Author's Note:
Warning: there's a bit of an info dump ahead, sorry guys. Not a huge fan of this chapter but I couldn't imagine the situation going another way.
Primary World: Part 5
"Why's he gotta stay in my room?" Dean insisted agitatedly, face to face with Sam in the kitchen while he tried to ignore the throbbing of his bottom lip. That damn Castiel adding injury to insult. "And furthermore, who the hell does he think he is? I saved his sorry ass!"
"I know Dean," Sam muttered, "And I know you just really wanted to say 'furthermore' in that sentence. But regardless of what you want, he needs a place to stay while he gets better."
"And again, I ask why my room?"
Sam stopped and turned to look at him for a moment before shrugging and going back to making breakfast, "Fine, I guess I'll just give my room-"
"No! Wait." Dean shook his head and dropped down at the table, "He'll stay in mine. I don't want you sleeping on the couch."
"Then why would you complain in the first place?"
"Because I don't want him snooping through my stuff."
Sam chuckled, cracking eggs against the frying pan's edge and smoothly transitioning them to the heated surface, "What on earth could you have in there that you'd be embarrassed for him to find?"
"Not embarrassed, Sammy, angry for him to touch." Dean corrected grumpily, glancing up from where he was resting his face in his palms. "What do you think he does? I mean did you see his clothes? Weird lookin'."
"That's rude, Dean." Sam pointed out as he seasoned their food, "But I dunno, I honestly don't even know what kind of fabric it is. I mean I'm not normally good at that kind of thing to begin with but it didn't feel like anything I've touched before." He paused from where he was about to start slicing up oranges, garnishes for their breakfast, "And when he was letting me check his wounds I saw he had a tattoo on his back… Though I don't know if it was a tattoo so much as a carving."
"What did it say?" Dean wished he could deny the interest that arched in his tone but there was no hiding it now.
"Well-" Sam started but paused when he saw the disheveled haired guest coming around the doorway and into the kitchen-dining room. "Hello Castiel, how are you feeling?"
"Fine, thank you." Castiel gave Sam a somewhat warmer look than he bothered to give Dean; cold eyes shifted Dean's way with a glint that said enough to piss him off. "If you wish to know so badly, it's the mark of a High Priest."
Neither Winchester had much to say to that, exchanging a glance to see what the other was thinking. "So, wait," Dean looked Castiel over again, "You're saying you're a high priest? Like crazy catholic kind of-"
"No." Castiel slowly lowered himself down into a chair and leaned back to rest, hating that his limbs were so stiff. The healing process was never a painless thing. "Where I come from it's called 'The Faith.'"
And he just left it at that, not really the ideal answer for someone like Sam though. "Where do you come from?" He had to pick his questions carefully; Castiel was the temperamental type and judging by the way he just sat and thought about the answer, Sam had chosen wisely.
"No where you would know."
"Try me." Sam was no slouch when it came to studies and though geography wasn't his strongest he doubted there was something so unknown that he wouldn't be able to find it on a map.
Castiel looked tired as he rubbed his face, attempting to find an answer that might suit these two. At the same time he wasn't in the mood for making things up, or explaining, or talking in general. Of course, being the strangest thing that had happened to these two brothers, silence wasn't really an option for him, and he knew it. "One of the mainline worlds. It's known as 'In Somniantes', which means 'The Dreaming' or 'The Dreamers'." He looked at them and as their expressions remained in that 'what the hell is he talking about' zone, he grew increasingly frustrated. He hated explaining this.
Absolutely hated it. He was tired, in pain, hungry, why did he have to do this? Hell, ninety percent of the time he avoided the other worlds' inhabitants to get away from explaining this every single time. Of course, he couldn't escape with it this time. "Alright, I've been in this kind of situation an innumerable amount of times, not specifically this one, but one where I have to explain this. So listen up, I'm only doing it once." Sharp eyes snapped between the two of them like he'd had enough of their crap, even though they hadn't really given him any. "There are other worlds out there, just like there's a known timeline there's also something like a set of roads. Like I'd mentioned, the world I'm from is on the mainline, as is this one. The mainline isn't always visible and it isn't always the same, it alternates with the flow of time so it's difficult to tell which worlds are on it. But anything that is connected to the mainline is important."
Dean would have interrupted to point out how crazy it was, but Sam's astounded expression had him shutting up faster than he thought possible. "Are you serious? You can jump between worlds?"
"I can, yes." Castiel nodded, his body language shifting from entirely pissed off to just grumpy; he wasn't used to someone believing him right away. "My coat is actually a link between this realm and a space where I keep my things. It's something all high priests of the faith are given when they're sent out on mission."
"What's your mission?" Sam might've disguised his intrigue if he'd known it was so obvious, Dean had to smile at the wonderment.
"Impossible…" Castiel looked away toward the floor, bitterness melting into shame and remorse. "I've long been charged with taking out the creatures of the Void; it's a space that exists outside of the roads between the worlds. It's vast and full of monsters you've never heard of, they used to be very few in number but it keeps growing."
"Why?" Dean was surprised at his own question; he didn't really believe this crap, did he?
"The worlds have grown further and further apart, the connections are weak, and the Void is getting bigger every day. There's more room for them to spread, and the ones that have been there longest have found ways into the worlds. I've been sent out to kill the ones that get in and find a way to strengthen the connections." Castiel leaned back as Sam set out their breakfast, a grateful smile given to the younger Winchester. "But lately I've run into nothing but dead ends. There have been the same worlds on the mainline repeatedly but I'm not able to get access alone, it's been frustrating. This world wasn't connected to the mainline until recently; something big had to happen here… I just didn't think it'd be a demoni like that."
"A demo-what?" Dean raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, I feel like we're getting an info dump here, I can't remember half of this."
"And you don't need to." Castiel snapped, "Simply put, it's the void monster I was fighting the other night. Normally cannon fodder but it was a much higher level."
"At least you killed it, right?" Sam asked, trying to be polite in a way to make up for his brother.
"No." The priest all but snarled into his eggs, "It got away. It's badly injured but it got away."
Dean snorted antagonistically, "Then chase after it."
Castiel slammed a fist down on the table, harder than either Winchester thought he was capable of, "I can't. That demoni evaporated. Vanished. Poof. It's incorporeal, pretty much fucking air." His ranting tone elevated and it got to the point he was hardly talking to the boys and more just venting his frustration. "All elite demoni have some kind of ability and wouldn't luck have it I found another possessor! When they're recovering or hiding they hide inside people. They possess a body and take over it. Do you understand? Someone in this town is a monster. When it wakes again it'll go insane because it will get a sudden memory rush after connecting with the human's brain! People are going to die, Dean! The closest loved ones to the possessed will be the first targets! They're going to fucking die and it's all my fault!" Castiel shouted, his face twisted in anger as he pushed himself to his feet, hands firmly planted on the table and nearly pressing an indent into it.
Sam moved to his side and tried to help him relax, luckily for Castiel too because his strength fled from him as fast as he'd summoned it. "Calm down, there has to be something you can do." Sam looked at him reassuringly though his confidence faded the longer he analyzed the priest's face.
"There is something I can… Once the possessor demoni has nested inside someone it's strength is divided into or multiplied by its host. If the host is stronger than the monster, its power will grow. It's the same rule if the host is weaker, and around here I imagine that the population is made up of regular humans."
"So good news, it's easy to take out now, right?" Dean gave his best optimistic smile, mostly to try and help Sam out a little bit on this one.
"Yes," Castiel nodded, "But we won't be able to locate it until it wakes again."
Dean nodded, "Well then we'll keep an eye out, does it have any tells? Like the possessed person does something weird or what?"
"The closer it gets to waking the more aggressive the host will become. They'll be odd before that but it's hard to tell unless you know them personally. I won't be able to see it." Castiel shakily tried to pick up his fork again, frowning at the way his hands trembled now.
"Sweet!" Dean and Sam smirked at one another and clapped hands in a high five. They weren't sure what they were a part of but it felt kind of important. And a tad crazy.
"But the host won't survive."
Dean froze mid celebration with Sam and cranked his gaze back to Castiel, "Say what? Why?"
"The host doesn't survive because I'm only capable of killing them." His eyes were unwavering, that cold chill Dean had gotten earlier making so much more sense. This guy was a murderer, possibly completely insane and using this 'void' madness to explain why he had to murder a possessed person every now and then.
And then again there was no sign of a liar in anything Castiel had done so far. He'd been up front with them, straightforward and blunt. He hadn't lied yet, why would he now? And Dean had even seen the figure of the monster that Castiel was talking about, could he really just ignore that? The logic part of his brain was saying yes but everything else wanted to trust him. So he decided that he would, praying that it wasn't his downstairs brain making the calls. 'Not gay.' Dean told himself.
"So you understand then?" Castiel broke the silence that had fallen over the room, "I was sent here to take care of this thing and I will," he looked down at the food he'd partially eaten for a moment, "I appreciate the help, I don't want to drag the two of you into this mess." 'I can't see you get hurt again.' He pushed the thought down, though it was stubborn.
Dean almost whole-heartedly agreed, he'd rather keep crazy shit like this out of their lives. They were doing well now, finally things had gotten brighter; Sam was well again, the hospital debt was paid off, Sam was in school, Dean was climbing the mechanic ladder. It was all finally looking their way; he didn't want to mess it up. After a year of fearing how sick Sam was, how much worse he was getting on and off like a wave, Dean didn't want to do anything strenuous. Things were good now, but he didn't speak up fast enough to agree.
"Bullshit," Sam interjected first, "I'm sorry, Cas, but we're kind of in this now."
"We're what?" Dean made a face at his brother who only nodded firmly to emphasize it.
"Hell yeah we are. Dean, you brought him here worried for his safety. You can't tell me that hearing he'll be going out there alone to fight a monster is okay with you, can you? Cas needs our help and now that I know this is going on I can't just sit on my hands and pretend it isn't there."
'Damn it Sam.' Dean rolled his eyes and slid a hand down his face, "Seriously?"
"Yes."
"Fine," He turned toward Castiel this time, noting the somewhat surprised look on his face, "Cas, I can't promise we'll help you kill this thing but at least let us help you a little. Stay here to recuperate and wait for this thing, alright?"
The priest was silent for a long moment, contemplating, hesitating, and finally replying. "Thank you, I hope it isn't in someone you know, for your sakes."
"You don't know Winchester luck." Sam laughed.
"Yeah," Dean chuckled, "based on that logic, we might as well assume it's in me."
Castiel's face darkened, "I suppose you have a point, Winchester luck is known throughout the universe as terrible."
"Are you serious?" The brothers spoke in unison that actually managed to bring a small smile to Castiel's face.
"I wish I were joking."
Author's Note 2: A tad spoilery
Just a quick thanks to my readers :D I appreciate you guys, hope to hear more from you. I'm not sure how many of you have read my other SPN stories but they will become somewhat relevant to this one (other worlds and all that fun stuff ;) So if you liked Angel Training, Pleasure My Angel, Ugly Duckling, and so on, stay tuned because those character variations are going to make some cameos.