Oh, yeah, everything is unbeta'd. All my mistakes are my own. Also, didn't do quite as many re-reads and edits so there will probably be more mistakes than usual.
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.
This chapter is mainly Swearing and other adult subject matter.
Chapter 18 – The Resolution
Loose papers suddenly flew off of Bobby's desk as the rush of wind stirred up the dusty, musty air in Bobby's study. Both Sam and Bobby quickly attempted to catch them and keep them on the desk. The air died down just as suddenly.
They both scanned the room and discovered Dean passed out on the couch again. Sam growled irritably, "Gabriel, you dick. What the hell? Why do you angels always bring him back like this?"
Bobby had already made his way over to Dean to check on him while Sam scanned the room. They both hear a flutter and glanced up quickly to spot a single piece of paper floating down from the ceiling. Sam, of course, snatched it up and read the contents aloud.
"Calm down, Gigantor. Big bro is perfectly fine. Simply exhausted. Am back on the demon hunt. Send a prayer if needed. This message will self-destruct in 5, 4, Bored now."
Sam's shout of shocked pain brought Bobby's startled eyes over to the fiery paper that Sam quickly dropped. Bobby bit his lip to keep from laughing at Sam's expression which was swiftly morphing into Bitchface 24. Sam bit out warningly, "Gabriel, I am so stocking up on holy oil."
Both of them swore that they heard a soft laugh before silence reigned again.
- SPN - SPN -
"You are such a putz," Lucifer complained in a high pitched, whiny voice.
"We've already played it a million times," Michael gritted out, totally losing patience.
"But, I'm booorrrreeedddd," Lucifer whined with all the beginning signs of a major tantrum.
"Oh, Father," Michael exhaled wearily, pinching his nose in an effort to stave off a major migraine that was named Lucifer for a reason.
"PLAY WITH ME!" Lucifer yelled in the perfected imitation of a two year old. Michael growled in response and tried to smite him, forgetting how weakened his powers were inside this prison cell.
"Is this a bad time?" Gabriel wondered facetiously while he stooped down to check on an apparently comatose Castiel. He frowned slightly in concern. He lightly touched his brother's forehead to check on his grace.
"Is it over?" Michael questioned vaguely. Gabriel arched an eyebrow in question but removed his hand after he found out that Castiel was simply recharging. Michael continued, "It broke, didn't it?"
Gabriel glanced back at Castiel and viewed his angelic image. He couldn't see any mating bond anymore, just the one from Hell which was much weaker. But he wanted to be positive, not that it really mattered at this point since time was up anyway. Still, he confirmed with Michael, "Was it painful?"
Michael grimaced sympathetically while he pronounced sarcastically, "Understatement."
"No kidding," Lucifer confirmed under his breath. "It's probably the worst torture ever devised."
Michael huffed out something between a laugh and grimace, "Yeah, Luce said it was too horrible even for him. He'd never put something like that out on the floor. Guess we're just lucky that way."
Gabriel shrugged and commented wryly, "Probably why He didn't make us very sensual creatures."
"And why there hasn't been a mating in forever," Michael added solemnly.
They all stared at each other a moment before Lucifer returned to his previous train of thought. Lucifer shared his observation emotionlessly, "Bored now. So, Gabriel, we need you to answer a question for us?"
"Oh, Father," Gabriel flinched vaguely, remembering the painful questions Lucifer used to ask eons ago. "No. Just say no."
Gabriel immediately obeyed and gritted out a firm, "No." Not that it did any good where Lucifer was ever concerned.
Michael shook his head in defeat while Lucifer ignored Gabriel's answer and questioned solemnly, "So was it the pizza man or Crowley?"
"What?" Gabriel blinked in surprise.
"Who did it?"
"Who did what?" Gabriel wondered, totally confused as to what the current topic was.
"Who did Castiel get with?"
"Get with? Oh, mate? Well, he only watched the pizza man, from what I understand, but he did make a deal with Crowley."
"So they kissed?" Lucifer clarified with the eagerness of a town gossip. "Wow. Talk about slumming. Did he use tongue? The pizza man would have been better for him. I heard that he can never go the distance in spite of his extra length, if you get what I mean."
He suddenly turned to Michael, ignoring both of his speechless brothers, and taunted, "You owe me an apology and a grooming session so start grooming, loser."
"What? No way," Michael ordered with heat. "He did not say that."
Gabriel blinked, still very unwillingly stuck on the grooming thing, and jerked back to the present then stated disgustedly, "Yeah, well, I have to . . ."
"So you are saying that Castiel shared a mating bond with Crowley?" Michael prodded Gabriel for clarity.
"What? Oh, hell, no," Gabriel exclaimed with disgust.
Michael automatically took that as a victory and crowed, "Ha! In your face. Now you have to apologize to me and Father."
"No, I don't," Lucifer argued. "He said that Cassie only watched the pizza man so you didn't win either."
Gabriel stared in wide eye awe at the interaction of his two brothers, unable to believe it. Then they both turned on him and demanded impatiently, "Then who is it?"
"How would I know?" Gabriel snapped back irately, really wishing Castiel would wake up. He discretely prodded Castiel to try to wake him up and evaded, "What makes you think that I know anything?"
"Of course, you do," Michael observed dismissively.
"Oh, don't bother," Lucifer huffed irritably. "He's taking the fence again, just like always. You'd think that he'd be tired of it poking him in the ass, but then again, maybe that what he . . ."
"Lucifer!" Michael snapped sharply.
"What?" Lucifer protested hotly. "I see him trying to wake up Cassie right now but, after what he just went through, we all know that he'll be out for quite a while."
Lucifer paused thoughtfully then smiled wickedly and guessed, "It's Meg. After all, he did deep tongue her, too. She told me so, and she looks a hell of a lot better than Crowley."
"He's not bound to a demon, Luce," Michael argued with exaggerated patience. "It has to be a human. Maybe it's his vessel's wife. Keeping it all in the family. That would be the right thing to do if he had to bind someone."
"But why would he have to do that? Why would he have to? Didn't Father remove our heats?" Lucifer reasoned logically.
"Yeah, but Castiel became human for a while when he was fighting against us," Michael hypothesized logically. "A heat could be a byproduct of his return to grace."
"Huh," Lucifer acknowledged then smiled widely. "Remember your last heat? Boy, did you piss Anna off during that?"
"Ugh, don't remind me," Michael grimaced guiltily.
Gabriel interrupted disbelievingly, "Seriously?" Both of his brothers looked at him in surprise and Gabriel continued, "This is what you two do down here all day. Gossip?"
Michael huffed out irritably, "What else are we going to do? After all, we've been stuck together for how long, Earth time, now?"
"A little over two Earth years," Gabriel supplied willingly.
"So a while," Michael reiterated wearily. "Needless to say, we've already gotten a lot of it out of our systems."
"I'm BORED!" Lucifer yelled in frustration.
"Oh, shut up," his brothers growled in frustration.
Lucifer's jaw dropped in shocked surprise then he sulked, "You two always did gang up on me. You always did like Gabriel best."
"I. Did. Not," Michael gritted out through his clenched jaw.
Meanwhile Gabriel, being Gabriel, made the situation worse by admitting with cheerful pride, "True, he did, because I'm not a spoiled, whiny brat. I am special."
Michaela groaned in despair while Lucifer snarked under his breath, "Oh, you're special alright. Special Ed."
Gabriel smirked and wondered facetiously, "That all you got? Because, that was weak. Just like you are."
Lucifer pouted then muttered sulkily, "Bet you'd play with him."
"Oh, wow. That's so my cue to leave," Gabriel acknowledged wryly and saluted. "Toodles. Have Cassie call me when he wakes up." Gabriel blinked out and ignored his two brothers trying to hitch a ride with him because he knew that he was the only one with the power, or God given right, rather, to do what he was doing. The last thing he heard was Michael responding to the last accusation.
"There is no way I'm playing 'I Spy' again until we get a different view," Michael stated firmly. "I mean, hello, we are in a damned box, literally. The only thing we can spy is the freakin' walls."
"Ha! I got you. You're wrong," Lucifer gloated happily. "I spied Cassie! I win. You lose. In your face, you big disgrace."
Gabriel swore that he heard flesh hit flesh. He wasn't sure if it was Michael hitting Lucifer or face palming himself at this point. But he so was not going back there to find out which.
- SPN - SPN -
Bobby glanced up for the fifth time to check on Dean from where he sat behind his desk. He narrowed his eyes at what he saw and unconsciously froze the rest of his body while he tried to figure out what he was seeing. He searched his memory to figure out if this was normal for Dean.
Sam sensed Bobby's tenseness and glanced up at Bobby's strange expression. He couldn't remember Bobby looking like that unless there was something wrong. He followed Bobby's line of sight and saw that he was staring at Dean. Sam frowned in confusion and demanded, "What?"
Bobby blinked his eyes and glanced at Sam then motioned to Dean as his eyes quickly went back to study the subject of his concern. He wondered hesitantly, "Does he normally do that?"
Sam blinked and checked Dean's slumbering form again. He couldn't see anything amiss so he prodded Bobby, "Do what?"
Bobby shot Sam an 'are-you-really-a-moron' questioning look then clarified briskly, "His eyes."
Sam stared at Dean's eyes and finally saw what was spooking Bobby. Dean's eyes were slightly open, like he was only pretending to be asleep but in reality he secretly watched them. His actual eyes on the other hand were shifting back and forth behind the lids. It almost reminded him of a robot, or Cylon from that Battlestar Galactica show they used to watch as kids.
Sam frowned heavily with worry and admitted with concern, "I've never seen that before."
"Are you sure?" Bobby verified as he got up and wandered over to where Dean laid on the couch. He squatted down by Dean and looked closer at the eyes. He saw them shift back his way then it got really weird. The eye closest to him stopped to stare at him while the other continued its motion.
"Holy crap," Sam breathed, obviously freaked out.
Bobby wasn't much better, staring back at the eye that continued to focus on him. He narrowed his eyes to focus on it better when he noticed something else. He called out hesitantly, "Uh, Sam, are his eyes glowing?"
In the next instant, something changed and Bobby shook his head to clear it while Sam answered uncertainly, "I don't think so." He glanced at the window and saw the clouds shift again so that the sun wasn't shining in the window anymore. Sam prodded slightly, "Do you think they are?"
"I . . .," Bobby trailed off as Dean shifted slightly and turned so that his whole body faced the back of the couch. He settled and soon they heard soft snores coming from the slumbering man. Bobby straightened up and shook himself mentally. Finally he answered, "No, it was just a trick of the light, I guess." Deep down, he wondered if that was true.
- SPN - SPN -
A few of hours later, Dean stirred again and shifted onto his back, slowly blinking his eyes open. He wasn't surprised to find himself in Bobby's living room. He quickly found Bobby, sitting behind his desk and staring at Dean.
Dean sighed heavily, still really wiped but knowing he needed to get up. This wasn't the most comfortable couch in existence. He ran a hand over his face to help wake himself up some. Finally, he commented wryly, "Yeah, it's not creepy at all that some people have such a kink for watching me sleep."
"Yeah, 'cuz you're just that cute," Bobby snarked with his usual sarcastic gruffness. "How ya feeling?"
Dean exhaled heavily while he sat up and surveyed his body for answers. He questioned as he waited for his body's response, "Where's Sam?"
"Out getting grub," Bobby answered easily. "Now answer the question."
Dean pursed his lips thoughtfully before admitted easily, "I'm a little hungry. Thirsty. Could sleep a week but, overall, I'm good. Better, actually."
"And the angels?" Bobby prodded reluctantly.
"Won't be back, unless they catch a lead on the demon," Dean volunteered emotionlessly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Dean smirked slightly, even though it was the last thing he felt like doing.
Bobby narrowed his eyes and pried with concern, "And how do you feel about that?"
Dean eyed him dubiously before he verified disbelievingly, "Really, Bobby? We're going to talk about our feelings now? What? Planning a tea party? Or maybe a brunch? Do I need to dress up? Just so we can catch up?" Bobby just arched his eyebrow at all the questions.
Dean shook his head and snarked, "Well, I got that all out with the last three women last night so I'm good now but, hey, if you need a shoulder to cry on. . ."
"Watch it, boy," Bobby warned darkly. "I can still pull you over my knee."
Dean scoffed with obvious disbelief and slowly stood up, announcing to the room in general, "I'm taking a shower."
"Thanks. I'd appreciate it," Bobby snarked back, causing Dean a small grin. He waited until Dean was almost out of the room before he offered seriously, "Dean. You do know if you ever need to talk . . . about anything . . . I'm always here."
Dean froze in the doorway at the call and stood there with his back to his foster father but he didn't turn around. He heard every word but mostly he heard the underlying concern. He knew that he owed them both an explanation but he just couldn't, especially now. He felt his eyes burn at the offer and everything else that had happened to him over the past couple of months. When the hell had he grown so damn soft?
He cleared his throat softly then replied huskily, "Yeah. I know, Bobby. And thanks." With that, he hurried out of the room, before he lost it.
- SPN - SPN -
Dean felt much more alive after the shower and quickly descended the stairs toward the kitchen. He could hear Sam complaining, as usual. Whenever Sam got worried, he complained constantly as a way of relieving his emotions. He heard Sam growl, "He didn't say why they kept disappearing with him?"
"No, Sam, he didn't."
"Well, then, how does he know they won't be back?"
Dean stepped into the kitchen and easily found the food on the table in his spot. He felt his stomach growl with extreme hunger. He offered as he sat down to eat, "I know they won't be back because they've gotten all that they can out of me and they know it."
"What were they getting?" Sam demanded hotly.
"My subconscious," Dean lied easily. After all these years, it was as easy as breathing. "They, like you, keep thinking that there some clues for the demon buried in my subconscious somewhere so they've been . . . searching it. But there's nothing that they didn't already know."
"So why couldn't they just do that here?" Sam countered darkly.
Dean sighed. He had known that Sam wouldn't let this go easily. He steeled himself and adlibbed, "Because it's a painful process, Sam. Remember when they searched for your soul? Well, that's kind of what they were doing and I didn't want you two watching that."
"Which is why you're unconscious whenever they bring you back," Bobby surmised easily.
"That makes sense," Sam admitted reluctantly. "So you are sure that they will not be coming back for you?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm sure," Dean stated firmly, unable to keep all of the bitterness out of his voice. He was sure they at least heard a bit of it. Luckily, they didn't question it.
"Good to know," Sam confirmed seriously. "So now what?"
"Now, I get some rest then we hunt, Sammy," Dean insisted uncompromisingly.
"Dean," Sam started reluctantly.
"I'm fine, Sam," Dean promised with the excuse. "Now that the God squad is leaving me alone, all I need is some rest and food then I'll be good to go."
Sam stared at him hard, trying to sort out the truth, and then he nodded. "If you rest the next couple of days and don't throw up anymore, we'll find something to hunt."
"What about the demon?" Bobby wondered uncertainly.
"We'll keep our eyes open but, since we haven't seen a damn sign in over two months, we need to move on. Besides, I really think all that's been resolved now," Dean replied easily, obviously having thought all this through thoroughly.
"So you haven't been getting anymore visions?" Sam verified.
Dean shook his head and added, "Nope, and I know which of the previous ones are questionable so I'm good. Just need to go out and kill something."
Sam studied his brother a long moment then finally relented, "Alright. I'll start looking around and seeing what's out there."
"Awesome," Dean commented with a wide grin while he wolfed down his food in record time, relishing the lack of nausea for a change.
He had all he needed now. He had Sam and Bobby. He had his health, kind of. He'd have a hunt soon. Yeah, he had all that he needed, right here in front of him. He smirked happily, even as he thought that. All the while he desperately wondered how many times he'd have to repeat that before he really believed it. He also really tried to ignore the voice that wondered if all that was true, why did he feel so completely empty inside?
The End
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