Demons, Inside and Out

Cas had looked uncomfortable about Hannah's mission, but he had agreed to help her. It looked like it was going to take longer than he thought it would though, because after walking down to the place in the middle fucking nowhere that these two rogue angels were apparently hiding out in, Cas came back and handed Dean the keys. He asked for Dean to take them someplace to get food for the rest of the day before coming back. They had to wait for the second angel to come back.

Dean didn't like it. He was separated from Cas, Cas was dying, and the whole thing stunk. Of course, he, along with Sam and Bobby, had agreed to stay in the car while they were doing this whole thing, and it was so boring. It was different for the other two. Cas had given Sam permission to use his laptop, and by using his super power of being able to find Wi-Fi anywhere, Sam was soon looking up things that may have happened during the time skip. Bobby was looking through some lore books Cas had. They both had entertainment.

And what did Dean have? A whole bunch of worries, that's what.

He didn't like this future. Sure, it was great that Lucifer wasn't dancing around wearing his brother like a tailored suit, but things were still going down fast. It was…wrong. Cas was dying, still, and it seemed that he wasn't comfortable hanging out at what was apparently the Winchester's new home or in Heaven.

It was like Cas was… alone.

Dean really didn't like that thought. It made him think of the Cas that was waiting for them back in their own time. Given the incident with Fate, if Cas found out they were missing, he would probably go ballistic and do anything he could to find them.

Then Dean remembered that the angel had betrayed them, spied on them, and worked with Crowley. He tired to hold on to his anger at that, but seeing how things were looking for the angel, it was pretty hard. After all, even with that against him, it was clear that the angel still cared about them the most.

Also, it occurred to Dean who had taught Cas that it was alright to make deals with demons. Gabriel was right that every single one of them had worked with demons in the past. Hell, Bobby had made the deal with Crowley himself.

Still, the fact that Castiel had turned to a demon, to Crowley, instead of him, reignited the anger. He couldn't let go of it just yet. After all, Castiel had lied about it. Whenever one of them had had dealings with demons, they had never really hid it. If they really were family, Cas should have come to him no matter what.

He ignored the voice that asked if he really would have helped since he had turned his back on that world.

He leaned back in the car's backseat next to Sam with Bobby on Sam's other side. How the moose had ended up in the middle, he didn't know. Still, Dean had crawled back here once the sunset, sure that the angels would eventually turn up and want to drive away, whether they were successful or not. Dean closed his eyes.

He opened them slightly when he heard approaching footsteps. It sounded like one of them was stumbling. He saw the silhouettes of Cas and Hannah coming closer. He feigned sleep, knowing that Cas was more willing to talk to Hannah about what was going on right now in their time than to worry the three hunters with the future's problems.

Cas started the car, and they left the forest. It took a while before either of them said anything.

"We have to report this." Hannah started.

"And say what? Things got out of control?" Cas didn't really try to hide the bitter tone in his voice. "Another angel has died."

"He was going to kill me, Castiel." She tried to justify it.

"They just wanted to be left alone." Cas's voice was sad now, and he sounded almost…sympathetic. Dean had never really heard him like that before.

"Without rules, there is chaos. Out of chaos rise angels like Naomi, Bartholomew…Metatron."

Dean didn't like the sound of any of those angels. He had heard what Metatron had done, and that was bad. He wondered what the other two had done to be placed in the same category as him.

"Well, perhaps I've been down here with them for too long." Cas now sounded like it did when he claimed that each human was a work of art. It held love and awe and maybe a hint of longing. Dean kind of liked the idea that hanging with him and the others helped Castiel see more than just a need for order. "There's seemingly nothing but chaos. But not all bad comes from it. Art. Hope. Love. Dreams."

For a second, Dean was amazed. Castiel had certainly seen the worse of humanity. Hell, the angel had seen the worst of Dean. Still, he looked at the better things that humanity had to offer.

And no sex, drugs, or alcohol had been mentioned.

He certainly was different than that other version of Cas.

"But those are human things." Hannah stuttered out, sounding confused.

There was a pause. "Yes." Castiel finally said, and once more he sounded sad and almost wistful.

The two didn't say anything else, and Dean found himself joining his brother and surrogate father in sleep.

Dean woke up to find the car had stopped. The car was on a dock, and he saw Cas stand up and exit the driver's seat.

That's when he noticed the blood on Cas's shirt.

He scrambled up and out of the car, accidentally elbowing Sam in the head. His brother grunted, but Dean ignored it.

"What the hell happened?" He silently berated himself for not noticing it the night before.

"I'm fine." Cas didn't look at him as he walked over to a sink and washed his hands.

"Fine?" Dean was incredulous. "You're an angel. Actually bleeding is always a sign that you're not fine." He spat out.

Cas turned and gave him a bitch face. Seriously, Dean was going to have to give Sam a talk about teaching angels how to do that face. "I'll be fine." Cas amended. "All I have to do is…" Cas held up a hand to his chest to heal it, his hand glowing. However, the glow sputtered and flickered out.

The angel pursed his lips, not looking at Dean giving him a look that said, "I told you so."

"Here." Hannah walked around the car from the passenger side. "Allow me." Her own hand glowed, and Dean heard the sound of flesh re-knitting itself together.

Cas's hand came up to rest on Hannah's own. Dean ignored the part of him that twitched at that.

"Thank you." Gratitude filled Cas's voice and eyes at he looked at her. Then, something flickered in his eyes, and his expression became more neutral. "Hannah, you don't have to – you – you can go. You don't owe me anything."

There was something that gave Dean pause there. It almost sounded like Cas expected her to leave. And if him and the others hadn't been dropped on him from the past, then Cas would have ended up alone.

That still seemed wrong to him.

He heard Bobby and Sam getting out of the car and stretching behind him as Hannah replied, "I know. But I want to stay…and help." Cas chuckled a bit at that. "Is that wrong?" Hannah sounded a bit nervous.

Cas gave her a gentle, small smile. "No. It's just…very human." At seeing Hannah's affronted expression, he added. "It's a compliment."

Dean chuckled himself. From what he knew, Cas was probably the only angel who would think that being compared to a human was a compliment.

He was about to go and say something, when they were once more interrupted by the sound of a cell phone ringing.

Cas walked towards the front of the car as he answered it. Then all of them were treated to a one-sided conversation. "Sam."

"…"

"I do?" Castiel sounded a bit confused.

"…"

"Good. Great." Cas replied. Obviously, this Sam had managed to find this Dean. Dean could almost see how that thought was confusing.

There was a longer pause as Sam said something. Cas was turned away, so Dean couldn't see his face, but he saw his spine stiffen and the angel straightened in shock.

"Dean's a demon?" Everyone froze, and stared at Castiel's back in horror. "How?" He demanded.

Whatever Sam said, it obviously was not what Cas wanted to hear. He brought his hand up and rubbed his eyes. "That is a vast understatement."

Cas looked off into the distance as Sam finished up. "So…I'll meet you there." He nodded at whatever Sam said and hung up.

He turned around to find Dean and the others still staring at him. He sighed again, and Dean could see the weight of this task falling onto his shoulders. "It would seem that the situation regarding Dean is a lot more complicated than I thought." He finally said.

That was probably even more of an understatement than what Sam had told the angel.

"I'm a demon?" Dean finally choked out. He couldn't believe it. That had been one of his worse fears since he had sold his soul: becoming one of the very things he hunted and despised.

"How…?" Sam asked, his voice trailed off.

"It appears the Mark has more power and influence than we thought." Castiel looked pained, but somewhat determined. "Get in the car," he gestured to it, "we're going to North Dakota."

"Are you going to kill him?" Bobby asked as he headed back to the car.

"No." The humans looked at Cas in surprise. Again, Dean noted how determined he looked, how resolute. It was like when Castiel had been so sure in Heaven, God, and his orders. "We can save him.

The hunters exchanged glances, pity in their eyes. There was no way to really save a demon except killing it.

"How? Demons can't be saved." Dean said.

"Yes, they can." Cas replied. "We found the process of how to cure one." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Though it should go more smoothly this time as there are no repercussions from the trials to deal with."

Half of what Cas said flew over their heads as they didn't understand the context, but the news was startling itself. Demons could be cured? What the hell?

"Come on. Get into the car." Cas walked over to the driver's side, but Hannah's touch on his arm stopped him. As Bobby and Sam got into the back, Dean found himself eavesdropping once more.

Wow, he was getting as bad as Cas.

"Are you sure about this?" She whispered, slight worry tingeing her voice.

Cas's brow furrowed a bit. "If you want to stay behind…"

"I don't." She replied hurriedly. "I just…Castiel…I think the Winchesters are a bad influence on you."

Cas straightened. "Sam and Dean may be a bit rough around the edges, but they're the best men I've ever known." Dean was stunned at the compliment, especially since he knew that they ended up going through with the plan to trap him within holy oil. "And they're my friends." He finished as if that was reason enough to risk everything for them.

To Castiel, it probably was.

Castiel gently lifted her hand off of his arm and got into the driver's seat. After a moment, Hannah slid into the shotgun seat.

With a quick snap of his wrist, Cas started the car, shifted it into gear, and rode off towards North Dakota.

AN: To most angels, Castiel's human feelings (which he has probably always had a problem with as Samandriel and Naomi indicated) are wrong. It's not as bad as demons, but it's something they feel should be eradicated. Also, now Dean (at this point in time) really is a demon. If any of you get on Youtube, I suggest looking up soberdenatural. This person creates fantastic videos, especially of Castiel and Dean, and more recently made a video to the song Demons that's a juxtaposition of Dean and Cas's demons and how they try to help each other deal with them, yet remains unresolved because, in the show, none of their demons will really be gone until the end (probably). Anyway, things are getting heated.