Chapter 15

The fire swirled in a flurry of sparks as Dean poked at the coals with a stick. He was sitting next to Sam at one of many bonfires illuminating the caravan. He had listened to Sam for the good part of an hour before giving over to the idea of waiting another day to scout for a vampire nest. Sam brought up the Roadhouse scouting which was unfair to Dean and they both knew it, but he made his point and Dean realized that going out with a bunch of hunters at dusk to look for some vampire sign might not be the best idea. Dean reluctantly admitted that if Castiel was able to help them, it was worth the wait. After that was settled, Sam recounted everything Castiel had said. Word for word. Multiple times. For…consistencies sake. Knowing that Cas has been trying this whole time to help them burned a little spark of warmth inside Dean. He was still mad as hell though.

"Dean," a small voice said cautiously and he looked up from the fire.

"Hey, Kim, what's up?" The short hunter before him took on an expression of surprise and hesitation at Dean's response to her. She acted like she half expected him to ignore her for some reason. She glanced at Sam and then cleared her throat nervously.

"Um…," she went on, suddenly at a loss for words, "I just wanted to know how long we would be staying here." Dean studied the girl, young for a hunter, with a maze of dusty curls turning to flame in the firelight, and broke out his best cynical smile.

"Til a messenger of God brings his ass back here and gives us the ok to move," Dean said and nudged at Sammy's ribs. He turned and noticed Sam looked just as surprised as Kim did. Kim nodded, a quick jerk of the head, but Dean could tell she thought he was Looney Tunes. She spun on her heel and sprinted back to her friends. Well that was weird. Dean glanced at Sammy who was smiling at him.

"What?" Dean asked and Sam shrugged.

"It's nothing…it's just that…it's nice to see you smile again."

Dean snorted at that. Ok, so maybe it was nice to hear that Cas was trying to help them, but he was in no way off the hook. He should have been there helping them and not playing his cat and mouse game. What irritated Dean more was that Cas had left after giving his word he would stay, and had yet to return. The angel was just breaking his promises left and right it seemed. Dean tried to hold on to his layer of cold; to bury himself in it and find solace in its numbing embrace, but no matter how hard he clung to it, he could feel it slowly melting away. Underneath, deep down inside; in Dean's most secret of places, he could feel the burning thrum of pleasure at seeing Castiel's face again. Well… fuck.

A bit of ruckus off in the shadows and Dean was instantly to his feet. Was it trouble? Or was it…and just that sudden, Castiel was there. He made its way past members of the Fist who many had risen to their feet as well, and walked straight towards where Dean was sitting. Dean swallowed hard. Cas looked amazing. His face was stern and determined but his eyes also showed a hint of concern and trepidation. His jacket flapped behind him and billowed against the firelight. Dean could not seem to take his eyes off the man, and only when his lungs began to burn did he think to take in a breath.

"Sam," Cas said as he reached them.

"Welcome back Castiel," Sam said, trying to sound casual but failing miserably at it. The angel studied Sam for a moment and then his eyes shifted to Dean. He looked cautious and who could blame him. Dean's previous reception was not the most inviting, but who could blame him either? He was still so royally pissed off.

"Dean…" Cas's voice was soft and nervous, and Dean closed his eyes against the swell of emotion inside his heart.

"Cas we should probably take a walk," Dean said before he could talk himself out of it.

"I …see," Cas had not been expecting that. "But there is something you need to know first." Dean opened his eyes and looked up at the angel, only noticing for the first time that he wasn't alone. Behind Cas, peeking around his shoulder, was a boy.

"Dean, Sam… this is my younger brother… Eros." With that, the boy stepped around Cas and offered the brothers a wave. Dean threw his head back and roared with laughter. Oh this was great. This was so fucking great he just couldn't believe it.

"Dean?" Cas said hesitantly, and then Dean was lunging through the empty space between them. He connected his shoulder with full force into Eros's midriff and knocked him to the ground with a hard thud. The angel boy grunted but Dean hardly noticed as he laid in the beast.

"Dean!" Sam cried out. "Dean he's just a boy!"

"The fuck he is," Dean growled as he hit Eos again and again. It felt like his fists were connecting with cement. This was the boy that caused him so much pain. The one that opened a door to something amazing and wonderful only to have it ripped away from him a breath later. If it wasn't for Eros he would not have to lay awake at night to avoid dreaming about the taste of Castiel's lips. He would not have to imagine how Cas looked undressed and aroused. He would not have to wonder what the hell was going on in his brain that he couldn't stop hurting every time he thought of the angel. No, Dean wanted this little bastard dead. He struck at Eros again and again until strong hands wrapped around him and Castiel pulled him off. "No!" Dean screamed. "I'll kill him! I'll fucking kill him!" It was a disappointment to see Eros's pointy little nose unscathed, but a stream of blood seeped from a split lip into the angels curly dark hair. This satisfied Dean immensely, and he tried to lunge at the angel boy again.

"Dean…Dean…" Castiel pleaded and Dean stopped struggling against the angel's iron grip. To hear Castiel say his name in that way sounded very familiar to another night long ago.

Dean…Dean…

"Why did you bring him here, Cas?" Dean said coolly. He stopped struggling, but Cas would not let him go.

"He is here to help. He is an ally now." Dean watched as Eros found his feet and slowly rose before him. Blood continued to run from his lip and murder sparkled in his eyes.

"Boy, Cas, you sure know how to pick 'em," he said dryly and he sneered at Dean.

"Aren't you supposed to be a baby in a diaper with little white wings?" Dean said through a sneer of his own, and both man and boy squared off at each other.

"Enough! Both of you!" Sam said as he moved to stand between them.

"Sam," Cas said, still holding on to Dean, "can you please make sure Eros gets cleaned up? I need to take a walk with Dean." Without waiting for a response, Castiel pulled at Dean who put up a fight for the show of it. He didn't want this piece of shit boy angel to think Dean was Big Brother's whipping post. But eventually he turned because he did want to go. Cas had a hell of a lot to answer for.