Chapter 3: Burning Dreams

I see fire, hollowing souls
I see fire, blood in the breeze

I see fire, oh you know I saw a city burning
I see fire, feel the heat upon my skin

I See Fire by Ed Sheeran

Dean used to have little fantasies about a hot angel waiting for him in bed when he was younger. In his mind they'd always been girls though. So when he arrived at his room to find a very attractive- yet obviously male angel in his bed...well, he was at a complete loss. He had just kind of thought Sam had put him in a guest room or something. Apparently not.

Okay, Dean thought, there's an angel in my bed. A really, really cute angel. I mean, he's a man, but he's freaking gorgeous. Okay, don't panic, Dean. Just go talk to Sam and figure out some new sleeping arrangements. Yeah… That's a good plan.

With that final thought he set off to have a little chat with his brother.

The sun was scorching, and Castiel reveled in the sensation combined with the cool water that lapped at his feet. He was standing on the beach, marveling at everything around him. He had never been to the beach before, and he could barely contain his wonder. He marveled at the sand squishing between his toes, the waves turning in the sea, the empty, pure beauty of the nature surrounding him. He was four years old, and it felt as if the whole world lay before him.

The next several hours were spent running around in the sand, building sandcastles, and then rebuilding them after the tide swept them away. The first time it happened it took Castiel by surprise. One moment the crude piles of sand he and his siblings had made stood proudly, the next they had disappeared. He stood in shock until his brother Michael explained what had happened.

His explanation was brief because the next moment he and Raphael were trying to console Anael and Uriel, who were both in tears at seeing their hard work washed away.

Castiel walked into the receding waters until he was waist deep. He stared intently at the liquid, still not quite comprehending what Michael had told him. If he had understood what his brother had said, he would not have ventured out into the water.

The waves crashed into him and pulled his tiny body away from the shore. There was a moment of shock before panic took over instead. he flailed his limbs in the water but continued to be dragged under by the waves. He opened his mouth to scream but ended up choking instead.

His vision began to darken, his thoughts hazier, and he wondered for a second why he suddenly felt so tired.

Then warm hands pulled him out of the water, smacking his back as he emptied the contents of his lungs onto his brother's shoulder.

He cried and cried as Michael held him, who assured Castiel that everything would be alright. His brother apologized profusely for not noticing sooner- he'd been preoccupied trying to calm his other brother and sister down.

Castiel didn't really mind that part. Michael was always busy taking care of everyone. It may have taken a little time, but Michael had saved him in the end. That's what he loved most about Michael. He was dependable.

He had admittedly been a bit out of it lately. For the past year angels had been found slaughtered at the edges of their territory. It was rare for angels to die of...well, anything, actually. They were eternally youthful, so dying of old age was out of the question. They were a mostly peaceful race as well, so dying in battle was also unlikely. Plus, angels were incredibly hard to injure permanently, much less kill. This was due to their quick regenerative abilities.

The deaths were most unusual. It looked as though they had been killed on purpose, but only angels were powerful enough to kill other angels. The work looked disturbingly more...human. it baffled everyone, including Michael.

Castiel, being so young, was less affected than his older siblings. Michael, being the oldest of all the angels, was hit rather hard.

Oddly enough, the second oldest, Lucifel, was was not very upset. he acted upset when other angels were around, but if he was alone he seemed just fine. Still, everyone loved Lucifel, so nobody suspected what terrors he would wreak.

That day at the beach had been beautiful, even if Castiel had almost drowned.

And just like that, it was gone.

The sunny beach replaced with a city on fire, the sky filled with smoke that made the sun look distant and hazy. it stared impassively down on his burning home, a red eye that saw all the horrors of the world yet remained unaffected.

He cried out as loud as he could, but his lone voice was no match against the countless cries of his people or the roar of the flames that engulfed them.

Yet to Castiel, the loudest sound was the silence of his brother Lucifel. His brother was powerful and beautiful and loved. He was the ideal which all angels strived for. So when Castiel saw him emerge from the flaming wreckage, he thought they were saved. No longer would the world burn. No longer would he hear the echoing screams of his dying brothers and sisters.

One of his sisters stumbled up to Lucifel. She sobbed, begging him to save them. Tears gleamed in the light of the fire, streaks of silver running down her face.

He looked down at her and smiled serenely, lifting a hand up to cup her face gently. He looked so kind and loving that Castiel almost didn't comprehend what happened next.

He saw Lucifel unsheathe his blade and watched in wordless horror as the metal swung gracefully through the air like an eagle swooping in on its prey. It met little resistance from her neck. There was a blue flash of light as her wings disintegrated into shadows on the ground.

The resulting spray of blood splattered across Lucifel's face, but he was not perturbed. If anything, he looked downright euphoric. His gentle smile grew wider.

Castiel stared dumbfounded until the severed head of his sister rolled to his feet.

His brother's eyes turned upon him, and he saw something flash through their cold amber depths. The older angel started to walk towards him. One step. Two. Three.

On the fourth step Castiel bolted. he ran as far and as fast as his little legs could carry him. Sadly, he didn't get very far.

He was soon grabbed by a pair of demons- some new sort of creature that was evil to the core. Nobody knew where they came from- all they knew was that these demons had the power to kill an angel. They were the cause of the mysterious murders before. They had been practicing.

A little fledgeling such as himself was no match for full grown demons. He struggled helplessly as the laughed mockingly at his distress. They sliced his skin open with their knives and broke his fingers one by one. When they got bored of that they held him down in the flames, enraptured at the sight of watching him writhe and scream as he burned.

Castiel was healthy at the time, so he healed almost immediately, but the pain was so terrible, he wished he would die instead. His tears evaporated before they could even leave his eyes. He couldn't understand how these monsters could find such joy in torturing him.

Ironically, it was his brother Lucifel who saved him from their antics. he plucked the angel out of their reach and cradled him against his chest.

"Castiel," he cooed softly, "Why did you run from me, little one? i would never hurt you." He whimpered, trying to curl in further on himself, but to no avail. His brother smirked down at him. he trembled as the other stroked his fingers slowly through his hair.

"No, no, dear Castiel. Your generation will live, so that you all remember your place in the new world. Our other brothers and sisters- well, they're just a little too set in their ways to accept it. but you- you young ones are perfect for conditioning. You'll do wonderfully."

He stared bewildered up at his brother. None of his words made any sense to the fledgeling.

Lucifel just smiled sweetly at him before passing a hand over his eyes and leaving him in a suffocating darkness he couldn't escape.

Dean had taken no more than five steps before he heard a small cry come from his bedroom.

Swiftly, he turned around and ran to the angel's side. It was dark, but he could still make out the pale sheen of sweat on his brow, as well as his tortured expression by the moonlight. It was obvious that the poor being was having a nightmare.

Even as he came to this conclusion, the angel unconsciously drew his wings closer around himself as if to make a protective cocoon. This was entirely unhelpful to Dean, who had to force them open in order to wake the angel.

"Blue Eyes, hey," he struggled against the feathery appendages, "Hey- wake up!"

The next few minutes passed in a similar fashion until eventually, the angel woke with a gasp and a look of wide-eyed panic.

"It's okay, it's alright. You're safe now. It was just a nightmare," he tried to assure him. Unfortunately for Castiel, it was more than that. The worst nightmares are the real ones because it's impossible to hide from the truth.

For Castiel, this truth was that thousands upon thousands of his brothers and sisters had died from that day onwards. And the ones that had survived were forced into slavery, which was worse than dying in some ways. And the worst truth of all was that it was all caused by the brother they had loved so much.

he sobbed uncontrollably, unable to hold back his tears. he vaguely realized that the king was holding him, but was too tired to resist. Frankly, he didn't want to. It felt nice to have someone's arms wrapped around him again without malevolence or ulterior motives.

So he stayed like that, not rejecting the man's gentle touches as he brushed away his tears and whispered comforting words into his hair.

He didn't know what it was about the king or his brother, but Castiel felt he could trust them, despite the short amount of time he had known them.

he supposed, in a way, they reminded him a little bit of his brother Michael. All three of them were strong and sturdy, but most of all they all shared a willingness to take care of others, regardless of their own needs.

Being with Sam and his brother reminded him of his life before slavery. The biggest difference being the severe lack of other angels around him, but when he was with them...he didn't mind so much.

So for the night he pretended like he was a fledgeling again, wrapped protectively in Michael's arms, instead of the strange but kind man he barely knew. He imagined he was at the beach again, the sun smiling warmly on his skin, being lulled to sleep by the sound of waves churning gently in the sea.

And ever so slowly he began to fall asleep. And with every breath evening out, the barriers he had built around his heart began to drift away in the imaginary waves that sounded in tandem with the king's heartbeat. And then there was peace.

A/N: For the love of all good things guys, if you notice a spelling or grammar error please tell me TT_TT I recently went through the other chapters and my eyes were just...bleeding. I try to catch them before I post them, but sometimes I'm just really blind. So please, if you notice anything like that , feel free to tell me. Also, I didn't realize before that I couldn't separate time or point of view with dashes...apparently they don't show up here...so I fixed that too. Dear Lord, I'm so tired. And I'm sick of making cardboard chairs (don't ask).

But anyways...thanks for reading, guys! And you know...continuing to read despite my rather slow updates (Sorry) :)