headache. Exhausted and sore," Dean recited honestly. "Man, it was like the withdrawal from eating those Turducken sandwiches from Biggersons."
"The what from Biggersons?" Sam wondered with confusion.
"Withdrawal from a sandwich?" Bobby clarified at the same time.
"You know, that turducken sandwich. The sandwiched that roofied me in . . .," Dean prodded in return then trailed off uncertainly. "What was that hunt?"
Bobby and Sam exchanged another concerned glance before Sam told Dean, "Dude, what the hell are you talking about? You've never had that at Biggersons."
"Sure, I did," Dean argued firmly. He snapped his fingers. "The Jersey Devil Hunt with Bobby, remember?"
After another glance exchange, Bobby leaned forward onto his desk and denied firmly, "I've never hunted the Jersey Devil with you boys. There's no such thing as the Jersey Devil."
Dean stared unblinkingly at both of them, waiting for a punch line but it never came. "Seriously?"
Sam nodded and affirmed, "Seriously. Never."
"Huh?" Dean scratched his head in confusion. "Oh. Whatever. Good. That's good. That means that I didn't eat all that nasty gray goo, although those sandwiches were pretty awesome. Felt good for hours after . . .," he trailed off with a vague smile on his face.
"Any other hunts you suddenly remember that never actually happened?" Bobby wondered uneasily.
A flash of Castiel submerging in water then exploding into black streaks in the water raced through his mind. Another flash of Bobby flat lining quickly followed. Killing a beautiful young woman while her son looked on flashed after. Jo blowing him up. All of these images raced ending with the first one again. And again.
Dean reacted instantly. He jumped up and headed toward the door, fishing for his keys in his pockets. He paused and turned around to see Sam leaning against the study door frame, dangling Dean's keys in his outstretched hand. Sam taunted knowingly, "Looking for these?" Dean snatched them away quicker than Sam was expecting. "Hey!"
Dean turned abruptly to leave but Bobby's voice stopped him cold. "What are you running from this time, Dean?"
"Nothing," Dean argued irritably. "I just want to check on my baby. Make sure Sammy didn't wreck her again. Want to take her for a spin."
"Sam's going with," Bobby commanded wisely.
Dean rolled his eyes but agreed huffily, "Fine. Whatever. Just do not mess me up, Sammy. Need to be one with my girl."
Sam rolled his eyes and glanced at Bobby. Both men could tell Sam didn't want to be anywhere near Dean and his lovefest with his car. Sam sighed, "Fine. Just don't creep me out too much. Keep it first base level max."
"Oh, hell, no way. Definitely third base, at least. Bitch," Dean argued adamantly on his way out the door.
"No way, jerk," Sam countered stubbornly. "Second base is the tops that my nausea level can take."
Bobby shut the door on their bickering and breathed a heavy sigh of relief that they were out of his house for the moment. He loved them like his own but the stress of the past weeks had been getting to him and he really needed some quiet time. "Thank you, God," he prayed softly. "Please don't let them get into too much trouble." Then he remembered who he was praying for and sighed heavily. Although he hated to admit it, there were some things that were just too big, even for God.
Sam let out a very heavy, resigned sigh as he watched his brother take a long drink of his beer while Sam played with the label on his. He should have known based on Dean's reaction in Bobby's study that they would end up here. Dean was definitely hiding from something because this is what he always did when he tried to hide. He got drunk and had sex with as many girls as he could.
Sam eyed the pert, blond thing that his brother was currently flirting with. The poor girl was obviously way out of her league as she seductively rubbed her lithe body against Dean's left side. Sam really couldn't tell what Dean's reaction was from where he sat because Dean faced away from Sam as he leaned against the bar on his right side.
Dean's latest victim leaned up to whisper in Dean's ear, or nibble on it. Sam sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair. He resigned himself to a long wait, expecting Dean to disappear with his latest conquest for awhile.
He heard Dean laugh and smiled with relief at the sound. At least, his brother was alive and having a good time. He really shouldn't begrudge Dean that when Sam had been so worried about him all week. Sam took a long drink of his beer while he went back to surveying the room.
The sharp slap on his back between his shoulder blades caused him to spew some of his beer and choke. Dean laughed loudly in his ear then taunted mockingly, "You, my brother, have a serious drinking problem. You are supposed to swallow, not spew. It's sad. Really. There's no way we are related."
Then Dean changed the subject and urged lazily, "Come on. Bobby's probably worried by now."
Sam finally stopped choking and stared at Dean with disbelief as he listened to his brother's disappointment in him. Sam was still in shock when Dean turned and headed out of the bar after a wink in his previous conquest's direction. Suddenly realizing he was about to be left, Sam quickly snatched up his jacket and headed out the door. He barely got into the Impala before it peeled out of the parking lot.
Once he was settled, he turned to Dean and wondered, "Dude, what the hell?"
"What?" Dean huffed defensively.
"Don't 'what?' me, Dean. I know she offered . . ."
Dean smirked cockily, "Of course, she offered. I'm me. Who wouldn't want some of this?"
"Uh, me," Sam argued easily.
"Oh, man, that's gross," Dean snarked. "Even if you weren't my brother, I am not gay." Dean shuddered with disgust.
Sam rolled his eyes and tried to start again but Dean cut him off, knowing he couldn't deter Sam on questioning this. "Look, Sam, it's really simple. I just woke up from being infected with who knows what. There's no way I'm going to possibly pass something on that condoms cannot stop. Plus, just from a health stand point, I'm nowhere near my normal energy level. I need to recover a lot more before I do anything that might jeopardize my rep with the ladies. Know what I mean?" Dean finished with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.
"No, not really," Sam argued with his usual stuck up distain.
"Of course not," Dean muttered under his breath. "Anyway, why are you ragging on me about this anyway? I would have thought you would be relieved I'm actually doing something smart for a change."
"I am," Sam exclaimed calmly. "I really am. It's just . . . I don't know. Not what I expected maybe?"
Dean shrugged and warned easily, "Just don't get used to it."
"Fine, jerk."
Dean smirked and replied with bite, "Bitch."
When they walked into the kitchen, they were quickly confronted with an irritated Bobby and a very, pissed off Trickster. Bobby growled out, "There they are. Have at them. I'll be in the study. Stupid idjits." Bobby stomped out of the kitchen before either Winchester could say anything.
"So what the hell have you two boys been up to?" Gabriel growled menacingly as he approached the boys with the air a very upset wife, or mother. "Never mind, I can smell the smoke and alcohol from here. No pie tonight."
"Hey, don't punish me because Sammy has to drink," Dean argued hotly.
"What?" Sam exploded at the unjust accusation. "You had at least four while we were there, Dean."
"Oh, yeah? You sure about that, buddy boy?" Dean challenged smugly. "Did you actually see any empties?"
"What? Of cour-," Sam trailed off then paused at the knowing smirk on Dean's face. "Wait. What?"
"Pie, Sammy," Dean reminded tauntingly. "Pie. When have I ever done anything to jeopardize my pie intake?"
Sam's jaw dropped open in stunned shock then snapped shut firmly as he, too, stomped off into the other room to calm down from Dean's trick and taunting. He commented irately as he went, "You are such a freakin' dick, Dean."
Dean chuckled lightly then startled slightly when he suddenly found Gabriel in his personal space, sniffing him. "Dude, what the hell?" He hissed uncomfortably as he tried to put some space between the two of them.
"Have fun, dick?" Gabriel pried softly but with underlying disgust and menace.
"Some," Dean admitted with discomfort, "but not what you're thinking. Just a little flirting and messing with Sam's head. Not that it matters."
"What does that mean?" Gabriel wondered guardedly. Dean carefully scanned the area to make sure that Sam and Bobby were far enough away but Gabriel just blinked them outside. "Talk," he ordered briskly. "We are far enough away."
"Why are you going all Glen Close on me over this?" Dean questioned uneasily, "You do know that we were both infected, right? You know what the infection caused, right?"
"Of course, I do," Gabriel scoffed dismissively. "It was damn obvious from what I saw in the warehouse but, in the hotel, after ward, you were sane again. Or, at least, sane for you. That's what this is about. Well, mostly."
"What do you mean?" Dean demanded with dangerous overtones.
"What? Are you trying to tell me that you and baby brother didn't bump uglies again after I left?" Gabriel taunted knowingly.
"What makes you think that? Did you stick around and watch? I know you didn't so what makes you think that?" Dean bluffed arrogantly with practiced ease.
Gabriel smirked knowingly and he prodded, calling Dean's bluff, "How do you know I didn't?"
"Because Cass checked to make sure that you had left," Dean lied with such ready knowledge and certainty that he saw he'd convinced Gabriel.
"Huh?" Gabriel stalled, watching Dean's every move, but the hunter stared back at him with such a guileless expression that Gabriel was completely stumped, again. "So you and he . . . didn't . . . not even . . . even once?" The only change in Dean's expression was an arched eyebrow that continued to challenge Gabriel's assumptions. "Huh."
Dean stared at him a moment more, hoping that he'd gotten his point across and that this wouldn't come back to bite him even more in the ass than usual. Finally, he cleared his throat and wondered hungrily, "So . . . lasagna tonight, or what?"
Gabriel narrowed his eyes irritably for a moment then shrugged. "Sure. Promise is a promise but, if you're not an in-law, don't get used to this, Tweedle Dumber."
"Whatever, asshat," Dean insulted back, easily falling back into a rhythm.
After supper, Dean yawned and bid everyone good night. He took a quick shower to wash away the sickly, sweet perfume that clung to him for the pretty blonde in the bar then made his way to his bed. He threw on a pair of boxers then climbed thankfully into his bed. He was so tired that he quickly succumbed to the darkness with a contented sigh, with a fully sated stomach that included pie. Other than his concern over Cass's situation, things didn't get much better than this.
Of course, his worst nightmares ever started plaguing him that night.
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