Childhood Sweetheart World: Part 2
Dean leapt, hopped, and sprinted his way through the town like the hounds of hell were at his heels. They really might as well have been, too. His legs were burning and it felt like every step there was something nipping at him. It was all in his head, of course. His mind wouldn't let him rest as he bolted down straight pavement. It wasn't a very big town, or at least not anymore. It was on its way into becoming more of a city but that didn't change the fact that the whole thing was being demolished. Time wasn't on his side, each second he took to get close another person died and even more so it was closer and closer to that person being someone he knew. Dean could feel with each movement he was faster than he'd ever been, each step went further and his legs moved quicker than ever. It was like a dream, fluid and easy, no effort needed. He appreciated it, he could feel the difference in his body with every step, the adrenaline pumping, his blood rushing, all of it. But it still felt like it wasn't fast enough, the imagery of what his friends were going through kept playing over in his head. Castiel splattered on the ground, the monster would have thrown him or hit him too hard. Sam would be under foot or in the wrong place at the wrong time, a building crumbling and pinning him down. And Jet? Jet would find a way to get eaten.
The ground shook harder the closer he got, he was thankful that his priest given abilities included physical prowess, balance being one of those things. Dean would normally have faltered, tripped up and fallen, but not this time. His reflexes were astounding, he realized as he dodged falling debris and people alike. The more he pushed himself the more he learned.
Finally Dean could see more than the torso of this thing, it was close. He started jumping onto buildings, scrambling up the sides and hopping from rooftop to rooftop. He was almost there, he was so close he swore he could hear his family. Of course that was impossible, all he could really here was the sound of buildings crashing down and people screaming for their lives.
Meanwhile Castiel had fired on the gigas numerous times, attempting to hit it in the same place in the hopes he could get some combo damage. He was out of luck, however. It wasn't that he needed to add up the amount of damage he did to the monster, his weaker attacks were straight up negated. He growled low and continued to fire anyway, the gigas roared again and swatted at the shots buzzing around him like a fucking bug. "It isn't working! You two get out of here!"
"No!" Sam shouted defiantly, moving to run after Cas but Jet caught his arm. "We aren't going to leave you, Cas!"
"Fucking hell…" Castiel cursed under his breath, Sam meant well but what did he think he could accomplish by being so stubborn? The monster they were facing wasn't going to just go 'oh, okay they're defending their friend, guess I won't step on them.' He snarled and lowered his gun, smoke from the end of the barrel drawing his eyes down to the spikes on the muzzle. He furrowed his brow at it for a second, wheels turning in his head. He couldn't harm it with pot shots at its thick skin, he needed to hit a weak spot, but he hadn't seen anything other than its eyes. 'Guess I know my target.' Castiel thought as he shouldered his Pernach, "Then stay here." The order left his lips as he bolted down the street and jumped on top of the nearest building, climbing higher and higher as he moved closer to the gigas.
"What is he doing?" Sam still couldn't try to follow, Jet wasn't letting up any. "Jet let go, we need to follow him."
"You heard him, Sam. We're in the way here, I get following when the monster is a little more our size but we're dealing with something bigger than skyscrapers." Jet tried to sound reasonable, his tone was even and he didn't tighten his grip any more than it needed to be to hold Sam in place. Of course the Winchester wasn't about to just take that as an answer, Sam braced himself and pulled for a few brief seconds before a thunderous crash caught their attention again. Buildings near them that had lost their foundations started to fall, the tremors caused by each step the monster took had grown to be too much. Sam and Jet stood in the ruined street, safely watching as some of the smaller structures toppled over like houses made of cards.
The gigas roared again, the shockwave sending Sam and Jet stumbling. They both looked up to see Castiel on the top of the nearest building to the monster, his coat like a whirlwind around him for those seconds he calculated everything. Every last detail of his next move crossed his mind before he did it, running and taking that risk, leaping off the rooftop to the beast's swinging arm. It was terrifying and breathtaking, to see Castiel's miniscule form against the gargantuan limb. It was like watching someone play the game Shadow of the Colossus, but the speed that Castiel moved with was astounding and by far more impressive than the awkward shambling that they had been doing on the ground.
Sam felt so useless and scared, like he had to do something and it was getting overwhelming. "He's going to need us! Jet let go-"
"And what the fuck are we going to do!?" Jet snapped and forced Sam closer to him, to face him and Sam really did see the anger Dean had always said Jet carried. "Do you have a clue, Sam? Do you? Are you going to follow him up to the top of that fucking thing and ask it nicely to stop? We're helpless, there is absolutely nothing you can do against that thing. You can't even piss it off!"
"Jet-"
"NO! Fuck, Sam!" Jet grit his teeth and gestured toward the gigas pointedly, his motions strong but controlled, "Do you see it? Have you fucking noticed that when it makes any kind of sound we nearly fall the fuck over? I said we'd come over here because this is where Dean and Castiel would show up, Cas is here and he told us to stay away from it so that's what we do. We aren't the super-powered priests, Sam. We're two regular fucking guys who happen to be tagging along for the company, moral support, we're like fucking comedy relief! Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
Sam nodded, he'd been lectured by Jet a few times in his life but he'd never seen the other man this angry over something. Dean had seen it, Dean and Jet had been in fights before and Sam had seen the aftermath, broken noses, blood, black eyes, dark and angry bruises, the works. Jet wasn't violent with him but he wasn't above being yelled at. "I hear you… But Cas is here, we're safe with him it's fine."
"And Cas is just as fucking useless as we are! You heard me, you heard what he said, but are you fucking listening?!" Jet was in his face and not backing off, Sam wanted to look away but he couldn't. Jet had never been this severe with him, screaming at him and emphasizing his point by getting even louder, and it was because he was scared. Sam could see it, the fear in his eyes swirling around like it was its own colour. "He told us to stay back, he told us he ran away from the last one he fought, he's barely able to make the thing look at him! Just wait! Just fucking waiting here, okay?"
Sam bit his lip and looked back to where Castiel had reached the gigas' shoulder, "I don't-"
"Sam! Can you do that?"
He looked at Jet again, his friend's tone had gotten softer with the last few words. He wondered what it meant, what Jet was more scared of.
"Please?"
Sam nodded, he didn't need to torture Jet anything further, "Alright…" He conceded but he didn't want to, eyes drawn back to where Castiel's mountain climbing adventure had brought him to the gigas' head.
It was windy up there and each movement the monster made was earth shaking for Cas, he braced himself and looked over its brow to gauge his next action. It was horrifying, to be so high up and see the ground that far below. He had trouble breathing the more he thought about it, but really he didn't have the luxury of worrying over it. Cas licked his lips and readied his gun, his feet hesitating only a few seconds before he made his move, sliding and climbing down as quickly as he could.
Cas caught himself directly in front of the gigas' right eye, his fingers finding a hold and his feet spreading out to hold himself up. It was a precarious position but he was balanced well enough to let go. The creature was reaching up for him just as he swung the mace of his combination weapon deep into its eye socket. A higher pitched screech rumbled and shook the area, Castiel had fallen but hadn't let go of his gun, which was still stuck in its eye.
The gigas roared again, stomping and stumbling around as it swatted at the high priest attached to its face. One swipe was enough, Castiel's pernach was dislodged and with a great amount of force he went sailing toward the ground. It was surreal, Sam could barely move or stand with how badly everything was slammed with pulse after pulse of sound and ground shattering steps. But he could watch as Castiel's limp body plummeted the thousands of feet to the ground.
"Cas! CAS!" He cried out but barely heard his voice over everything. "Dean! Dean, catch him!" It was all he could think to say, Cas was so close but not close enough for either himself or Jet to make it in time.
Moments before impact, before Sam watched the newest member of their family splatter all over the ground, a flash of blue stole the priest from midair. Sam nearly screamed with excitement and relief, Dean was there, Dean saved Castiel, Castiel was alive. He broke away from Jet's awestruck hold and bolted to where Dean had knelt down, Cas in his arms.
"Are you alright?" Dean asked immediately, barely giving Castiel a chance to focus. Blue eyes were so wide with shock and fear, his lips parted as he panted softly for air his lungs had struggled with moments before. "Cas?" Dean touched his face, hoping to get some recognition.
"I'm okay," Cas stumbled over the words, his mind barely catching up with him. "Just a little dizzy." He smiled dazedly, patting Dean on the arm with some reassurance. "Good timing, partner."
"Thanks," Dean chuckled, relief easing into his face like he was too scared to be happy for a few seconds. "What is this thing? What do we do?"
"It's a gigas, immune to magic and any weak attacks, it has a tough skin." Cas moved to sit up and, with Dean's help, stand again, "It can only be beaten by a strong physical assault, everything I do bounces right off so this one's all yours."
"Just me?" Dean gaped, too shocked to realize that Sam had come barreling his way.
"Dean!" Sam swung around him and forced him into a hug, fingers digging in just enough for his older brother to notice. "Good catch."
Dean smiled and squeezed his little brother back, he could feel Sam's body trembling, even just a little. Maybe he was hyper aware but he was certain it wasn't normal for Sam. "You're pretty shaken up, what happened?"
"Nothing." Sam shook his head and stepped away again, "I mean, nothing other than the gigas…"
"Sam…" Dean used that tone he always used to, the one with a gentle warning or demand.
"I feel so useless…" Sam explained quietly, glancing over at Cas for a moment, "There's nothing I can do…"
Dean knew he'd have to address this in full later on, it wasn't something Sam was just going to get over. "Sammy you're more valuable to the team than you think, don't be so down on yourself. There's more to all of this than running at giant monsters and taking them down, you know that."
"Yeah…" Sam sighed and tried to let it go. "I guess it's all just getting to me, I was almost stepped on back there."
Dean frowned a little, "Why would you get that close?"
"We popped up right where the gigas was about to put its foot down, I would've been flattened immediately but Jet…" Sam's mind refreshed itself of the moment, a familiar hold on him, the rush of wind and the horrible quaking of the earth beneath him. "Jet pulled me back just in time."
Dean turned to Jet who had just reached them, "Thank you, man."
"I said I would keep him safe, didn't I?" Jet smiled and shrugged, "But you're welcome."
"We'll finish this discussion later," Cas interrupted, his voice steady again. "Dean, you have to take it down. I'll get these two to a safer place, do whatever is necessary."
Dean nodded and looked back to the gigas as it got over the fact it couldn't see out of its right eye any longer. "Right, I'll do what I can." It was a lot of pressure but to keep his family safe he'd do just about anything.