Unrealized Potential
Body Swap
Summary: Rule number thirty three of hunting was never hunt alone when you don't know what you are hunting. This time that backfires.
Authors Note: This one was harder than I thought. If it wasn't coping myself I would do a cheat and crossover with Warehouse 13. Instead you have this….enjoy timeline is early five when Dean and Castiel are traveling together.
Dean wasn't sure if this much time on his own was a good thing or not but with Sammy on his own and Castiel poking his head in every now and then he was going for find out. He had finished up his last hunt and didn't have anything on the books so he retired to a bar for the evening, he should have gone to the hotel. He was only three drinks in when a high pitched scream dragged his attention from the bar and liquor in front of him.
He was outside with a few other brave souls and noted a girl running towards them, her clothes were torn and makeup running down her face. A scratch on her neck looked like fangs, she seemed more worked up then really hurt and he made sure he was the first to her. Taking her by the arm he pulled her away from the crowd and over to sit on the front of the now clean Impala.
"Hey, your okay, can I help you?" he asked reaching over and holding the wound on her neck to stop the trickle of blood. Wide eyes turn to meet his and he watches her closely as she seemed to slowly come back to herself.
"There was this…thing." She said slowly after a few minutes of silence as the others seemed to have lost interest and head back into the bar.
"What do you mean thing?" Dean asked not sure he knew what was going on and he was so sure that he had taken care of every supernatural creature. He collected as many details as possible from the girl and drove her arm. After making sure she was safe she headed to the local police station and asked if they had any weird reports in the last twenty-four hours. He was handled a baker's dozen of files.
He retreated to his hotel and reviewed the files and called for Castiel, he hoped that the Angel would be able to make more sense of what was happening in this small town. Clearly ghost problems were not the only problems, he had thought about calling Sam but then remembered that Sam had left him. Again, he didn't want to talk to Dean so that left the Angel.
It was a few hours later when Castiel finally appeared, Dean nodded in greeting and gestured to the files, "hoping you could help me make sense of it all. I have vampires, werewolfs, dijinn, ghosts, demons, and a few other collected baddies all working the same town and just killing off humans. Any idea as to why."
"I do not have a reason to give you as to why this is happening in this town Dean, but I can tell you that it is taking a lot of power to make these things happen in the fashion they are happening. I am not sure if we have enough power together to take on whatever is causing pain to this town we may need to contact your brother."
"Sammy is out of hunting, we can't contact him Cass so lets just put our heads together and see what we can figure out." That was just what the two of them did for six hours before the police scanner picked up another attack and the two of them were off to the scene to see if there were any more helpful clues to put everything together.
There wasn't any helpful hints at the crime scene but there happened to be the problem. Dean was almost shocked out of his shoes when he turned the corner onto the street the attack took place and found the trickster, or rather Gabriel, the arch-angel, turned pagan god, turned angel clearly wasn't surprised to see either of them and winked before snapping his fingers and disappearing.
It was the wave of sickness that Dean knew things were about to go flop side and pulled on Castiel's arm, "get us out of here." He commanded and he felt the Angel touching his arm then nothing. When they land in the hotel Dean stumbles, he feels off. Shorter than he should and if possible more powerful. He turns to look where Castiel should have been and found only wall, when he turned to the right he jumped seeing his own body staring back at him.
"Cass?" he asked unsure and frowned at the tone of his voice, that wasn't him and he wondered just when he had started to sound like Castiel.
"Dean, I believe that the trickster has caught us in his web." Yep, that was Dean's mouth moving, dean's voice talking and well this just suck the big one. Dean frowned and it felt normal for this face, he had to wonder what smiling would feel like.
"Am I in your body?" Dean asked unsure what Castiel's body really was, Jimmy was more or less a human analog for the whole shebang.
"For the lack of real human words yes, you are in Jimmy's body and my grace has been left intact." Dean felt his panic start to raise and he felt the room brighten slightly. "You must remain calm Dean, getting worried or excited will cause my grace to activate." Dean could feel it, he could sense it rumbling just underneath the surface. A hint towards the expanding power that was held in this body, Dean took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Nothing was really working until he felt hands on the physical body.
Blinking he looked into his own eyes and felt a little better, "Cass?" he asked blood rushing in his ears and the other man nodded.
"Focus Dean, you need to focus on one thing. Let it ground you." Dean nodded and focused on Castiel the way he sounded, the word choice and inflection that he used weird coming from Dean's lips but reassuring as it let Dean know that Castiel was still himself even if it was in a different body.
"I think I'm good, I just-fuck Cass does it always feel that way?"
"Like what?"
"Like you grabbed onto a rocket and can't let go."
"I suppose that would be a good way to describe it, and yes sometimes its more overwhelming or at least Jimmy said so."
"Oh, well is he-I mean is Jimmy-ishestillaround?"
"You are alone in the physical body, if Jimmy was still there he would have pushed you out and claimed his own body. "
"That's good I guess," Dean was a little confused and made his way over to the spare bed he had gotten for Castiel but wasn't used. "Think I'm just gonna kick back while you get some sleep not in the mood to blow up half the planet."
"Oh, yes your body will require sleep, you said four hours is all I will need."
"Go to sleep Cass when you wake up you wake up."
"But the case."
"He will be distracted with us for the time being, it will be fine. Get some sleep Cass." It wasn't long after Castiel laid his body on the bed that he passed out and was snoring. Dean hadn't snored since he was eight, a skill that was needed, he forgot how loud his body was when it wasn't being controlled. He sat calmly on the bed letting everything sink in and before knowing what was happening he was more than the meatsuit on him. He was the bed, the walls, the air around them, he could be everywhere and was everywhere.
He saw Bobby working on a car, Sammy playing real at a bar, Lisa and Ben relaxing after work and school. It was amazing and breathtaking as he saw the entire world, no wonder Castiel looked at Dean like he was nothing, he was nothing compared to the world. He forced himself to think of Castiel only and found himself coming back to the singular room with Cass on one bed and Dean on the other. Cass was still snoring away in his body so he figured he had some time to kill, turning the volume down he turned the tv set on and found some re-runs of All in The Family and settled in to watch.
MORNING (really afternoon)
Castiel woke slowly and had to fight to come fully awake, he had never really slept before and found that Dean's body was willing to slip deeper than he was sure what to do with. It was as if it never really got to sleep, when he woke finally he looked at the clock and his eyes widened when he realized he had slept for over twelve hours.
"Dean?" he asked as he blinked and sat up, his body presented itself from the bathroom a few seconds later. He wondered just what the human had been up to since he was now for the moment an Angel.
"Finally awake there? Let you sleep figured you could use it. I'm a little rough on my body."
"I feel much better, when was the last time you were this rested?"
"I don't know three?" Dean moved out and pushed past the words that Castiel wished to quiz further. "How about you get a shower and I can get you some clothes and we head out and try and track down a bothersome flying trickster. "
"It is for the best." Castiel said standing and making his way to the bathroom, this body while being mortal strong was not what he was use to. It was weak and he felt threats around him, he could understand further why Dean and Sam where always so defensive, if he felt it they would have to also feel the threats that were around them. He made quick clinic work of the shower knowing Dean wouldn't appreciate him poking around his body and found clothes waiting for him on the top of the toilet.
After finishing in the shower he moved out of the bathroom and tossed the dirty clothes as he had seen both brothers do time and time again towards the door but he misjudged Dean's strengthen and the clothes smashed into the lamp and caused it to shatter the clothes fluttering around it. Dean snorted in laughter and Castiel looked to see his face smiling and his eyes beaming and twinkling.
"Careful there terminator, we need the security deposit back on this place."
"I am sorry Dean, I did not think that." Dean waved him off and it was odd to see your own "body" if the mortal flesh could be called that act different then it should.
"I almost exploded last night so I get it, don't worry just be careful on the body." He said with a wink knowing that Cass would be able to heal anything if he was in his normal body, Dean didn't think he could do the same. At least not without going nuclear, it wasn't a skill he had yet and needed practice but he hoped to get them switched before that happens.
There are a few days of chasing Gabe around town and dealing with the fallout of the spell, or rather of switching bodies. Dean quickly found out that the wings would respond to his wants and needs more than commands. They also weren't on this plane of existence, which was odd but he had popped in on both Bobby and Sammy that day when he was trying to learn control. Sam was hard, but really he pulled an Angel and just popped back out.
Cass in the mean time found out how better Dean's reaction and strength was over other humans. He wondered if the fact that he was Michaels vessel made him stronger than the average human. He managed to save a few items over the day that people almost dropped, or would have if Castiel had played it like Dean did normally and let it fall. He just wanted the Angel to stop as it was drawing attention to his body and that was never good. He never did and still didn't get it after leaving the body.
On the second day trapped in the wrong body Dean felt the angels high senses start to kick in. He could smell everything and it was horrible, too much all at once and he shut it off only to find he could taste the air, it was worse and it only got worse as he tried to adapt, he spend the day trapped in the hotel room as Castiel went out on his human adventure.
When Cass returned hours later he had a sour look on Dean's face and he wondered what the temporary human had faced to put such a look on said face. "Is it always like that when you go out in public?" Dean wasn't sure what the Angel meant and asked for clearification.
"I was unable to do anything without someone talking, or flirting as you have called it, someone even pinched this ass!" Dean couldn't help the laughter that burst out of his mouth at Castiel's exclaim as he took the other in, he looked like he had been running most of the way back to the hotel and Dean just shook his head.
"You learn to make yourself appear unattractive, it takes time and a lot of energy sometimes. "
"I do not want to have to learn."
"I don't want to teach ya," Dean confirmed sensing this would only get worse before it got better, at least he was older and Castiel wasn't dealing with the grossest element of the world. When Castiel went to bed that night in his body he let himself drift slightly not wanting to use physical senses as they were so overpowering. He should have stayed attached to the room and its horrible mixture of smells; he started to feel the overwhelming sorrow that was the world.
He wasn't sure how long he was lost in it but he felt the tears running down the borrowed face and couldn't stop, he felt arms around him, familiar but never like this. His face and his arms around him, close to him and he melted slightly it was Castiel and he would be safe here. He relaxed against the other, feeling as his human body fell back into sleep resting on Castiel's physical body.
When Castiel woke the next morning Dean already had breakfast for him ready on the table and now had an idea why the Angel didn't eat often as it had tasted like an explosion it couldn't be enjoyed for what it was. The Angel had a number of books and printed papers spread out over the table, laptop open and using one had to type onto it before looking up to Dean.
"Never play dumb with me again." Came the command from the prone man who went back to reading over the papers and drew one out of the pile and handed it to Dean.
"Huh," Dean stated doing just what the man told him not to do.
"You know the Pi measurement to a hundred points, your body has memory of research and hacking that I was able to use to help locate my brother. You are not dumb Dean Winchester."
"So," Dean said with a shrug and Castiel stopped his work and moved the body over to face Dean, it was odd to be the smallest man in the room for once.
"You are smart and you should never hide it from anyone. Use it to protect, like it was gifted to you for."
They headed out that evening after talking a few things over to the hotel that the computer had spat at them for a location. Dean was about to open the door when Gabriel appeared to his left.
"Jesus!"
"Nope, Gabriel!" a handful of suckers held out for them to pick from.
"Fuck off," Dean commented and glared from Castiel's body.
"That's not nice, perhaps I should-"
"Whatever, stop the lesson we got shit to do."
"Hello Brother," finally spoke up and Gabriel turned a wide grin taking over his face when he saw his brother.
"Cassie! Nice meatsuit you go going on. Learn any lessons yet?" The two brothers share a pointed stare for a few moments before Dean wants to reach out and poke one of them to stop it. That was his body thank you very much.
"Change us back, please." The please was added after the fact, an after thought and the Arch Angel looked at the powered down Angel.
"I need a promise," his eyes leaving Castiel's and also meeting Deans.
"What?" Dean demanded knowing that nothing was going to be easy.
"No hunting me down, and I leave the two of you and the rest of the mortals alone." There was a long moment of silence as Dean and Castiel seemed to talk it out between a long stare that even Gabriel raised an eyebrow at.
"Fine," Dean said offering his hand to seal the deal. Gabriel smiles and snaps his fingers.
"Tata!" Perhaps it was time for him to pay Samuel a little visit, after all he had stated mortals. Sam was still fair game. The two males collapsing behind the parting Arch Angel , waking a few minutes later correct in their placement for the first time in almost two weeks.
"Wanna get a beer?"
"I would prefer a whole liquor store at this point." Dean smirked and found himself nodding.
"I could probably go for it." A few seconds later and a very eerie echo of Gabriel's laughter reached each corner of the now empty room.
END