I wasn't able to get to work for the update for this for awhile, please forgive me.
Please leave kudos, comments, etc. So I know you're real people thank
WARNING: Potentially triggering dialogue in this chapter; Dean is worried he might be drugged, the discussion gives allusion to some things he would be drugged for. Obviously none of this happens, I just wouldn't want to trigger anyone.
When Dean awoke, his head hurt. His body ached as if he had just grown an inch overnight, and he let out a small groan. He turned a little bit, partially willing himself to go back to sleep. His face rubbed against the cool moss,-
Wait. Moss?
He sat up sharply, eyes opening as he breathed in a gasp. He scanned the room, head pounding as he attempted to sort through his memories. It all slowly came back in small and frustrating waves; sounds, then sensation, then finally sight and it all clicked together.
An acid trip really shouldn't last this long, especially not since he'd slept in between now and then. Nothing looked fun. There were no lights, no colors, no illusions. Which left two conclusions that Dean had to decide between; one, this was real, and two, there was something very, very wrong with him.
Considering the fact that number one was batshit crazy, he decided to settle on option number two. He was probably in a coma right now, or passed out in a pile of trash with a concussion. (Do concussions even cause hallucinations?)
All of this lead to one very specific realization; he had to do something before they came back. What if this was one of those weird, "find-the-right-door" comas where he had to look for his own way out? What would they do then?
He stood, trying his best to be quiet as he walked to what he assumed was the front door. Looking over his shoulder to make sure that nobody was going to catch him, he slowly pushed it open, savoring the warm summer air that drifted through. It was much warmer than last night had been.
His eyebrows lifted when he looked out, seeing how large the trees were. The sun was just barely coming up over the horizon, and it streaked through the green of the forest in a way that could only be described as beautiful. A mother with a firm grasp on her child's hand flew, (yes, flew) past him, wings sparkling in the light of morning.
The last thing he noticed was that he was at least three hundred feet off the ground.
Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration. But compared to his current height, it sure as hell looked like three hundred fucking feet. There was a small stone ledge that looked like it served as a landing tool, but apart from that, there was no way down that he could make out. He would have no way to escape.
Another small lump of panic decided to lodge itself in his throat. He knew that without a way down, he was trapped with a man he didn't know until he saw it fit to release him. Not to mention that if he were to try and escape then, he'd have to fight off at least one of those fairies.
(Internally, he cringed at having allowed himself to use the word. He should not accept this, damnit!)
With his thoughts swirling away at the speed of light, he didn't even notice the footsteps until Castiel was already behind him.
"Enjoying the view?"
Dean jumped, his balance slowly tilting as he attempted to regain his logic thought. Panic began to rise up in him as he felt himself begin to fall forward, and he swore his life flashed before his eyes. He only had to worry for a moment, though, because a firm hand grasped his arm and pulled him forcefully back inside, backing up a few steps to insure Dean's balance wouldn't be an issue.
"Uriel would be disappointed if he doesn't at least get to meet you." He said, releasing his grip on Dean. If Dean wasn't just imagining it, he could almost detect a hint of sarcasm in that voice.
"O-Okay?" He squeaked out, uncertain of what else he could say.
There was a pause, and Dean turned to face Cas. He felt his own eyebrows draw together and knew he was properly conveying his confusion, but Cas seemed unwavered. His eyes were large and blue, much bluer than any human's would have the right to be.
"Your name is Cas, right?" Dean asked, feeling annoyance begin to invade. Those blue eyes were still unwavering, fairly indifferent as he answered.
"My name is Castiel, yes." He said, tone flat. And if that didn't just, (metaphorically, of course) ruffle Dean's feathers...
"Well listen here, Castiel," Dean started, his voice starting to take on a tone of sass and anger, "Let me tell you something about us humans. Being kept somewhere, for any length of time, and not allowed to leave, is called kidnapping. And believe it or not, it's taken as an insult."
"I have my orders. I'm not allowed to release you until you've met with Uriel and he's deemed that you're not a threat to our way of life. Whether or not he decides so is entirely up to you." Cas said. Many would believe this to be devoid of reaction too, but Dean could see through it. There was this small twinge of annoyance...
"Well buddy, I have news for you. I can't do anything to your people if I'm put back where I came from. It's a win-win situation, everybody gets what they want, and your stupid boss can take that and shove it up his ass." Dean said, cheerily. Castiel stared at him for a few moments before he turned away, feathers slightly askew as he walked. It was clear that Dean was being ignored. "Could you at least tell a guy where the bathroom is?"
"There's a "bathroom" behind that curtain. When you're done, come behind that one." Castiel said, gesturing towards two of the exits. Dean opened his mouth to ask why or make a stupid remark, but in the end he decided better of it.
He walked over to the moss, finding an odd, finished-wood bucket. It had obviously been glazed in something, because it was smooth to the touch. If he was right, this would be so liquid wouldn't stay and soak into the wood.
As soon as he was done and he'd washed his hands, (there was a small bucket and a root next to a larger hollowed out piece of wood directly carved into the ground, which he assumed was a bath. He dipped his hands in the cool water and rubbed until they felt a little more clean, using the chill to center himself) he walked out of the room, brushing fingers along jeans.
The main room was empty, so Dean walked straight into the one Cas had indicated earlier, forcing himself not to think on it too much. Inside he was greeted with a wonderful smell, and he took a deep inhale before really assessing the situation.
Cas stood in front of a small fire, contained by what looked like a piece of clay molded into a small oven. He had something sizzling in the pan, and the scent wafted over to Dean as though sent (he he, sent, scent, get it?) specifically for his nose to enjoy. He couldn't help but tilt his head a little in curiosity. He had to admit, he wouldn't have expected Cas to be a good cook.
"Is that breakfast?" He asked hopefully. Castiel looked away long enough to nod at Dean, and Dean suddenly felt his stomach give a deep growl.
He realized that it had been forever since he'd eaten. Which, of course, made his next realization even harder and more tragic.
He couldn't trust Cas. What if he had slipped something into his food while Dean was trying to figure out the weird bucket-sink? (Or what that fucking root was-though that's not the point of this). What if he had drugged Dean? There would be no way to be sure. While he was here, he would probably just have to go without breakfast.
Cas soon removed the cooking utensil from the clay-oven, grabbing smaller plates (they appeared to be carved out of small rocks, which Dean thought was actually kind of cool) and dumping the food onto it.
After a few minutes of Dean just staring at it, Cas quirked his head to the side. "Is something wrong?"
"How do I know you didn't slip something into this? I was gone in the bathroom long enough, and you're not eating any of it." Dean pointed out. Cas stared for a moment, processing what he had said.
"What would be my motive? You're already captive here. You can't leave unless I specifically let you. I have no reason to drug you." Castiel said. Dean technically couldn't argue with that logic, but he was in a bad mood and wasn't about to let it go that easy.
"Really? What would be your motive? Don't even act like you don't know there are lots of things I'd be more cooperative for if I was passed out." He said, pissy.
Cas walked over and grabbed a fork, cutting into the small, green substance that smelled like decadence. He ate a small bite and put the fork back down, leaving it besides Dean. Dean stared while he chewed, waiting a few seconds before he picked up the fork and copied the motion. There really wasn't much he could do to other than that; he'd made his point, and he'd been proven wrong. It would be stupid of him now to turn down food.
He ate fast; it tasted a little thicker and richer than eggs, but he could still sense the likeness there. He wondered briefly what it was before he decided that, with this being his own mind coming up with all this stuff, it would probably be better not to ask.
As soon as he was done Cas picked up his plate and deposited it into another small bin, this empty but coated in the same clear substance as the toilet (and now that Dean thought of it, the sink and bathtub, too). He looked in curiosity as Cas turned to look out a window, foot tapping impatiently as he scanned the horizon. Dean wanted to ask what it was, but before he got the chance, Cas turned.
He looked ready for something. It looked as though he were hardening a shell, worry creasing his face. "Get ready, Anna is coming to tell us that Uriel is ready to see us. If you want to get out of here as quickly as possible, I would suggest that you mentally prepare yourself." He mumbled. Dean vaguely remembered Anna as the redhead who had been there last night, and he nodded his head.
"Hey Cas," Dean said, something dawning on him suddenly, "How do we plan to get me down from this place?"
Cas opened his mouth to respond, but for nigh. Anna burst through the door, hair a little wild and wind-whipped, a large smile plastered onto her face. She directed all of it at Cas. "I'm so happy you let them be idiots. I got promoted to the head of the board!"
"The board of alchemy science?" Cas asked, looking confused. Anna nodded her head, and Cas's emotionless facade cracked enough to show that he was, in fact, impressed with the accomplishment. "Anna, that's wonderful. If anyone deserves it, it's you."
"I'm so happy Castiel. This is what I've always wanted." She said, nodding. Dean tilted his head a little, not quite understanding.
"So, you got a job promotion for shrinking me down to your size?" Dean asked. He couldn't help but feel a little bit weary of that; what kind of a culture praised people for inventing something and then promptly using that invention to kidnap and hold hostage what was basically now a prisoner?
He forced himself to calm down. No, he wasn't a prisoner here. Well, he was, but this was different than jail. He'd spent a couple of nights in places like that before, and he'd always felt more than frightened of everyone and everything. One thing seemed prominent about these people, though, and that was that they wouldn't hurt him. If they were going to, they would have by now.
"More than just a regular job promotion. I'm the head of ingenuity. My name will go down in historical scrolls for centuries. If I do something ground breaking enough, and let me tell you that this just may count, children will learn my name in schools. It's... It's my dream job." She said.
Dean felt the bitter tang of anger, but pushed it down. After all, she wasn't the one deciding that he stay here. No, apparently that was some douche named "Uriel".
"Well good for you. Now can we please get to the part where you take me to Darth Vader so I can leave this death star?" He questioned. Anna slowly tilted her head, eyebrows scrunching together.
"Was that a human reference?" She questioned. Dean paused before nodding his head, realizing that not only were these people kidnappers, but they wouldn't get half of his jokes! Which was a damn shame, because he was fucking hilarious most of the time.
"Yes, it was a human reference." He finally said, nodding his head.
"Okay, good. If you'll be staying around any longer than today, I expect you to explain it to us." She said, smiling broadly. Dean felt a little worry churn in his stomach at the thought that he might be staying for more than just this one day, but he pushed it down. All he had to do was make a good impression on their freaky fairy king, and then he would be gone.
Right?
"Let's go." Anna finally said. She turned, taking off of the porch like it was the most natural thing in the world. And, Dean supposed, to her it just might be. Dean was so wrapped up in thinking about how it was even possible their wings lifted their body that he didn't notice what was happening until he had already been hoisted into the air, arms firmly planted underneath him, sweeping his feet off the ground.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" He demanded, attempting to push Cas away. Those arms were locked around him in a death grip, though, and it refused to let up. Cas looked vaguely annoyed as he continued walking towards the doorway.
"Well you didn't expect to get there through magic, did you?" He questioned. Dean felt the need to make a Merlin reference, but refrained for the time being.
"Dude, I'm afraid of heights actually so if we could just-" Dean started, continuing to squirm around. He really didn't want to be that far above the ground, the wind whipping his hair and quite literally his life in someone else's hands.
"We're not going to be late." Cas said, firmly. "You're going to have to deal with it for now."
"We can walk the way back, if that would make you more comfortable. But we really need to get you there now if you want to have a chance of getting back today." Anna put in. Dean thought for a moment, slowly coming to terms with the fact that he was going to have to do this.
"Fine." He finally admitted, reluctantly. Cas took another step forward, and he made a noise, squirming again to get him to stop. Cas paused and looked at him, bright blue eyes alight with exasperation. Dean waited until the look had faded a little before he added, "But be careful."
Cas rolled his eyes and started walking again. Dean's eyes shut tight, nose scrunching up in distaste as his stomach lurched, the feeling of being off the ground rising up. As embarrassing as it was, he couldn't keep himself from forming a death grip around Cas's midsection, keeping his arms locked in place.
"Anna seems optimistic." He observed, dryly. Dean listened to him, if only to distract him from the fact that holy fuck, he was actually flying. Off the ground. Way off the fucking ground.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked, hoping to get Cas talking.
"Well, Uriel really sounded like he wanted you to stay. He would expect more results from a project like this than simply assurance. I believe he will require you to stay for a few days, if anything just to teach us about your culture." Cas mumbled, his voice deep and grounding. With Dean's mind taken off of how high they were, slowly but surely focusing on Cas's words, he relaxed.
"Really?" He asked. There wasn't much he could do about it at that point; it was what it was. He was still pissed and frustrated, but he couldn't bring himself to get worked up about it when he was so focused on controlling his anxiety.
"Yes. You'll probably be living with one of the four of us. I- I don't believe it's right to keep you here against your own free will, so we can discuss with the group the possibility of you choosing where you would like to sleep. I believe Balthazar has a guest bed, if you would rather not sleep on the couch."
"Why did they put me with you in the first place, then?" Dean asked. Cas paused.
"My house is high up enough that you wouldn't have been able to escape. Balthazar's is only about a foot off the ground, and Gabriel and Anna's are right on level with it. You wouldn't be in much better shape if you left theirs alone either, though. These woods are more dangerous than you could imagine, I promise you that." He said. Dean stiffened, and he added, "It's fairly safe in a group. But wandering off alone without being used to your size would be suicide."
"Noted." Dean mumbled.
It wasn't much longer until they set down, feet touching ground again. Dean had been counting in his head to distract himself once the speech had died down, and he was so focussed on what he was doing that he hadn't even realized that they had landed.
"Dean." Cas said. "Dean," He emphasized again, raising his voice a little. Dean's eyes opened, staring up into Cas's blue ones. "You can let go now. We're here."
"Oh." Dean said, dumbly. He slowly released his hold from around Cas, allowing himself to be put back down onto the ground. Cas brushed him off with his hands, frowning a little bit as he mumbled something about being 'unpresentable'. Dean tried to ignore the sting of the insult.
"Come on Cas, he's been waiting long enough!" Anna called. Castiel looked up from what he was doing and nodded, frowning a bit and looking rugged.
"Be on your best behavior if you would like to leave any time soon." Cas announced. Dean nodded his head solemnly, gesturing for Cas to follow Anna to where they were going. Which, of course, was a large, circular, wooden shack made out of what had to have been the largest acorn Dean had ever seen, shoved halfway into the ground.
"Are you ready?" Cas asked, standing at the doors. Anna peaked them open and he could see rows and rows of seats, blue velvet lining the floor as they slowly got lower and lower, leading to a large chair seated at the lowest point, other chairs surrounding it.
"As ready as I'll ever be." He admitted, shrugging a little bit. That was apparently good enough for Cas, because the doors swung open, and he was about to meet their leader.
Cas sheepishly played around with his tie, trying to calm his nerves. He knew Dean, from their short conversations and the contents of his bedroom, to be a human being who lacked some social finesse. He could only pray that Uriel would see it too.
Thirty minutes into his questioning, though, he could tell that he was absolutely screwed.
Dean answered everything honestly, from what he could tell. But his answers were all wrong. Uriel was asking a series of questions about his past and present, his personality, hobbies, likes, if he had broken human laws and if so how many, and everything that could have gone wrong did.
Dean got angry at the prying into his life about halfway through, and his voice became rough and quick, cutting to the point. He no longer made jokes, but looked angrily at Uriel as his questions became more and more personal, and more and more ridiculous. Castiel knew that Uriel was just asking those questions to gauge whether or not Dean had a temper, but Dean, however, appeared to be none the wiser.
"How many deep and meaningful relationships have you had in your life? How many sexual partners?" He asked. Something in Dean seemed to crack at this, anger finally seeping through his calm exterior.
"Listen, are you gonna let me go or not?" He demanded, clearly bitter. "I've already answered all of your questions, I don't know what more you want. Do you need a fucking blood sacrifice before you're gonna let me leave? I'm not answering any more stupid questions."
Uriel's face looked a little too smug as he stared up at Dean. "Well then, there is no question. You are to remain here until I believe you are no longer a threat. We'll meet back here in seven days' time, to see if you've grown to respect our people. Castiel will be in charge of teaching you our ways and collecting information on humans from you."
Anger rose up in Dean, visible from where Cas sat. He thought about standing up, running over and getting him to leave before any more damage could be done. A very small part of him put in that it would be great if Dean got mad and killed Uriel.
"You never intended to let me leave in the first place! This is absolutely bullshit. You can't just hold me hostage." Dean growled. Uriel glanced over at him, an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, but I believe I just ordered for just that. You're not helping my opinion of you."
"But... Didn't you guys say you knew Jo?" He asked desperately, turning around. Gabriel, who had joined them with Balthazar about fifteen minutes into the disaster, nodded his head helpfully. "She can vouch for me. I'm supposed to be taking care of her garden right now."
"Well then, when she comes back, she can "vouch". For now, this discussion is over." Uriel said curtly. He rose, turning and walking up the other side of the council room stairs. Dean watched him go with a lost look on his face, mouth hanging slightly open.
"Well, that didn't go as well as I was hoping." Castiel said, finally braking the silence. Dean looked down, and Cas could see the upset in his eyes. He felt his chest give a small squeeze; although he was a nuisance, now he was Castiel's responsibility, and he couldn't help empathizing with his situation.
He would be pretty scared if something similar had happened to him.
"Yeah, you think?" Dean asked. Cas got up and walked over to him, placing a consoling hand on his arm.
"Don't worry, they won't keep you here forever. And like I said, if you would like to stay with Balthazar or Gabriel or Anna, you do have that choice. I just need you to cooperate with me for the time being. I can fulfill my duties and you can get home sooner." He suggested. Dean looked a little more hopeful at that.
"Yeah, okay. Let's go and do... Well, whatever we're gonna do for the next week." Dean suggested.
"Ooooh, Cassie, let's take him down to the pond!" Balthazar suggested. Gabriel perked up, running over to Cas and slinging an arm around his shoulder. Balthazar was still steadily making his way over, but with a walk instead of the enthusiastic skipping.
"Cas, please! It's been forever since I've gone there and the babes are totally missing me." Gabriel suggested. "Your wings could use a little shine up too, doll. How long has it been?"
Castiel shifted uncomfortably, a blush coloring his cheeks. "You both know I've never partook in such activities."
"Whoa there. What are you talking about?" Dean asked. Castiel felt the heat rise to his face even more, and he jabbed Gabriel in the side with his elbow as a punishment.
"Nothing. We can go to the pond, but only if Dean explored your homes first. I expect you to be willing to take him in if he decides that he wishes to stay with you." Castiel said, firmly. Gabriel and Balthazar both exchanged glances before nodding vigorously.
Castiel resisted the urge to put his face in his hands and groan. Those two would be the death of him in any given situation, on any given day, and now he had just agreed to show Dean the pond first, when a more suitable activity would be the plays, the basket weavers, literally anything other than the place fae go to flirt and clean their wings.
Of course, sometimes that had a double meaning.
"We should go to the lab first, I forgot to feed snowball this morning." Anna put in. "My house is right by where I work so it'll be easy to swing there afterwards."
Castiel considered this. This would give time for Gabriel and Balthazar to gossip, get out their nervous energy, and think about what they would do when they got there. (Sometimes, they liked to team up in absolutely ridiculous ploys to get the attention of women).
"I think that would be a good idea." He allowed, nodding. Anna smiled her thanks at him, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw Dean's own narrow. He felt his eyebrows pull together, but quickly dismissed the odd look. "Let's go now."
It didn't take long until they were in front of the lab, beakers and test tubes and bunsen burners galore all combined with a mixture of cauldrons, earthy ingredients, and frankly, witchcraft materials that gave it an odd mixture of the new and old age look.
Dean immediately walked over to a beaker of blue liquid, picking it up without permission and looking at the contents. Anna went in right after him, distracted as she called out Snowbell's name. Cas's head turned as he hear a small crash, and was greeted with the site of Dean messily trying to cover a small pile of broken blue glass and liquid with a stray piece of wood.
He smiled a little bit, pretending like he didn't notice. A small part of him couldn't deny that he found the act to be rather adorable, for a human. Not that he wasn't still pissed off that he'd been given this responsibility.
Well, at least the human is endearing, he thought, seeing his face light up in recognition as he saw Anna's arms full of a white ball.
"Dude, you have-" He was cut off by a large sneeze, arm coming up to stop it. The cat's hair raised in Anna's hands as she looked at Dean warily. "-you have a cat? A miniature cat?"
"Yeah. We just got her a few days ago. Actually, it was how I knew the shrinking serum was going to work on you." Anna said. Dean sneezed yet again, and Cas tried to stop the corners of his lips from tilting upwards. Dean, however, didn't look so pleased to hear this news.
"You thought it would work on me because it worked on a cat?" Sneeze, "Do you know how much that could have gone wrong?"
"Well, you're here to complain so I would say that it's a success." Anna said smoothly, standing up a little bit straighter and walking away. Dean sent a panicked glance to Cas, who simply shrugged, which earned an even more mortified look.
"We tend to function a little different than humans. Fae are well-oiled machines of intuition and knowledge. If it wouldn't have worked on you for any reason, we would have known it and would not have risked you by administering it." He said, once Anna was out of hearing range.
"You make it sound like you think with a colony mind. You- you don't think with a colony mind, do you?" Dean questioned. Castiel felt his head tilt to the side a little bit, and he fought his urge to immediately question. He knew he had trouble comprehending metaphors sometimes, and he wanted to be sure that this wasn't just something he was misunderstanding.
Actually, he'd had troubles with that ever since he was a child. He'd never really understood why people said the things they did, wasn't very good at reading people. He'd been told it was because he spent too much time working; he was one of the best workers in their army, and Uriel was constantly sending him on missions to retrieve things or send messages to other colonies. He spent a lot of time by himself, despite Gabriel and Balthazar trying constantly to drag him out of the house.
Because when they did, shit like this happened.
"I don't understand." He finally said, blinking. Dean stared for a moment before it was interupted by a sneeze.
"Well, um, you know how ants are, right? I think it's ants, anyways. They can like, read each other's minds or something." Dean supplied, placing his hands on his hips. Cas's eyebrows drew together and he stepped a little closer as he felt Snowball brush up against the back of his legs.
"No, we don't have anything like that. There have been a few fae born with special abilities like knowing what another is thinking, but that was largely due to inhumane experiments on mothers at the time. It wasn't healthy." He rambled, looking up. The human was taller than him, and he found himself exploring the green of his eyes. Moss green; like in the right lighting it would fade into brown.
"You guys ready to go?" Anna questioned. Castiel's eyes shifted to her's and he nodded, his feathers fluffing up in anticipation of flight. He reminded himself that they were going to have to walk, and felt his stomach sink.
When he walked outside, he was glad that Gabriel and Balthazar hadn't come in with them.
Balthazar stood above Gabriel, pushing him down on a rock they had flipped upwards and placed between two round boulders to make it appear phallic, while Gabriel made loud and inappropriate sexual noises. Dean immediately burst into a fit of laughter, hugging his sides as he did. Anna smiled a little bit, clearly amused but also trying not to laugh.
"I hope you're done now. Anna's going to be angry at you for flipping her stone up like that."
"No she's not." Balthazar said, finally stopping his attempt to impale Gabriel.
"No, I'm not." Anna put in, her smile growing.