Chapter Thirty-One

Jeremy immediately shifted the blade so it was pressed against Castiel's throat.

"Easy, boy, you wouldn't want me to slip and accidentally sever his jugular vein."

Cas couldn't see past Jeremy, and he knew trying to lift his head would be a fatal mistake, but he could hear solid footsteps on the stairs.

"Get the fuck away from him."

Cas knew that voice.

"Why, so you can shoot me? I don't think so."

"Dean, get out of here," Cas urged. He didn't want Dean anywhere near this psychopath, especially now that he knew exactly what Jeremy had done to him.

"That's not really how this whole rescue thing works," Dean said. He sounded calm, steady, but it had to be a front. He had been imprisoned in this basement for more than seven months; being back here was going to trigger a panic attack any second.

Cas couldn't bear to watch Jeremy hurt him again. "Dean, please, go."

"Cassie, is that any way to greet your husband?" Jeromy admonished him, pressing the knife deeper. "Shame on you." He glanced over his shoulder. "Don't listen to him, Dean, you are more than welcome. In fact, you're the guest of honour at this party. Come and join the fun! We were just reminiscing over some old photos."

The footsteps stumbled slightly.

"I told you to get away from him," Dean repeated, but there was a slight tremor in his voice.

"I'd love to, Dean, but I need you to put that gun of yours down first. Then we can talk about this all civil-like."

"There's nothing to talk about. Get the fuck off him, or I'll put a bullet through your brain."

"You won't risk Cassie. If you pull that trigger, he'll die the split-second before I do. I know you don't want that. Come on, Dean. Put the gun down."

"Dean, don't worry about me. Just shoot him."

"Hush, Castiel, no one is asking you."

"Dean-"

"I said shut up!"

The knife broke skin; Cas could feel blood oozing down his neck.

"Half an inch more and he's a dead man," Jeremy snapped. "You have three seconds to drop your weapon, Dean. Three, two-"

There was a clatter of metal against concrete.

Jeremy smiled. "That's better. Kick it over here."

Cas heard the gun skitter across the floor.

"There's a good boy. Now, let me tell you how this is going to work. You want me to let your husband go, and I'm happy to do it. But in exchange, you are going to get down on your hands and knees and crawl back into your cage where you belong."

"Go fuck yourself."

"I'd rather fuck you again. But I can settle for Cassie, if you're not willing to give yourself up for him."

"Don't you fucking touch him!"

"What, like this?"

Cas stiffened as a hand closed around his cock and began to squeeze.

"Don't even think about it, Dean. He'll bleed out before you can make it over here."

Cas couldn't contain his gasp as the crushing pressure increased.

"Stop it!"

"Kneel."

"Fuck y-"

Jeremy twisted and Cas screamed.

"No, Cas-!"

"Kneel."

There was a heavy sound of knees hitting the floor.

"That's better."

Cas dragged in a desperate gulp of air as Jeremy let go and climbed off him. Sickening throbs of pain were still radiating through his body, but he couldn't afford to be distracted. Jeremy was stalking towards Dean and Cas had to stop him. He yanked violently at his chains, not caring that the manacles were cutting into his wrists.

"You're such a good doggy, coming home to papa," Jeremy crooned.

The chains wouldn't budge. "Fuck. Dean, run. RUN!"

Cas wasn't expecting Dean to listen to him, but suddenly he was scrambling up the stairs.

"Hey!" Jeremy yelled. He sprinted after him and within seconds they were both out of sight.

"Shit, shit!" Cas nearly wrenched his arms out of their sockets trying to get loose. He knew Dean couldn't outrun Jeremy, not with his knees so badly damaged from being hit with a fucking baseball bat- "Fuck it, FUCK!"

There was noise on the stairs again and Castiel's heart leaped into his throat – he thought he would look up to see Jeremy dragging an unconscious Dean back down here to throw him in the cage.

But instead he saw Sam.

"Sam-?"

"Shh," Sam urged. He was wielding bolt cutters.

"I thought-"

"Of course I wasn't going to let him come alone, what do you take me for? Stay still."

Cas held his body rigid as Sam wedged the bolt-cutters around a link in the chain and clamped down hard. His left hand was freed and his muscles burned as he lowered his arm to his side. "Ow."

"Are you okay?"

"Fine," Cas lied. After hearing about what Dean had been through, he figured he had nothing to complain about, even though every inch of his body ached and he was fairly certain the most vulnerable part of his anatomy was deeply bruised. "You need to hurry."

Sam made short work of the remaining chains and helped Cas sit up. His body was trembling; he wasn't sure he was going to be able to stand.

"Go help Dean," Cas said.

"Are you sure you-?"

"Go!" Cas barked. He would be damned if he let Jeremy lay a single finger on Dean. His body was going to get its fucking act together and Sam was going to protect Dean until Cas could get there to blow Jeremy's fucking brains out himself.

Sam didn't hesitate; he took the stairs two at a time and ran after his brother. At least one of them was physically fit.

Cas struggled to crawl across the cage, finally dropping off the edge onto the floor. He groaned as the impact sent pain reverberating through his abused body, but he wasn't going to mope around feeling sorry for himself. He scooped Dean's gun off the floor and climbed painfully to his feet.

He could hear shouting and the sound of a brutal fist fight.

Cas gritted his teeth and ran up the stairs to join the fray. He found them in the kitchen.

Jeremy had his hands around Dean's neck but Dean headbutted him. He reeled backwards into Sam who socked him in the jaw hard enough to send him spinning into the counter. Jeremy snatched a knife from the knife-block and slashed at Sam. He ducked and Dean barrelled into him. They both crashed to the ground.

There was a fierce struggle and Dean gained the upper-hand for half a second before Jeremy planted his boots in his chest and shoved him away. His head struck the edge of the counter and he went down, stunned. Jeremy was on top of him in an instant, knife bearing towards his throat, but Sam wrenched him off. Jeremy spun and elbowed Sam in the nose – there was an awful crunching sound and blood spurted everywhere, but Sam fought through it and managed to wrestle the knife off him. He tossed it across the room.

Jeremy punched him square in the face, once, twice, harder each time. His fist was coated in blood and Sam's nose was a shattered mess but that didn't stop him from cracking a blow across Jeremy's jaw.

Jeremy rolled with the impact, coming up three feet away. He lunged for Sam again.

Cas shot him.

Not anywhere crucial; he wasn't allowed to die yet.

The bullet took out his left kneecap in a spray of bone and blood. Jeremy let out an unholy shriek and hit the floor.

He was neatly incapacitated, but Cas wasn't finished.

He lined up his second shot, and this time it was Jeremy's right kneecap that was obliterated. He screamed louder and all Cas felt was a grim sense of satisfaction.

Dean groaned and rolled over. He was greeted by the sight of two mangled legs and his face blanched pure white.

Castiel's cold rage vanished in an instant; he had meant to get revenge for Dean's injuries, not remind him of them. "Dean-"

Dean looked at him and his gaze found the gun in his hand. He looked back at Jeremy, who was still howling in agony.

Dean stood up slowly.

He looked down at the man who had abducted him, tortured him and raped him.

"Kneel," he said.

Jeremy stared up at him, wide-eyed. There were no cocky responses now; only ragged gasps of pain.

Dean held out his hand and Cas passed him his gun. Dean checked the bullets in the chamber and then snicked the safety off. He aimed the barrel directly at Jeremy's head.

"I said kneel."

"My knees – I – I can't-"

Dean's face was utterly void of expression. "Kneel, or your brains will be decorating this floor."

Whimpering, Jeremy dragged his body off the tiles and attempted to manoeuvre his legs into a kneeling position. Tears sprung to his eyes. "I can't. I can't, it hurts, it hurts too much."

"I promised it would," Dean said flatly. "I ganked your dead wife, and you wanted payback. You hurt my husband; this is mine."

He pulled the trigger.

Jeremy's body hit the floor with a resounding thud.

ooOOoo