Chapter 2

Castiel laid back down in the meadow and closed his eyes while he thought about what had just occurred. The sun felt so good on his skin he couldn't resist its warm comfort. While this was enough to allow him to reluctantly appreciate Eros's "gift", he still dreaded what the rest entailed. Eros was a fool boy but also an angel which made him dangerous. This was not the first time he experimented on emotions and Castiel was determined to have him pay this time.

While he enjoyed the new sensations, Cas did not like the way it made him feel. Suddenly, he worried about how Sam and Dean thought of him. He worried about embarrassing himself. He contemplated about whether or not to tell them the situation he was in and hated himself for his indecision. These things were never an issue for him before and it tormented him beyond reason that his own mind held him hostage now.

Cas contemplated remaining in the meadow indefinitely until his emotions returned to normal, but he worried if he was not enough of a spectacle for Eros's amusement, the young angel might do something to harm his friends. Cas never realized how deeply he worried over them or how often until now. Sam who was always so quick to rush into danger alone to prove himself, but was more likely to get himself killed. And then there was Dean…

The angel clutched at his chest and balled his shirt into his fist. What was this pain he felt? What did any of this mean to him? Never had he felt so vulnerable and alone as he did there in the meadow under that sun. He needed his friends to be there for him as he strived so hard to always be there for them. But what if they reject him? What if they push him away and make him go through this alone? No. He could not mistrust them the way he did his angel brothers. They were all he had in this world and at the moment, the world seemed pretty big to this one small insignificant messenger of god.

It was a good thing that Castiel still had his angelic powers unlike those times he spent as a human. He was able to move quickly back to where Dean and Sam last were and realized that they had checked out of their motel. How long had he been gone? They still carried the mark that hid them from all angels and so Castiel reached into the pocket of the coat he had draped on his arm to find the telephone device they insisted he carry. He moved his fingers without thought and punched in Deans number, but then paused. Staring at the familiar numbers on his telephone device, Castiel grew nervous. Feeling unready to explain himself to Dean, he cleared the numbers away again and dialed Sam instead.

"Hey Cas, what's up?" the familiar voice of the younger brother sounded from his phone and Castiel sighed in relief at the casual tone of his friend. If they were in danger, he would not be so pleasant in his greeting.

"Sam I need to speak with you urgently. Something is the matter and….I need your help"

"…well ok," Sam replied sounding a bit concerned. "It's been a while since we heard from you. We are just camped out in the Rodeo Motel off of route 25. We are still investigating that case with-"

"I'll be right there," Cass said, cutting off the younger brother, and then he pressed the button that indicated the call would end. He stood there for a moment, staring at the phone in his hands. This was a phone that Dean had given him and Cas promised not to lose it. Perhaps it would be appropriate for him to give Dean something in return for his generous gift of communication. Cas spent many moments contemplating this, realizing indecisiveness was just one more trait he suddenly acquired, before giving over to the idea in frustration. He space shifted his body to the entrance of what Dean refers to as a "greasy spoon" nearby to the location that Sam indicated. Slipping the phone back into his jacket, he tugged at the door and slipped inside.

"I understand what you are saying Dean, I just think that it's a bad idea," said Sam turning towards his brother. He was pacing again, feeling the weight of the cramped stuffy motel room on him, but he couldn't seem to stop. A walk would be ideal, but he worried that if he left the room his block-head brother would take off without him.

"You always say it's a bad idea but who ends up being right in the end? This guy," Dean's gruff voice retorted while he jabbed two thumbs towards his chest. They had been in the motel for almost a week now and Sam worried that the fake credit card they were using was going to max out soon. They had been tracking a group of ghouls up the eastern end of the state and had only recently caught up to them. What troubled Sam was that the moment they caught up to the ghouls was the moment the ghouls stopped running. Was it coincidence? Or perhaps this was their final destination? Sam suspected a vampire was involved. A very strong vampire to have four ghouls doing his bidding, and he did not like the idea of tackling such a foe without a little back up. It seems like someone was always cutting him open in these situations and drinking his blood. Dean, however, thought it was a great idea to just roll into their den unannounced and take the ghouls out before anyone knew they were coming. This crazy idea might even work except for Sam's hunch the lot of them already knew the brothers were there.

"Dean," Sam said, letting out a sigh and throwing himself across his bed, "Cas said he was coming. He needed to talk to us so let's just wait until we know what's-" A soft knock at the door cut Sam off mid-sentence. Dean, once lounging lazily on his bed, was to his feet in an instant with a gun in his hand. Sam recognized it to be the Colt- the special gun that allowed them to kill almost any supernatural creature- and was grateful to have it present. Dean edged his way over to the door and checked the peep-hole before stepping back and stuffing the pistol into the back of his pants.

"Cas," he declared over his shoulder and opened the door. Before them Cas stood, but he seemed different somehow. His eyes grew wide when he looked at Dean, then his gaze darted to Sam, and back to Dean once more. His mouth worked for a moment, struggling to find words, and he clutched at a large bag in his hands. His coat was also off, and slung over his shoulder.

"Dean," his voice was soft and almost sounded afraid to Sam. It immediately rang warning bells in his mind. Something was wrong.

"Cas?" Dean said in response, both puzzled and wary, "What's up buddy?" Cas stared at Dean a moment longer and then shook his head as though to clear his thoughts and held out the large bag in front of him like an offering. The bag appeared to be pocked with grease stains and was heaping full.

"I wanted to thank you for the telephone device," Cas said sheepishly as he looked down at his feet, "I brought you bacon cheeseburgers. They are your favorite."

"Now we're talking!" Dean said as he snatched the bag out of Cas's hands, "whoa, Cas, how many burgers are in here, it weighs a ton?"

"Thirty five," Cas responded matter-of-factly, "Although I took a bite out of one. So perhaps that should be revived to thirty four point seventy five." Sam laughed at this. Surely Cas was making a joke. Did Cas ever make jokes?

"Wow, Cas, that's great, cause I'm fricken starving!" said Dean and Cas looked up. He beamed with an enormous smile. Sam never saw Cas smile like that before. Something was definitely different about the angel.

"Yea Cas, we're both a little hungry. We have been in here all day trying to figure out a plan for this case. Did you get me anything?" asked Sam and Cas's smile quickly vanished. He looked at Sam, utterly distraught, and then his eyes dropped to his feet once more.

"I got the burgers for Dean. I wanted to thank him for the telephone device."

"You mean the cell phone," Sam said and Cas nodded without lifting his head. "The one we got you six months ago?"

"I am really grateful to have it." Cas said and glanced at Sam apologetically. Sam studied Cas for a moment trying to make sense of all these facial expressions and emotions. His face also seemed to be…tanner. He glanced at Dean who was already finishing the first of many bacon cheeseburgers, then offered for Cas to sit down.

"Cas," Sam said joining the two men at the small motel table, "you said you needed our help. What's going on?" Cas rested his hands on the glass topped table and started at them intently. He seemed to not be able to meet either brother's eyes. After a while, he found the voice to speak.

"I was visited by the angel Eros today. It seems that he is up to his old tricks."

"Eros? I haven't heard of this angel before. Not in the demon war or at any other time," said Sam.

"He is a different kind of angel," Cas said softly, his eyes unmoving from his hands. "He is only a boy first of all, a few hundred years old, but also he likes to play games. Experiments he calls them. You might have heard of the last series of experiments he conducted…back he went by a different name among the humans of the time. Back when they thought him to be a god." Cas looked up at Sam then and his eyes shone with what looked like desperation. It gave Sam chills to see him looking so defenseless.

"What was his name?" Dean said around bites of burger and Cas glanced at his brother before dropping his eyes to his hands once more.

"I believe the name he was given long ago….was Cupid."