Crowley sat on his throne of Hell. Hell's throne. Game of Hell. He hasn't quite coined a name yet but he was working on one. In any case, he was utterly bored. Two days was what Sam had said and so he readied his armies and he waited.
"Would it be so wrong to let Lucifer have Sam's vessel?" Crowley asked allowed but none of his loyal subjects dared to answer. Crowley scanned the crowd before him and picked out one of the demons. "Mortimer!" He called and a thin spindly boy stepped forward.
"Care to by assistant?" Crowley asked and Mortimer looked like he very much did not want to be Crowley's assistant but he nodded anyway. "Good. Tell me why we should not let Lucifer take Sam's vessel?"
"Because…he will probably kill you?" Mortimer said in a small trembling voice and Crowley nodded. Makes sense. "That is a good point, but tell me something. What if…we killed Sam instead? Hmm? Just killed him outright. Would there be any reason why we shouldn't do that, Mortimer?" The demon swallowed against his nerves and looked around the room.
"Anyone else?" Crowley asked looking around the room but silence was his only response. Crowley smiled at this. "Maybe…if it looked like an accident," he said softly. Inside his pocket, his hand traced the edge of a rawhide bone.
Dean woke to find Castiel sleeping beside him. It was not common for Cas to sleep like this, and even less common for him to sleep past Dean waking, but it was kind of nice to see Cas this way. Peaceful. Content.
It had been days since he and Cas really spent any decent time together but Dean had been slaving over his 'soul practice' with Eros (his words, not Dean's) and thought he might be ready to give things a little test run. That and he was dying to get Cas naked again. Nothing like trial by fire to see if he was doing things right.
Dean fell into the void in his mind. That part was easy enough now. He nestled in there, and got nice and cozy. The problem before was that he held onto the void too strongly. It kept slipping away from him because he was trying too hard. It made sense that Eros said this part came more naturally to Sam. Sam was always quicker to accept the situation they were in over Dean. No longer fighting was tricky, but Dean worked at it and Eros was relentless. Now it came as second nature. He didn't have to will the void to be there, it was just there.
Dean let a thin tendril of desire slip between the cracks of his void and run along Castiel's leg. The angel was fully dressed, laying above the covers of the bed, but it wasn't his vessel Dean was caressing. It was the essence of Castiel's true being. The one that he boasts to be taller than the Chrysler building. Well with it squeezed down into a tiny sexy human package, it wasn't too hard for Dean to reach him in the right places.
Castiel shifted, a soft high pitched moan escaping his lips, but he remained asleep. Dean smiled fondly. Eros was right about so many things. He shouldn't have teased Castiel. Playing with him the way he had. Castiel deserved to be worshipped; to be revered above anything and everything else. Dean let the wisp of his emotion snake higher, past Castiel's crotch to run the length of his chest.
"Dean…" Castiel whispered sleepily and he parted his eyes just enough to look at the hunter. Dean smiled and let his hands join his spirit. He worked open the buttons of Cas's shirt, and slid fingers along flesh to play gently at his left nipple. Cas leaned into the sensation and closed his eyes. He was calm, which was good, but he was also getting excited which was better. Dean pulled at his tie and leaned in close to let his teeth nip gently at Castiel's sides. At his ribs. He could feel Cas's hips hitch, rolling towards Deans lips, and Dean let his desire swirl around Castiel's waist, holding him in place.
"Oh Dean," Castiel gasped as Dean pulled at his clothing. He wanted his angel naked but not writhing. Wanting but not needing. He would heed Eros's guidance. He would submit.
"I liked watching you sleep," Dean said, pulling away to take his own sweatpants and t -shirt off. Castiel looked up at him, his eyes lazy and hooded. His skin flushed pink and firm. "You looked so beautiful. So peaceful." Dean felt like a girl saying this stuff. He really did. But Eros said he needed to worship Cas not own him, and Dean was amazed to see the fire light behind Cas's eyes. He moaned louder and his hands trailed up his own body. Fuck but Dean just wanted to… no. He would submit.
He leaned over, naked and hard from the influence of morning, and took Castiel's flaccid dick into his mouth. The angel groaned, his hips working against Dean to gain more advantage, and Dean let him. Castiel, bashful at taking charge, needed to call the shots this time. Dean split his desire into two and drew the tendrils of emotion up and down Cas's body while his mouth worked the angel hard.
"Dean…oh, Dean…you're so good to me," Castiel said through hitching breaths and Dean sucked him harder; making the muscles of his stomach spasm; making him groan out whatever else he wanted to say. This next part made him nervous but Dean wanted Cas so much. He wanted Cas in every way imaginable as he has told himself so many times before. This was just one more way, was it not? One more step to bring them closer together. To bond them together in an eternity of love and unity which was all Dean really wanted. Cas. His Cas. Eternally. Dean pulled away from Castiel and looked up into his liquid eyes.
"Cas," Dean said, a tremor in his voice, "I need you to help me with this."
"What Dean?" Cas whispered, breathless and shattered, "anything." Nervously, Dean pulled away from his angel and reached into his top dresser drawer. He pulled out a bottle of lubricant and returned to rejoin his lover in bed.
"I need you to prep me because I have never done this before," he said, his face on fire, his voice husky and low. Castiel's eyes studied the lubricant, and then they lifted to peer up at Dean; deep blue between thick black lashes.
"Lay on your stomach," he whispered.
Eros groaned miserably and stuffed a pillow over his head. Dean was projecting again. Projecting! Projecting! Projecting! And the things he was projecting! Eros did not want to see Castiel like that. No no no. He thought he was getting somewhere with the hunter but obviously they were going to have to start back at the basics. At least Castiel had enough sense to channel some of his excess Grace into the machete. Eros could feel it glowing like a beacon just a short distance away. Even if Dean doesn't get it all figured out, he won't explode Castiel as long as he continues to not be the aggressor, and he won't overwhelm Castiel as long as Castiel can funnel into the fulcrum. So either way Castiel stays alive which was great news for Eros.
Eros threw back his covers and got to his feet. It was morning anyway and Dean owed him some pancakes. He padded down the hall, past the older Winchester's room and winced at all the sounds coming from within in. The moaning and the panting and the Dean! Cas! Dean! Cas!
Eros never wanted to meet his soul-bound. Ever. Between Cas and his rabbit fornication and Gabriel with his puppy eyes, Eros was the only angel actually sane around there. Ugh! He rounded the corner to the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Oh. Hello," Eros said and Sam lifted his head. He looked absolutely miserable.
"Eros, how long has this been going on?" Sam asked and Eros glanced down to see Gabriel whimpering on the kitchen floor, his paws rubbing at his ears. Images flashed in Eros's mind from Gabriel. Dean and Cas. Cas and Dean. Dean projecting projecting projecting!
"I see that Gabriel has been kind enough to share the wealth of knowledge with you," Eros mused and Sam groaned.
"Make him stop, Eros! Make Gabe stop," Sam whined but one steadying look from Gabe made it clear to Eros that wasn't going to happen.
"You have come to see Dean then? You have a plan to stop Serrath?" Eros asked, trying to distract his mind. Sam just groaned.
"I can't think about that right now!" Sam said miserably and Eros nodded. If nothing else, at least Dean seemed to be really enjoying himself. And Castiel…he was beyond simple words like bliss, ecstasy, rapture.
"There is something you must know about this battle, Samuel," Eros said, wincing against the images pounding at his brain, "You are in great danger." A knock sounded at the door and Gabriel lifted his head to look up at Sam.
"I better see who that is," Sam said and Eros agreed, following him. They made their way to the bunker entrance, somewhat leery and highly distracted, but when Sam opened the door, Eros didn't expect to see the rumpled man standing on the other side.
"Shawn?" Eros exclaimed and Sam smiled openly at the last living Chosen.
"Hey, man, it's good to see you!" he said reaching out to give the man a hug but was surprised with Shawn shied away. Eros knew that Shawn had been given instructions on how to get to the bunker if he ever needed them and also phone numbers to call but it had been months. Everyone just assumed he went back to his normal hunter routine. Eros had collected his Recurve from him long ago and healed any lasting effects the bow might have had on him which were minimal. Now, seeing him like he was…Shawn looked paranoid. Strung out. Scared.
"Eros," he said, eyes pleading, "I need to talk to you. Alone." Eros glanced at Sam and at Gabriel, and then looked back to Shawn nodding.
"Yes, of course," he said hesitantly. The old Eros would have just blew the human off and slammed the door in his face. But he was trying to do better by his brother. Eros wanted to be just like Castiel. Maybe not Castiel in that very moment but… "Sam, I'm just going to go for a quick walk with Shawn. I'll be back in thirty minutes and then we can talk, okay?"
"Of course," Sam said with a smile and Eros slipped out the door. When the bunker door slid shut behind him, Eros turned toward Shawn and started to walk into the woods.
"It is good to see you again," Eros said, lying. He was learning that sometimes humans preferred lies over the honest truth. Castiel showed him that. Perhaps this interaction with Shawn would be a good way for him to experiment in the area of social interactions. This could be another opportunity at discovery.
"I'm sorry, Eros," Shawn said softly and Eros turned to look at him, confused. Suddenly a cuff snapped around his wrist and Eros jerked away reflexively. But he couldn't move. Eros flapped his wings, trying to retreat but they wouldn't bend. His breath grew short and shallow. He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe! "I'm so sorry," Shawn said again as the world swam around him and everything drifted to black.
"What happened!" Castiel demanded and Gabriel whined. He glared at his brother and then up at Sam. Behind him, he could sense Dean. Sense him far more clearly than he ever had before. His mind was humming over what had happened between them but he couldn't think about that now. His brother was missing. "Tell me!" Gabriel whined, drooping his head low like the bad dog he was and Sam looked just as miserable.
"It was Shawn. He came saying he wanted to talk to Eros alone. I didn't think…I didn't suspect…"
"We are at war!" Castiel screamed and his eyes blazed with the blue of his fury. "How could you possibly think he was safe!" He wanted to choke Sam. He wanted to kick Gabe. He was so angry he shook from the restraint of keeping himself back from them. Dean's hands fell on him. Soothing him. Gentle images bled into his mind, desperate to calm him.
"Cas, please. We'll get him back. We will get him back," Dean pleaded. Gentle words at his ear while his soul wove sweet bliss through Castiel's mind. Cas couldn't stay mad, no matter how much he wanted to, and when the anger fell away, all that was left was deep gut wrenching despair.
"Dean," he said as his face fell into tears. He cried and Dean pulled him into his arms. "He's just a boy, Dean. They will break him. He's just a boy!"
"I know," Dean said, his voice hard with anger for those that took Eros from them. "We will get him back. We will find a way."
"I don't understand why they even took him," Sam said and Castiel looked at him. Anger threatened to take reign of him again but he stamped it down. He shoved it away hard.
"You, Sam. They took him because of you," was all he could say. Dean was kind enough to speak on Castiel's behalf and explain the corruption of Sam's soul and Lucifer gaining access without his assent. These were things that Sam clearly did not know but they didn't seem to surprise him to greatly either.
"I suspected," he said softly, "that something wasn't right with me. I feel this tightening in my chest. Killing has become…natural." His words made Castiel want to shiver and he looked away to hide his disgust.
"But that still doesn't explain why they wanted Eros." Dean said, looking back to Castiel. Gabriel barked. Loud and clear like a happy dog on a summer day with a Frisbee heading towards him. Castiel looked over to see Sam staring down at his companion. "What Sam? What did he say?"
"A funnel," Sam said, suddenly nervous. "They need a funnel to siphon Lucifer from his cage into my body."
"A funnel like Eros made before," Dean said, understanding sinking in.
"When he pulled Gabriel from Sam's mind and placed him in his new body," Castiel said, finally finding his voice. Oh, Eros. Castiel closed his eyes.