Happy Croatoan Day, lovely readers. I figured, since I'm spending the day waiting for the zombies to arrive, I should get this chapter ready and posted for you, 'cause none of us know if we'll make it to tomorrow.

Enjoy…

Chapter Eleven

Castiel was impatient. He had a bad feeling that had crept over him the moment they arrived at the Bed and Breakfast where Kevin and his mother were staying. He wanted to be back at the bunker where there was a measure of protection for his friends, but they were delayed by Mrs. Tran. She made a business of packing her belongings. Even Kevin was frustrated.

"Mom, just shove it in!" he snapped, picking up an armful of blouses and pants and dropping them into the suitcase. "We've got to get back."

Mrs. Tran stiffened. "Kevin…"

"No, Mom. There's a crazy, homicidal angel coming for us. He's not going to care if your shirt's creased. He's just gonna kill."

Castiel was glad Kevin at least understood the danger they were in. His mother seemed more put out by the inconvenience of being ousted from her temporary home in favor of living in the bunker. She may well be the most frustrating person Castiel had ever encountered, and that was quite a statement bearing in mind the fact he had spent years in the Winchesters' company.

Kevin shoved the last of his mother's belongings into the case and snapped it shut. "Okay, we're done. Let's go."

"I need to settle up with Granny. We haven't paid yet," she said.

"Send her a check!" Castiel snapped.

Mrs. Tran turned her glare on him and he stared back, unconcerned by her ire. He had more pressing concerns that her anger, such as her safety. He grabbed her case and strode from the room, his exit an unspoken command for them to follow.

The desk at the door was unmanned, which Castiel was glad of. If Mrs. Tran had been given the opportunity, she would surely have delayed there, possibly even taking time to compliment the owner on their stay. She really was maddening.

When they got to the car, Castiel snatched the keys out of her hand and threw himself in behind the steering wheel. The bad feeling was back in full force, and he needed to be back at the bunker now.

She huffed and climbed into the passenger side as he gunned the engine. "There's no need to snatch."

Castiel didn't deign to answer. He had learned to follow his instincts in the past, and every instinct was screaming at him that there was something very wrong. Something had happened to Dean and Sam.

He drove with as much care for traffic laws as Dean on his best day, and they were soon pulling up near the bunkers incongruous entrance. Kevin flickered out of the back seat and Castiel knew he'd gone inside to check on Sam and Dean. A moment later, as Castiel was climbing out of the car, he appeared again, looking horrified. "Castiel, quick! It's Dean!"

Castiel threw the door open and raced down the stairs into the bunker. What he saw there stole his breath. Dean was lying on the ground in a pool of smeared blood. His eyes were closed and his skin ashen. The only sign of life was the slow and unsteady sound of his rasping breaths.

"Dean!" Castiel gasped, running to his side and dropping to his knees beside him.

At the sound of Castiel's voice, Dean's eyes opened and roved in their sockets. "Cas?"

"I am here."

Dean swallowed thickly. "He took Sammy," he said in a hoarse whisper.

"Who did?"

"Metatron. He came and took Sam. Shot me."

Castiel bowed his head. "We'll find him."

His hand reached out to lie over Dean's wounded stomach, but Dean caught his wrist. "Your grace. You haven't enough."

"I have enough for this," Castiel said, almost telling the truth. He had perhaps almost enough to heal Dean, but that would be all. He had to do it though. He could not let Dean die. He had failed the Winchesters many times before; he would not fail them again. He searched deep within himself for the grace and focused it on his hand. White light spilled from his palm and he lowered it over Dean's wounds. He could feel the skin knitting together under his touch, the flesh and muscle mending. Then he felt nothing for a moment, nothing but darkness as he fell back.

He had known it would come to this from the moment he took the borrowed grace, it would only last so long and there would be consequences when it burned out, but he imagined that consequence would be death. Metatron had led him to believe it would be death. This was not death though. It was life.

He heard someone shouting his name, and a hand on his shoulder shaking him, but he couldn't respond for a moment. He was a passenger inside his own body as it changed. Blood flowed with purpose and lung expanded gratefully with the air he drew in.

"Cas!" Dean shouted, and there was a sharp pain on his cheek as someone struck him. His eyes opened and he looked up into Dean's face, taut with worry. "Shit, Cas," Dean breathed. "I thought you were a goner."

Castiel eased himself to a sitting position, feeling the aches and pains of his back where he had been lying on the hard floor. Kevin and Mrs. Tran were standing behind Dean, and they looked concerned and more than a little stunned.

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"My grace burned out," Castiel said.

"Thought that was supposed to kill you."

Castiel nodded. "So did I. I am very surprised."

"But, you're human, right?"

Castiel nodded, rubbing a hand over his aching chest.

"Well, shit," Kevin said, ignoring his mother's furious look.

He eased himself to his feet and took in Dean's appearance. He was bloodied and a little pale from blood loss, but he was essentially well. If there was a good reason to lose the last of his grace and become human again, it was to save family, Castiel thought.

"Metatron has Sam?" he asked.

Dean nodded and raked a hand over his face. "He took the amulet. I don't know where he's gone. He said he was taking Sam to the last place we would think to look."

"We must find him."

"Ya think I don't know that!" Dean snapped. "Cas, it's my brother. I know better than anyone what we need to do."

Castiel did not take Dean's anger personally. He knew Dean was suffering with the guilt of what had happened. No matter how faultless he was, he would blame himself for anything that happened to his brother. His mind turned instead to their immediate problem, Sam. Metatron said he would take them to the last place they would think to look, which meant they had to start with unlikely places first. Unfortunately, Castiel had no ideas, unlikely or otherwise.

He turned to Kevin. "You can search the veil."

Dean nodded eagerly. "You have to! If Metatron's with him, he'll be in the veil. Sam won't want to be near him."

Castiel thought it was also likely that Sam would be searching the veil for Kevin.

"I'll find him, Dean," Kevin vowed and flickered into nothing.

The veil was chaos. It might once have been a place of peace and passage, but now there were too many people crammed in. It was like being inside a football stadium with the pitch as packed as the stalls, but bigger, so much bigger. The hum of noise hit Kevin first, countless people whispering to each other, searching for knowledge and comfort. He took a moment to acclimatize himself to being there again, before starting his search.

He could have moved through the people, searching every face for Sam, but it would take forever and there was no guarantee Sam wasn't already doing the same for him. They would miss each other. Instead, he remained in place and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Sam Winchester! Does anyone know Sam Winchester?"

There was an answering hum but no one called out to Kevin with Sam's name or voice. Kevin cursed. He could be here forever searching. Despite knowing he could miss Sam, he started to move, shouting Sam's name as he went.

He remembered his first time in the veil. He had been scared and desperate, and the voices had comforted him and reassured him. It wasn't until later, he didn't know how much later as time was hard to track in the veil, that he had the idea to search for his mother there. He had moved among the people, shouting his mother's name. There hadn't been much hope at first, but one 'day' a voice had answered him with the words that had changed everything for him. "I know Linda." He hoped desperately that a voice would respond now with the same answer.

Hands plucked at him as he passed, seeking comfort or information, but none of them spoke Sam's name, so he didn't stop. He continued on, shouting Sam's name, until he finally heard a voice respond.

"You looking for Sam Winchester?"

Kevin spun on his heel and faced the man. He was taller that Kevin, and heavy-set, with a grubby baseball cap on his head. If Kevin had ever had the chance to know him, he would have noticed the similarities in the man to Bobby Singer. They both shared the hardened look of hunters—not to mention the headgear.

"Have you seen him?" Kevin asked.

The man shook his head. "No. I heard he died, and I've been keeping an eye out for him, but there's been no sign until a little while ago."

"I thought you hadn't seen him."

"I haven't but I heard him. I tried to get to him, but something grabbed him before I could."

"Something grabbed him?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, don't know what, I didn't see, but word is he was yanked out of the veil."

"Okay, thanks…"

"Irv," the man supplied. "Name's Irv. And don't go running off yet. I can help you."

Kevin nodded gratefully. Any help would be good. "What was he saying?" he asked.

"Something about someone called Metatron and a hotel. It got pretty confusing. You know what it's like here; everything works like a game of telephone. I got Metatron, hotel, ice-bath and Grand Canyon, but the rest didn't come through clear enough for me to get an ear on it. That mean anything to you?"

Kevin shook his head. "Not to me, but I know someone that might know. I've got to go."

"Okay," Irv said. "I'll keep an ear out for anything else."

"Thanks," Kevin said quickly. He was about to go back into the world again when an idea caught him. "Irv, if you see him, tell him Dean's okay."

That said, he focused his mind and forced himself back into the mortal world.

Kevin had been gone too long. Dean was at his wit's end and scared to boot. He was in half a mind to snag the ring out of Mrs. Tran's purse and summon the little nerd back to answer some questions. Only the thought that the more time Kevin spent with them, the less time he would be searching for Sam stopped him.

At first, Castiel had tried to reassure him that Sam would be okay, but after a couple pointed glares and a final "Shut the fuck up, Cas!" he quit trying. Sam would maybe be okay. He had a point; he couldn't get more dead, but he could be banished to the veil forever. Dean might have seen him for the last time. Sam probably thought Dean was dead now. Metatron would definitely make sure to tell him that he'd left Dean bleeding out on the floor. Maybe he was in the veil now, looking for Dean…

"Kevin!"

Dean's gaze snapped up from the floor at Mrs. Tran's squawk. Kevin was standing beside her.

"Well?" he snapped. "Did you see him?"

"No, but I met someone that heard him. A guy named Irv. He said Sam was in the veil and shouting, but it didn't make a lot of sense."

Dean tapped his foot impatiently and gestured for Kevin to go on.

"He said something about Metatron, and Ice-bath, a hotel and the Grand Canyon."

Dean repeated the words in his mind, mulling them over, and then the answer came to him. It was so obvious he was annoyed that it had taken this to make him see. Metatron had said he would take Sam to the last place he would look. The last place was the most obvious place: Metatron's hidey-hole hotel in Colorado.

"Kevin, you rock," he said, making for the garage. He moved at a jog and didn't realize he was being followed until he got to the car and saw Castiel hurrying after him.

"Cas, no," he said. "You can't come."

"Why not?"

"Because you're human now. You could get hurt."

A mulish look of defiance came over Castiel's face. "So could you."

Dean bit back a groan. "Yeah, but Sam's my brother."

"And Sam's my friend. You are at equal risk to me, if not more. Metatron has already killed you once, and he attempted to kill you a second time just today. I am coming Dean."

Dean didn't have time to argue. It was a long drive to Colorado and every minute he delayed was another minute Sam was alone with Metatron. Besides, Castiel had a point. He had as much to lose as Dean in this. He had earned the right to come along.

He nodded and climbed in the car. Castiel slid in beside him and folded his hands on his lap as he waited for Dean to start the engine.

"You might want to try and get some sleep," Dean said. "It's a long drive and we've got to be on top of our game when we get there."

Castiel cleared his throat. "Dean, how are we going to get Sam away from Metatron?"

Dean grinned evilly. "We're going to kill the dick."

Castiel nodded his satisfaction. "Good."

So… Dean's alive and Castiel's human. I think I deserve kudos for not ending this chapter with an evil cliffhanger ending, what do you think?

Assuming I survive the zombie apocalypse, next week's update — which is incidentally the last full chapter — will come early or later as I am going away for a few days. I will do my best to make it early but things happen.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx