Ugly Duckling World: Part 6

"Why is it always him?" Dean growled out as he lifted Castiel from the floor, his partner failing to reply or even move in any way. "Cas? Cas can you hear me?" Dean gently shook Cas as he carried him to the couch downstairs, like hell they were taking a chance with that bedroom again. He could feel himself getting desperate the more limp Castiel seemed to be. It'd happened several times already where Cas wound up unconscious for some reason or another, "How did you even survive on your own?!"

"Dean?" The word was so meek and quiet that he thought for a second that he'd imagined it, but Dean looked at Castiel's face anyway. Blue eyes opened lazily, fluttering to stay that way. "Dean," Cas squeaked, his hand coming up and grabbing at Dean's shirt. "I'm scared…"

"It's okay," Dean smiled the best he could, which wasn't too hard since he was so relieved to see Castiel's eyes open again.

"I'm scared." Castiel repeated shakily even though Dean had propped Cas up against his chest, trying to soothe him and make him feel safe again.

"You're fine, don't worry okay?" Dean cupped Cas' cheek gently and rocked him slowly, making sure that there were no sudden movements. He could feel his partner's body trembling and wished against all odds that he could magically make it stop. "I've got you, Cas. I've got you." He tried to use Castiel's name as much as possible, trying to keep the other a little more grounded. Part of him wondered if Castiel was seeing him or maybe a different Dean. Not that it made much of a difference, he'd still do his best to watch out for Cas.

"Where are we?" Castiel whispered after a few moments of silence, his shaking calming down to a controlled point. "Did we get out?"

"Yeah, I beat him." Dean smiled and tilted Cas' head back to see his face.

"How? I never showed you..." Castiel furrowed his brow, his words still very softly spoken. "Did... did they...?"

"Well if by 'they' you mean hearing weird voices in my head, then yes?"

"The celestials... did they take control of you?" Castiel struggled to sit up though his body wasn't entirely cooperative. "Did they?"

"Yeah, for a few seconds. They vaporized the domus thing." Dean shrugged, "Why? Big deal?"

"Sort of, it means your magic will be active now." Castiel pulled himself up and motioned for Dean to follow him, "Come this way-"

"Cas, lie down! You just woke up, give it a second okay?" Dean grabbed his partner's hand and tugged him back, "Don't start this right away. Rest, please?"

Castiel turned back toward him, both priests looking worried and for similar reasons; they were concerned for their partner. "I know I need to rest, Dean. However your trial period is over now and I need to get you to them. They'll show you how to use it before it gets out of hand, so please just come with me."

Dean hesitated but stood and followed as Castiel opened another portal, "What about the other two?"

"I'll come back for them while you're training."

There wasn't a whole lot he could say anymore, Castiel hadn't let him let go of his hand and instead dragged Dean through without much of an effort. Dean often forgot how much stronger than a normal person he and Castiel were, their quick healing and everything else. If Sam or Jet went through half the things that they did he wondered how they'd fair.

In Between

Touching down on the somewhat familiar ground, standing before the staircase again, Dean could feel a strange vibration rumble in his body. "Cas..." He muttered as the trembling grew worse the longer he remained still, "Cas what's happening to me?" Dean barely managed the words before his eyes lit up, a overbearing heat waving down his arm and into his palm.

Castiel flinched at the burning sensation he was getting just through touch but didn't let go, instead he dragged Dean through to the celestials' chambers, "Train him!" He demanded without thinking, no proper etiquette or respect shown this time.

The center being raised a hand and the magic flaring to life inside of Dean died down. "What the hell was that!?" Dean panicked, rubbing his hands together and looking around for some kind of an answer.

"When your magic is active but you don't know how to control it any spell can activate itself through you." Cas sighed, clearly relieved they'd made it in time. "It happened to me too, except they took me in immediately so I was pretty lucky."

Dean blinked a few times and looked at the celestials that only seemed to smile in return, "Seriously though, what the hell are you guys?"

"Not now, Dean Winchester. We must teach you how to do the things that Castiel does." The center holy being spoke again, seemed to be the only one that did so. However Dean didn't manage a chance to reflect on it, a space opened below him and before he knew it he was sucked right through.

Castiel looked at the closing space and shook his head, knowing without having to hear it that Dean was screaming at the top of his lungs. 'I wasn't too far off from that, I imagine.' He mused to himself before taking his leave to retrieve their comrades.

Ugly Duckling World: Part 7

"There he is!" Jet exclaimed as he caught hold of the dimension travelling priest, "What the hell, man? Sam and I were freaking!"

"Cas, where's Dean?" Sam was up and impatient, his eyes scanning over Castiel quickly enough to see he was exhausted. "And what happened? Are you okay?"

"Calm down, Dean is fine, I'm fine, I'll take you to him. We're finished here." Castiel explained, glancing over at their other selves who all looked as surprised he drifted through thin air as they were the first time. "Thank you for housing us, we appreciate it."

Cas was the first to respond to his other self, standing up and moving to give him a hug, "I hope everything goes well between you two." He whispered in the other's ear before letting him go. "Good luck."

"Thank you, and congratulations on your marriage, it seems perfect." The priest responded kindly before taking the others away, no other words left to be spoken.

Dean wrapped an arm around his husband's shoulders and squeezed him gently, "You're surprisingly good at coping with weird shit, you know that?"

"I had to deal with your suddenly changed mind, I'm pretty good at dealing with weird things." Cas grinned playfully.

"I'm just glad that's over." Gabriel sighed, looking over at Sam who shrugged in return.

"I guess, though I kinda wanted to see the monster they were talking about..."

"There wasn't one, I'd bet." Jet shook his head and started back toward his bed, "Bunch of crazies."

"Maybe," Cas hummed, staring at the space the portal had been in.

In Between: Training

Dean felt like his mind was being molested, like there were hands inside his head that just wouldn't back off. Part of him thought maybe they were his own, feeling around inside the newfound abilities and mental processing. The rest was concerned the holy beings were having fun with him. Regardless, Castiel had handed him over to this and he wasn't about to step away from it, not if his partner believed it to be necessary. Cas trusted them so Dean would do, for now anyway. He had too many questions to just let it slip by him.

"You are a good man, Dean."

The voice was in his head again, or maybe it was all around him? He couldn't really be sure, it was the only sound he could hear.

"You make a compatible partner with Castiel."

Dean furrowed his brow, somehow that didn't quite sound right. "Compatible? That's it?"

"Yes, some of his needs seem to slip past you."

It was hard to swallow, that maybe he wasn't a good partner, but that wasn't why he was in the weird float-y space in the first place. "What do you want me to do, here?"

"You are currently in a neutral space, where positive and negative energy have clashed out and have left a sort of zone for meditation. In this space you will remain until everything is sorted through in your mind, just as Castiel has done before you, and other high priests before him."

'So just sit and wait, huh?' Dean chewed on the inside of his cheek for a few seconds before shaking his head, "What about the training Cas mentioned?"

"This is it. Close your eyes, feel your mind and the rest will come to you."

And that was the last Dean heard from them as he remained in limbo, his mind going far too fast to just let it roam. Thoughts of Castiel, spells, magic, and something much more physical than the little spark he'd started to feel. His head swam with old information, his past and history, new information and even things he'd never actually heard before. Dean could hear the celestials speaking but not to him particularly, as if they were talking to someone else entirely but knew that at some point he'd over hear.

He could hear Castiel, clear as a bell; "Who are you?" Dean struggled to see him, to see the situation somehow and connect better with his partner. He wanted to know inherently when Castiel needed something, needed him.

Then the world opened to him, the darkness drifting to the corners of his vision and he could see Castiel in set of pajamas he hadn't been wearing previously. Dean knew what Cas had been wearing, those pajamas weren't it. That didn't mean the clothes were entirely unfamiliar, Dean had seen them before somewhere but he just couldn't bring himself to remember it exactly.

However when he saw the strangle marks on Castiel's neck he remembered; the nightmare he'd had before they'd met, the one where he imagined himself as the Dean who tried to kill Cas. 'This is him just before becoming a priest, isn't it?' He thought almost excitedly, straining to pay attention. Seeing past situations with the celestials wasn't easy if he didn't focus, he was starting to realize that as the audio from it all distorted every now and then.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Castiel was frantic and his body was heaving with borderline hyperventilation, "What happened to him!?" He screamed, the pain reverberating around the room. "Dean!? DEAN! Baby where are you!? What happened?"

"Castiel Winchester, calm yourself."

"DEAN!" Cas wailed, curling in on himself and clutching his chest as more agonized cries tore from his mouth.

The sobbing was too much for Dean to listen to, his heart hurt just hearing it and as much as he wanted to pretend that maybe this was a different reality Cas, he knew it wasn't. This was his Castiel crying, in so much pain he couldn't breathe. Dean couldn't take it, he forced himself up, finding it was difficult to move but pushing through it anyway, "Cas! I'm right here!" He shouted but his voice didn't reach. Of course not, it wasn't the present time.

Or so he thought before Castiel flinched and looked around, sniffling and trying desperately to get himself together. Dean froze, wondering if altering time was possible in this realm or maybe he was playing along to a destined script. It was weird to try and comprehend any of it, and in trying to do so he wound up doing nothing but standing and staring.

"Dean?"

"He is not here, Castiel. We need you to focus, what you just saw was a demoni possessing your lover and there are many others like it." The celestial had spoken again though Castiel's attention was elsewhere. A few moments of this passed before Castiel's body started to glow and strange light was emitted from his orifices, flashing in every direction without purpose. Dean could understand what it was now, Castiel wasn't in control of his new magical abilities and some random spell was sparking to life inside him.

The scene ended as quickly as it had begun and Dean found himself reaching forward for a Castiel that wasn't really in his time. And yet, even though they hadn't connected then Dean could still feel it. Like a piece of him was with Castiel, had comforted him a little bit in a time where he needed to hear Dean's voice. He could feel Castiel with him, going through this same process of meditation at the same time in some other reality. It was a comfort and focused his mind a lot easier than just sitting in his own silence ever could have.