Ch. 6 The Headless Rider
a/n: Hello! Welcome to chapter six of Seeing In Black. This chapter is starring Dean, and sorry about last chapter. I forgot that lines weren't ffnetable lol. I'll just be using :: for any break/POV change from now on. Anyways I just want to say thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them. I have a small following now which makes me happy :). Looooong chapter ahead folks. . . brace yourselves.
Chapter warning(s): Language, angst, violence, talk of male pregnancy, light smut.
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, or KQ92 I only borrow Eric Kripke's wonderful characters.
::
She was running, the ominous pattering of hoof prints in the distance growing ever nearer. It was cold and rainy and she could feel her body start to tremor but she couldn't feel it with the thud of adrenaline rushing in her ears. All Margaret could think about at the moment was her husband and the children and how she wished she could have handled things differently. She knew she wouldn't get the chance again.
The hooves drew ever so close and the air turned bitter cold. She could see the puffs of her breath escaping her mouth and frost starting to form on the grass beneath her feet. Unable to move anymore, she turned around to stare at the front quarters of an enormous, black steed—it's eyes glowing a fiery red. Straddling the horse was a figure of a man shrouded in black, a traveler's cloak billowing about him. She turned her emerald gaze upward to see the rider's face but funny thing was, the rider didn't have a face. He didn't have a head at all. And no wonder! He was carrying it under his left arm.
The head looked as though it had once been a handsome man, but now the head was decaying and rotted, his mouth stitched together at the sides. It was emitting a glow that illuminated the forest around them.
All the shock and terror the girl would have felt was swallowed by the cold sensation of remorse. All of her transgressions resurfacing in her mind, mingling and blending together until it turned into a revolting culmination of evil. 'This is the end' Margaret thought to herself. 'Everything I've sacrificed. All the people I've hurt. This is where it ends." She was almost happy.
"Yes, I will now incorporate the darkness inside of you within my body. Your spirit, however, will no longer be able to exist in this world." The disembodied voice was steadfast, male, and undeniably alluring. However, no words escaped the lips of the head under it's arm. It was as though the voice was only heard in her head. He reached a leather gloved hand along the side of his horse and pulled out what seemed to be a whip made of bones, the confiscated spine of a skeleton. "At last, your suffering ends here, Margaret Jason," The last thing he said, her name, was definitely spoken from the head cradled under his arm.
The dull thud of a body hitting the ground echoed softly in the forest. A pale hand rest against the heart of a beautiful woman with red hair, a small smile on her face as she lay cold in the grass.
::
The next day was like a roller coaster for Dean. At first chance, the Winchesters headed as far south as they could to get away from the police trying to hunt down the pervert that caused the disturbance at the Holiday Inn (i.e. Dean Winchester). Not only were the awkward silences between he and his brother driving him insane, but he hadn't heard hide nor hair of Castiel yet. He was starting to wonder if the angel really was upset with him after all.
Well it's not like you could blame Dean for what he said, right? What normal straight guy would want to acknowledge the fact that he just threw away all of his scruples and slept with a man? It was a normal reaction! And if Cas couldn't understand that, well, then it was probably better if they didn't talk anyways.
At least, that's what Dean kept telling himself.
They avoided the main highways, opting instead to go the back ways. Where they were going, they didn't know, they just knew they needed to get out of state, and fast. Dean was currently driving, and trying to get into the groove of one of his favorite songs on KQ92, but he just wasn't feeling it. He was certain Sam knew how uneasy he was at the moment, but he hadn't mentioned it until now.
"Dean, maybe we should talk abou—"
"No." Sam sighed in frustration.
"Come on, man. A lot of crazy shit has happened in the past couple days. We need to sort it out, you know that," Dean rolled his eyes. Leave it to Sammy Winchester to play Mr. Voice of Reason.
"I really am not feeling up to soap operas right now, little bro,"
"You know you're wondering about Cas, I am too. I think we need to figure out where to go from here. I mean, we don't even know if you're pre—"
"Don't even say it!" Dean snapped. This was the last thing Dean wanted to talk about right now. Sam rolled his eyes and threw his head back
"You have to acknowledge that we need to start discussing it, man. It's serious we have to figure out a course of action if that's what happened. It's not something we can ignore, Dean. You know this," Of course Dean fucking knew it, but that didn't mean he needed to be all mature about it just yet. Dean veered off the road and slammed on the breaks, turning to Sam.
"How would you feel if suddenly you were told that you had the ability to get pregnant, you just slept with the dude-slash-angel that you're pissed at one hundred times over, and now said dude-slash-angel has just up and disappeared?" Sam didn't say anything, just bore into Dean with his equally green eyes with sympathy that annoyed the shit out of him.
Dean gripped his forehead in his hands and threw his head back against the seat. He just wanted to disappear. He wanted to see Cas and he was freaking right the fuck out right now. Sam didn't understand just how horrifying this all was. Last week he was straight and completely baby-proof, but now it was all backwards and nothing made sense anymore.
"Look, Dean—"
"Sam I said—"
"Just listen to me, dammit!" Dean looked at his brother, a bit startled at the anger in his voice. Sam took a deep breath. "I know that right now you're more uncertain about things than you ever have been before. There's a ton of shit that's weighing you down and you're feeling things that you never dreamed of feeling. It's freaking you out, I get that. I know I couldn't fathom all the stress that's on your shoulders right now but you can't just bear it all by yourself. I know you don't want to do it, but you need to rely on me, and you need to rely on Cas too. You're going to crack if you don't and we both know that Winchesters going crazy is not a good thing," Sam looked off to the side a moment before looking back to Dean. "Lucifer says hi, by the way," Dean's mouth was parted slightly as he looked at his brother in awe.
Well hot damn, Sam might be on to something here. He exhaled and ran his hand through his hair, trying to compose himself. "Maybe I should try calling Cas," He conceded. Sam nodded.
"Probably a good idea," Dean cleared his throat.
"Eh-hem. Castiel, I pray that you come here and um. . . please?" Suddenly there was a flutter of wings and Dean looked back to see Castiel, looking rather irritated.
"I thought you would never call." He said, then looked at Sam in question. Sam shrugged.
"He made me promise not to call until he said it was ok. I figured you guys needed a bit of a break after being cooped up with each other for nearly a week," Castiel's lips tightened and he turned his attention back to Dean.
"Dean, I've been worried. How are you?"
"I've had better days I guess. Still trying to wrap my mind around the whole. . . well you know. Did you talk to your Dad by the way?" Cas sighed.
"He would not see me. Nobody will tell me where I can find him either. All the angels in heaven are rather. . . adverse towards me. I found myself in a few. . . disagreements,"
"Are you alright?" Sam asked, concerned.
"I am fine. I just wish I had some answers," Cas looked up to meet Dean's eyes. The angel didn't look happy at all and Dean felt his gut wrench because he was certain that this was partly his fault.
Hell, it's not like it's my fault that this all happened anyways. There's no reason for me to be feeling guilty. . .
Dean told himself that, but as he looked into Castiel's emotion-filled blue eyes, he couldn't help but feel like something was horribly wrong. Sam cleared his throat, breaking their eye contact.
"Ah-hem. . . We should probably get moving? They're still looking for us. . ."
"R-Right," Dean said nervously. He put the car into drive and they were soon heading off into the cold sunset.
::
The boys found themselves in a small town of McLeansboro, Illinois, staying at some crappy motel. Dean and Cas hadn't really spoken since he'd joined them, which was really making Dean uneasy. The angel would barely even acknowledge Dean's presence and it was really starting to get on the hunter's nerves.
What was really annoying was that Sam was catching onto the obvious tension between the two. Every time Dean would say something to Cas, only to have him nonchalantly brush the older hunter off, Sam would give Dean this look. It was the look that said "I'm reading into this situation and we're going to have a big, soap opera-esque, talk-it-out session if you don't fix it by yourself,". Dean ground his teeth, he really hated that.
He also hated that this hotel only had one towel in a two-queen room. Come on people.
"I need some extra towels," The eldest Winchester said, grumpily. The lady, big, curly haired and cranky just glared. Dean cleared his throat and spoke louder. "I need some towels. . ." She glared harder. Dean gritted his teeth. "I need some towels, please?" The woman smiled wide, bearing her teeth of which Dean noticed she was missing a few.
"Well why didn't you say so? I'll be right back with that," Dean crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently while leaning against the desk. He could really do without lessons in mannerisms, thank you very much. Suddenly a woman, tall and blonde, accompanied by a child that looked like her but only about a foot or so shorter, obviously her son, walked out into the lobby. The boy looked really put out, the mother, annoyed.
"But I saw it!"
"I'm going to go off on your dad for letting you watch horror movies before you go to bed." The boy stomped his foot.
"But it was real. He was riding a horse and he didn't even have a head! It was wicked awesome!"
"Look Benjamin, there's no such thing as headless horsemen. Really, I didn't even know we had that movie!"
"We don't! I don't even know what movie you're talking about," Dean cocked a brow at this. Of course it's that movie with Johnny Depp she was talking about. It wasn't that old. Kids these days. Don't even know their history.
"And now you're lying!" The boy glared at his mom in frustration.
"It was real mom. Even Dad saw it. He just told you he didn't so you wouldn't think he was crazy. You know I bet that's how that president lady got killed!"
"Okay that's enough! I don't want to hear anymore about this headless man. And show a little respect, honestly! Come on now," The woman ushered the boy out the door and Dean watched them leave. That was a bit weird. That kid didn't seem like he was lying but kids were kids after all. They could convince themselves anything was real. But a mysterious murder in a small town with rumors about a headless horseman? Sounded like the beginning of a great distraction.
::
"Margaret Jason, President of the Donations sector of Public Department for Homeless Women and Children. She was recently indicted on counts of embezzlement and fraud of the trust funds. She'd wriggled her way out of them, however she is—was going through a divorce for admitted adultery. The courts weren't in her favor and her husband was about to get everything," Dean snorted.
"Well it's no contest for the guy now. He's gonna be comfortable for a few years,"
"That's the thing. The husband is currently donating all of his and his deceased wife's assets to the organization,"
"Aww, a boyscout," Sam snapped his laptop shut.
"Anyways, she was found dead in the forest. No evidence of foul play, or any clues as to how she died. Apparently her body just. . . stopped,"
"That's weird," Dean said.
"Yeah, and get this. She had a smile on her face. Like she was the happiest woman in the world when she died,"
"Weirder. . ."
"I don't know about this headless horseman business, but think it's at least worth checking out?" Dean grinned.
"I'm always up for a job, Sammy-boy," Sam looked away for a moment before turning back to his brother, concern in his eyes.
"Look, Dean about the Plan," Dean bit his cheek, he'd been hoping Sam would have forgotten about that. "Gabriel told me about your. . . progress," No such luck, Dean supposed. He steeled himself before answering.
"And what did he tell you, Sam?" Sam sucked in a breath before clapping his hands against the edge of the table.
"He said that you can See Cas's wings, Dean. I was going to wait for you to tell me yourself, but it was starting to seem like you were just going to leave out that little piece of information,"
"Look, it's not like it's important until the Leviathans start to move, right? Can we just keep it on the down low for now?" Sam stared at him, not impressed. Dean's lips tightened in irritation. "Please?"
"It's up to you, bro, but you might want to talk to Gabriel, he's the one who told me,"
"Right. . ." Sam stood up, grabbing his coat. "Where are you off to?"
"To the local library. I have some research to do. Why don't you head to town and get some intel?"
"Right," Sam grabbed the keys to the car and headed out.
"What's this about secrets and deceit I smell?" Dean looked to see Grabriel leaning against the wall behind him. He grinned disdainfully, still wanting to pummel the archangel for eavesdropping.
"Speak of the devil,"
"I understand you want to keep your recent—Achievements from my little brother?"
"More or less," Gabriel grinned, walking over to Dean.
"Why, pray tell? Wasn't the ability to See all part of secluding yourselves together?" Dean stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets. He didn't want to give Gabriel any funny ideas, so he had to choose his words carefully.
"I have my reasons, Gabriel. Look I just don't want any. . . misunderstandings?"
"You don't want to give him the idea that you are able to see his wings because you just maybe, very possibly have developed feelings for him?"
"Based on the fact that such a thing is completely and utterly unimaginable, no. I don't want him to take it the wrong way. It just happened, there's no underlying meaning about it or anything, so wipe that stupid smirk off your face before I take it off myself,"
"Ooh, scary. I'm shaking in my little winged booties," Dean glared, not amused. Gabriel rolled his eyes, holding up his hands. "Alright, alright! I won't tell Cassie that you have a big fat crush on hi—I mean that you saw his wings when he was fucking your brains ou—Oh come on that's what happened! But yeah, yeah your secret's safe with me, Dean-o, but it'll cost ya,"
"Of course it will. . ." Dean muttered, bitterly.
"Don't worry, it's nothing big, but my lil bro has been all pissy lately and it's probably your fault. So I want you to make it right. Castiel is broody enough, but when he actually has a reason to be, it's insufferable. So fix whatever you did to make him into a pouty, pouty princess and I'll keep your secret. Not too difficult, right?" Was Cas really that beat up about what Dean had said? Ugh, he would probably want to fix it even without Gabriel swearing to secrecy.
"Yeah, yeah whatever. I'll handle it. You promise you won't say anything about me seeing his. . .his wings right? I'll tell him myself when I have to."
"Scout's honor," Gabriel held up the boyscout sign and promptly disappeared. Dean gripped his temple, already having a bad feeling about this. He wasn't worried about Cas overhearing anything, Cas said he was going to try to talk to his Dad again, but he just felt uneasy about the whole thing, like maybe he should just man-up and tell him.
Nah. . . That would be too much for Dean Winchester to handle right now.
::
Cas was back later that day, unsuccessful with his quest to speak to his father. He'd mentioned how perhaps they should try the Plan again, but Dean quickly vetoed it, saying how they were going to do a job in this town, or rather, seeing if there even was a case to be done. There was no point in secluding himself with Cas when he could already See.
Not that he was going to let Castiel know that. . .
Unsuccessful at bringing up the issue between he and Cas, Dean broke the awkward silence that followed by dismissing himself to go gather some information, also known as going to the bar, probably getting some lifewater and possibly scoring a date. Dean grinned, grabbing his leather jacket and excusing himself.
He found the nearest pub in record time, seeing as the town itself wasn't very huge. Sam had the car, so he was walking, but he didn't mind it. The early morning air was fresh and cool and he didn't mind a little scenery every now and then.
The citizens of McLeansboro were, as Dean soon discovered, more than hospitable as his first round of drinks were bought for him as a welcome into the community and to honor St. Patrick's day. He sidled up to the bartender, a pretty little blonde in a tank top.
"New here in town?" She asked, her chocolate eyes telling him that yes, she was definitely single. What a flirty thing.
"Yep, here with my brother Alex on a road trip to New York. Just passing through," Dean pulled out his phone and discreetly texted Sam to let him know his new name.
"And do you have a name, mister popular?"
"Nathan Murphy. And what is a pretty girl like yourself doing working in a place like this?" She smiled, a wide, brilliant smile and reached for her towel. She began to wipe the bar, her eyes never leaving Dean's.
"This place belongs to my Dad. I help out on the weekends. He doesn't want me to get too distracted while I'm in college," Uh oh, Daddy's girl. Dean had better not get too. . .close. Sounded like he might be a bit too controlling for Dean's likes. She probably wasn't even on the market yet! Probably best to keep it to business.
"Sounds like you're on a tight leash. Look, I'm doing some research for this article I'm writing. Anything strange happen here recently?" The girl smiled, gripping the bar.
"Well, have you heard of the legend of the headless horseman that's been spotted around here?"
"Headless? That sure makes riding a horse difficult, don't you think?"
"Well maybe for the living. This one's dead as a doornail. They say it's the ghost of this guy named. . . Leaky? Lakey I think! Anyways, legend has it that he was beheaded over a hundred years ago and now he's back for revenge. His first victim was just last week. Her name was Margaret Jason, President of some charity group. She was apparently skulking around in the woods, some passerby hunter and his son said they saw something strange, and when they found her she was dead." No doubt it was the boy from earlier that she was talking about. That was enough for now.
"Interesting. Well I think I've reached my limit," The girl reached in her apron, pulled out a pen and hastily scribbled a number on a nearby napkin. She grinned at Dean.
"Call me. I can tell you much more interesting things," Dean nodded, smiling but feeling a bit sick for some reason. He took off back to the hotel.
::
"You're back,"
"Yeah, I think there might be something to this Sammy. Some poor bastard named Lakey got his noggin lopped off, so headless ghost has a body. It seems pretty legit,"
"Yeah I read about it at the historic library. Seems he was killed by his stepson, probably over property. The property which includes a creek that runs straight through those woods that Mrs. Jason was offed in. Looks like we might have a real case on our hands."
"Not only that, but there's been another murder," Both boys jumped before turning to see Cas standing behind them. Dean exhaled.
"Can't you knock or something? You're gonna give me a heart attack!" Cas glared at him.
"Perhaps such an event could be avoided if you changed your poor eating habits," Dean resisted pouting, not liking the bite in Castiel's voice. Sam stood up.
"There's been another?"
"Yes, the victim was also found in the woods as Margaret Jason was. The victim this time is male, middle aged and had the same contented smile on his face with no visible signs of foul play. There is definitely something strange going on." Dean pouted, not liking being ignored. He stood up, slightly shoving his brother to the side.
"Well then what are we waiting for. We got some murder investigating to do. Sam why don't you stay here and do a background check on Lakey? Me and Cas can handle this,"
"I would prefer it if Sam came alo—" Dean looked at Sam meaningfully, hoping he would get that he wanted to spend some time with Cas to see if he could work out their issues. Luckily his little bro was nothing if not a brainiac.
"I think that would be best also, Cas. Lucifer constantly playing mind games with me makes being on the field really difficult. It's probably best for me to be on the sidelines at this point. No, you two can handle it," Cas was visibly gritting his teeth, but Dean was grateful. He wanted to make things right with the angel. It wasn't fair to either of them. Dean clapped his arm around Castiel's shoulders, not liking the way the angel tensed beneath him.
"Now let's get this party started,"
::
Castiel and Dean appeared next to the morgue, clad in FBI garb and equipped with fake IDs. They were taken to the coroner and asked to see the bodies.
"I am agent Murphy and this is my partner Hobbs. We would like to see the bodies of the two recent victims, Margaret Jason and Jeremy Levi." The coroner snorted, but moved to the chambers anyways, pulling out the two victims from their drawers.
"Not much to see here, boys. Both Mrs. Jason and Mr. Levi have no signs of injury or bodily harm,"
"You've run an autopsy on Mrs. Jason?" Cas asked.
"Yep, she was as healthy as a horse, a scheming conniving horse, but a healthy one nonetheless." The doctor stood back, looking at her body, shaking his head. "Can't seem to put my finger on why she would have such a random cardiac arrest. She looked very peaceful, no signs of stress. It's very peculiar,"
"And Mr. Levi?" Dean asked.
"The same. Now I could let the one victim go, call it a fluke, but the man died on the very same terms. He was a little older than her, but there were no alarming medical issues. It's very strange. I haven't run an autopsy on him yet, but I've got an inkling it'll turn up clear as well," Dean took a look at the woman's peaceful face. She might as well have been sleeping. The man next to her looked the same.
"What can you tell me about Mr. Levi?" Dean asked, noticing the badge that was in a bag next to him.
"I believe he was the gym teacher at the local middle school,"
"Gym teacher. . . Any. . . foul play in his career that you know of? Any reason that somebody wouldn't be very happy with him?"
"Well, I heard that there had been a few. . . complaints,"
::
Dean pressed "end" on his phone. He'd told Sam to make some calls to the school and find out what discrepancies there could be about Mr. Levi. As far as the older hunter was concerned, it was chow time. He and Cas found an old diner at the edge of town and decided to visit. Dean always loved coming to new places. It was like Russian roulette; Either the food was legendary, or he'd be destined for the toilet for the rest of the night.
Maybe this would give him time to work things out with Cas. Now, if Dean were an awkward conversation, how would he start off?
"Do you think the gym teacher has some dirty skeletons like that Jason woman?" He asked, figuring they'd talk about work first.
"It seems logical enough. We'll just have to wait for the call back from Sam to know for sure."
"Right. . ." Okay, there was obviously no easy way to do this. "Look. . . Cas. About the other day—"
"I thought this discussion was over," Cas said, a hint of bitterness in his deep voice. His blue eyes were downcast to the plate of food he hadn't even touched. Not that he really needed to eat anyways. But usually Cas at least ate just to seem human to everyone surrounding.
"Come on, Cas. . . I know something's bothering you," Dean reached out to grab his hand, but Cas pulled away abruptly. Dean felt a stab of pain go straight to his chest at that.
"I'm fine, Dean. Are you finished?"
"You're not fine. . . Look if it's what I said about forgettin—"
"I'm fine!" Cas snapped, effectively silencing Dean. Dean sat in his seat, mouth open and shocked at the burst of anger in the angel's voice. Castiel looked away, frustration knitting his brow. "I don't want to talk about this with you. I'm heading back." The angel stood up and left, not looking back at Dean before exiting out the door.
"Fuck. . . " There was no way Cas was fine. He must have really screwed this up somehow. Dean threw his napkin on the table and lifted up his hand to grab the attention of the waitress.
"Check please,"
::
"Levi was a pedophile?" When Dean had shown up back at the motel, at least fifteen minutes after Cas, Sam gave him a questioning look. If he had fixed things, why were they coming home separately?
"Well that's certainly how it's looking. There'd been multiple complaints by the girls that Mr. Levi would be a little too touchy feely. There were a group of parents ready to file a formal complaint against him," Dean snorted.
"Well problem solved, I guess,"
"It looks like whatever's doing this is picking off America's most despicable one by one,"
"You realize this isn't exactly a bad thing. The headless guy is obviously a good judge of character," Sam looked at his brother, unimpressed.
"As far as we know, Dean, but what if it becomes like that Egyptian God? We know what happens when we let a ghost do the judging. We're going to have to stop it,"
"Yeah yeah, I know. So do we even know what it is?" Sam pulled over his laptop, facing it towards Dean and Cas. Dean noticed the distance that Cas put between them and felt mildly irritated by it.
"I think it's a dullahan,"
"A dulla-what?" Sam sighed.
"A dullahan. There's an Irish legend of a headless horseman—or woman that frequented the cities during Irish festivals. It's said that a dullahan is a messenger of death itself. Apparently the only time they stop riding is when someone is about to die,"
"Irish festivals. . ." Cas started.
"It's St. Patrick's day. . . figures," Dean finished. Cas glared at him, still obviously angry. Dean looked back to Sam, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Well how do we kill it?"
"Well it says that dullahan have an irrational fear of gold. It doesn't say anything about how to kill it, but I'm guessing we take our best shot with a stake of gold and stab it in the heart—or head. Whatever works,"
"So where are we gonna get our hands on a stake of gold?"
"We could rob a bank and make one out of a gold bar. . ." Dean shook his head.
"Is that honestly the best you can come up with?"
"I'll be back," Dean looked beside him and Cas was gone. It was only a few seconds before he returned, a gold bar in hand.
"As long as we're only borrowing it," Cas steadied his fingers above it and the gold morphed itself into a stake. Sam raised his eyebrows, impressed.
"Well that's taken care of. Now all we need to do is find it. Do we have any leads?"
"Well there's the family that's staying here. The one that I overheard talking about it. Maybe if I can get a word in with the boy or his father," Sam snorted, leaning back.
"If you can get past the mother. I tried talking to him and she nearly ran to the police,"
"I'm sure we can make her. . . cooperate
::
"I'm going for a dip in the pool. I'll be back and we can order pizza, ok? Don't answer the door for anyone," Benjamin sat in front of the TV, playing the N64 that was currently set up. A minute or so after his mom left there was a knock at the door. Benjamin stood up and looked out the peek-hole to see who it was.
Dean and Cas stood outside, seeing the movement behind the hole. When it appeared that the kid wasn't going to open the door, Dean cleared his throat.
"Um, Don't be afraid, Benjamin was it? We're with the police. We just want to ask a few questions about that headless horseman you and your dad saw,"
"I already talked to the police, they didn't believe me!"
"Well we're special police, we believe you," It was a moment and then the door opened. The kid was wide eyed and in awe.
"You guys believe me?"
"Of course, now can we come in?" The kid stood back and Castiel and Dean entered. He closed the door, locking it behind him.
"My mom doesn't like me talking about it, so I don't want her to catch me,"
"Of course. Now, I understand that you and your dad were hunting in the woods when you saw it?"
"My dad wanted to teach me how to hunt, and that's when we heard a woman scream. My dad told me to stay there, hidden but I followed him. We were by a creek and that's when we saw it. The woman ran past and she was followed by a man on a horse, only he didn't have a head you guys! It was insane, right? But my dad saw it like I did, and then it was so weird, my dad has had trouble seeing out of his right eye ever since," Sam had mentioned that people who see the rider on a run will either get a pail of blood dumped on them or will lose their sight in one eye.
"Do you think you can tell us where you and your father saw the horseman?" The boy sat, looking as though he was thinking real hard.
"I don't know exactly, but there was a small stream next to where we were at. I remember seeing an old shed nearby too," Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"Benjamin? It's your dad," The kid jumped and then whispered.
"Hide in the closet!" Dean and Cas nodded as the boy ushered them into the cramped closet. "Coming!" They shut the door and stayed perfectly still.
"Should we leave?" Cas asked, way too close to Dean for comfort. They were practically flush together. Dean shivered, wanting to say yes but maybe they could get more info.
"Wait, maybe he'll talk about it," There was the sound of the door opening and a man's footsteps as he walked inside.
"Where's mom?" He asked.
"She's swimming. Hey dad, you remember that night in the woods? You saw the horseman right? The one with no head?"
"Ben—"
"You saw it though, right? Why didn't you tell someone?" Dean shifted and he heard a soft grunt coming from behind him. He could feel himself pressed up against Cas, but he wasn't entirely sure which part. If he didn't know any better. . . He moved again, this time pressing himself harder against the spot. Cas inhaled sharply and Dean felt his face get hot. Something hard was starting to poke him in the rear.
Cas was getting hot. . . Dean didn't know what to think about this.
"I don't know what I saw Ben. Can we just not talk about it?"
"But more people are dying Dad. Don't you think it's your responsibility to let them know?"
"it's not! There's no such thing as headless horsemen, Ben. Obviously we were just tired,"
Dean bit his lip, this situation was in his control now. It wasn't often when he saw Cas in this state. Dean's curiosity on the matter is what started all of this in the first place. It was obvious that Cas was attracted to him sexually, so why couldn't he experiment a little? It would sate his interest in the matter and prove to be an entertaining way to pass the time. He shifted his ass so that Castiel's growing erection was pressed tightly between his cheeks and he ground on it. Hard.
"Hahh. . . Dean please stop moving. . . " Cas hissed in his ear, his breath hot, voice shaking with lust. Dean felt chills go up his spine.
"Sorry. . . " Dean shifted back, creating even more friction and he felt Cas grip Dean's shoulder, his breathing growing harsh. Dean felt an innate stroke of evil over take him and he started grinding harder back, the breathing in his ear growing harsher. "Something wrong?" He whispered, feeling arousal curl in his belly at the thought of having Cas at his mercy.
"It's. . . the way you're moving it's making it. . . very hard," Dean licked his lips, feeling his pants get tighter at the roughness in Castiel's voice. Yes it was very hard. . .
"Here. . ." Dean turned himself around, putting his hands on Cas's shoulders and pressed himself tightly against the other, propping his leg behind Cas and against the wall, making sure their groins were nicely pressed together. "better?" Dean rocked himself against Cas, feeling himself growing harder by the second as Castiel's breath came out hot against his neck. Why, oh why was horny Castiel so freakin' hot?
"Dean why are you doing this?. . ." Cas stiffened, not moving.
"Shh. . . you don't want them to hear do you?" Dean reached his hand down and grabbed Cas through his pants, making him gasp. "Just feel it. . ."
"Dean, stop!" Suddenly Dean felt himself fall to the ground, quite literally as he found himself outside the room next to a very irritated Castiel.
"Look, Dean. I don't know why you're doing this but I would appreciate if you didn't anymore. If you keep doing these kind of things, talking about it, what happened in there, it. . . makes it very difficult for me to keep my promise. Please, just leave me alone." And with that, the angel disappeared.
His promise. . . The promise that they would just be friends? Yeah that's what he'd wanted. But why did it feel so. . . so lonely? He missed laughing at the angel's antics and talking to him, but now, ever since that promise, it felt as though Cas was pulling away. He wanted things to go back to how they were. He wanted to be close to Cas again. And what happened in the closet just now? That was. . . What was that anyways?
Dean wasn't horny until he felt Cas pressed tight against his back, until he heard that low groan from the other from the way Dean shifted against him. After that, all Dean could think about was making Cas feel good. . . He wanted to make Castiel hot like he did the other night. . .
Dean gripped his head in his hands. He was feeling things he'd never felt before, not about a man or even a woman really. It wasn't like him to be so intent on making his partner feel good, and he'd never felt like this towards a man! Well. . . technically this man was an angel and by rights he was genderless, but he couldn't deny that his cock twitched when he found out that it was Castiel's dick pressed against his ass. . .
"Oh man. . . I am in some serious shit,"
"Do you need something?" Dean looked up to see the woman from earlier, Benjamin's mom. There was a towel wrapped around her, her hair was wet from swimming and she looked irritated.
"I was just," Dean got to his knees and started looking around. "trying to find my contact! Here it is!" Dean pretended to catch it on his finger and shove it into his eye. The woman raised a brow, not entirely convinced. "I'll be going. . ." Dean muttered before scrambling away.
::
Later that night, Sam was asleep and Cas hadn't returned since their fight. Dean was still uneasy about what Cas had said. He didn't want Cas to feel like he had to force himself to forget about what happened. It wasn't as big of a deal as Dean had made it seem. He mostly just didn't want to be constantly reminded of it, but it was growing increasingly obvious that Dean was pretty good at reminding himself about it all on his own.
Since he couldn't sleep anyways, he figured he'd go to the creek and check out the area. If he met the horseman he'd gank him and be done with it. At least he could look for some clues. Dean snuck out, taking the golden stake and some salt with him just to be careful.
The moon was bright, despite being only a crescent, so he didn't really need the flashlight he brought with him. He made his way into the forest swiftly and stealthily, trying not to cause too much commotion.
He found the creek not long after he entered the forest and he began to look for clues. Perhaps ol' Lakey was still buried around here somewhere. Maybe he could just torch the sucker and, voila! Problem solved.
It wasn't long before he found the old shed that the boy was talking about. It was filled with rusty old tools, probably a century old. There were cobwebs everywhere and the ground had no floor. But as he searched around outside, he was surprised to see a cross sticking out of the ground.
"Ol' Lakey, you have been causing so much trouble." Dean grabbed one of the rusty shovels inside the shed and started to dig. The sooner he could salt and torch the mother fucker the better.
When he struck gold, the decaying old skeleton in a heap at the bottom of the grave, he poured some salt from his pack, covering it and dropped a burning match inside. The flames burst to life, jumping out of the deep hole which surprised Dean. The fire shouldn't have been so huge. . .
That's when he heard it, hooves behind him slowing to a halt. Dean felt his heartbeat race but he put on a grin. Torching bones didn't work apparently.
"Lakey, how've you been?" Suddenly he felt his insides grow cold, frost form at his feet and he heard a voice inside his head. Dean turned, seeing the horseman, clad in black and on a black steed with red eyes. The man atop was headless and upon closer observance, realized the moldy, glowing thing he was carrying under his arm was the head in question.
Life hasn't been kind to you. . .
Suddenly memories. . . memories that he had hidden away never to be revisited were swimming to the surface. It was an onslaught that Dean couldn't prepare himself for. That Jessica got involved, that he couldn't protect Sam from his inner demon, that Jo and Ellen died, that he broke the first Seal that let Lucifer walk the Earth and is now torturing Sammy's mind. All of it was his fault. . . all of it, all of the people he cared for ended up hurt and it was all his fault. And now Cas was hurt and that was his fault too. . .
"How can I. . .How do I make it all right?"
I can help you, I'll make it all right. Your friends and family, the people here. All of it will be righted if you come with me. You can earn their forgiveness this way. I just require your soul.
And he would. . . He would reverse it all, make it so Sam would never suffer with Lucifer and his demon blood, make it so Jo and Ellen never sacrificed himself, make it so Jessica was never involved in any of it. Sam would have a normal life and Dean. . . Well Dean wouldn't have been around to hurt Castiel in the first place.
It would fix it all. . .
"Yes. . ." The head under the horseman's arm opened it's decaying eyes.
Rest in peace, Dean Winche—
Suddenly there was a bright light emitting from the horseman's chest. It was impaled and Dean felt his body become warm again. He looked up to see Castiel behind him, the stake of gold in his hands and currently connected to the headless horseman's heart. The head dropped and was screaming a god awful scream, Dean watched as the horseman shattered into a billion pieces, the head soon following.
Cas fell to the ground, anger on his face and he came over and picked Dean up by his collar.
"Cas I'm sorry I didn't mean to—He had me in some sort of mind control I don't know wha—" But Dean was cut off when he was pulled into a tight embrace by Castiel. Dean felt a little awkward but he found he didn't mind it. He warily wrapped his arms around the angel's back, patting it a bit.
Castiel pulled away and looked at Dean intensely, emotion shimmering in his moonlit eyes.
"If I had come any later, one second and I wouldn't have been able to bring you back, Dean. That monster was immune to my Grace. . . He devours souls, Dean, I could have lost you. . ." Castiel embraced him tightly, gripping his jacket as though letting go might mean he'd lose him forever.
"Hey, I'm here right? Relax ok? The horseman's gone and we're okay," Dean pulled away to look into Cas's eyes, those deep blue eyes that looked more afraid than Dean had ever seen them. The hunter's heart wrenched and he bit his lip. The only person who'd ever looked at him like that was his mom. Dean looked away, not able to handle all these stupid emotions at once. "C-Can you tell me now why you've been avoiding me?" Cas sighed, stepping back but not letting go of Dean's arms.
"The last couple days have been very. . .difficult, Dean. I've been trying so hard to do as you asked but, Dean, I can't. I've tried so hard, but it's in vain. The other night was the most human I've ever felt and I don't want to forget it. It's by far the best memory I've ever had being on Earth. . . It's very special to me. Dean I don't want to forget anything that I do with you. . . I care about you too much," Dean felt his face turn up like fifty degrees. He pushed himself away.
"Sheesh don't say it like that. . . Man, you don't have to forget about it. I just said that 'cause I was scared and I didn't want to be reminded about it, it's not like I expected you to actually forget. I just meant that I didn't want our relationship to change because of it, you know? I still want you to be my friend and. . . anything else is really scary,"
"Anything else?" Dean bit his lip, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Like. . . a relationship like where. . . where we'd do that stuff regularly and. . . you know like a c-c-couple—I just can't handle that right now. . . I'm going through too much right now I can't." Dean rubbed his head with his hand, feeling more embarrassed with every word he spoke. "I don't even know how to handle the fact that I might not be one hundred percent straight," And he said it. . . Acknowledging it for the first time, Dean Winchester might not be hetero. Mind. Blown.
"Then what is it you want?" Dean bit his lip harder, he hadn't been able to think about this yet. It wasn't fair. . .
"Can't we just be like normal friends? Like we were before?" Cas stepped forward and grabbed Dean's shoulder, making the hunter face him..
"No, we can't." Dean's eyebrows shot up to his forehead and he felt pain bloom in his chest. That wasn't what he'd been expecting. "We can't be like before. . . I can't see you as just a friend anymore Dean. . . You're so much more than that to me. Dean I want to be the one that brings you eternal happiness," Dean shuddered as Cas stroked his cheek with his hand. "I think I'm falling in love with you. . ."
"Wh-What—?" Cas pulled him in—whatever the hunter would say next was cut off by a rough, soul-searing kiss that Dean had not expected. Castiel locked his lips on Dean's and held onto him tightly as he kissed him. Dean could feel the heat spread from his cheeks all the way to his neck and he had to stop his body from the trembling it was doing. Cas pulled back and looked deep into Dean's eyes and suddenly Dean felt his apprehension die and his eyes flutter closed as Cas kissed him softly on the lips over and over again, and for some reason his energy was being sucked away. . . Must have been because of the horseman.
"I want you to depend on me alone to make you happy in every way. . .and," Cas froze, moving his hand to Dean's stomach, pressing his palm flat against it. "Dean. . . There's a new Grace. . ."
"A-A n-n-new w-what?"
"Inside of you, I-I can sense Grace. Dean. . ." Dean looked into Castiel's eyes and was astounded when he found happiness there. No. . . No no no no no no no. . . This wasn't for real. . . He couldn't be. . .
He couldn't be pregnant. . . There was no fucking way.
::
a/n: Okay that's all the proofing I'm doing for this chapter. Sorry if there's blatant mistakes and/or plot holes, but I fixed the big ones I think lol. It's a super long chapter btw. . .I was going to split it into two parts but I couldn't find a good spot to end it. I can't believe I got it out. O_O it's cause of you! You guys are amazing and awesome and I love you. . . Please review and I promise I'll make your time worthwhile :D