Dean had started searching for cases as soon as they returned from the last, and it was only a week later that he found a nest of vampires that needed clearing out. Thus, Sam and Dean headed off for Oklahoma by themselves, leaving Cas again with a promise to let him know if they get into trouble.
"I counted five." Dean said, keeping his voice low when his brother returned from his own recon.
"I got another four." Sam shook his head. "It's kind of a maze in there." He looked up at the old building that sat at the edge of town. "And it's getting dark. I think we should call Cas." Or maybe even wait until tomorrow. But even as Sam thought it, he knew it wasn't slowing down his brother in the slightest.
Dean shook his head, checking his machete and syringe of dead man's blood. "We got this." He was restless. He needed to get in there and he wasn't willing to wait for the angel to show.
"Dean-"
"We got this Sam." He insisted. "You hit it from the other side, I go in here, we cut them off and push them inward. Simple."
"I don't-"
"Come on." Dean said, not letting him argue further. He headed towards the building.
Sam frowned, trying to ignore the growing feeling of dread. He turned and headed back towards the other side, easily picking the lock and getting into position just outside the door. He waited with his phone in his hand for the text that Dean was in place.
Seconds ticked into minutes, and Sam frowned, sending a text off to his brother.
Nothing.
Sam's pulse started to climb. He sent another text, his heart pounding in his chest.
Silence.
The younger Winchester opened up his contacts, preparing to send a frantic text to Cas and backtrack after Dean. He stopped when he heard it.
The fight was audible even from outside the building. Sam rushed into action, throwing the door open, blade up, rushing inside.
He crept cautiously past each door, checking to make sure they were clear. He pressed forward towards the frantic sounds of the brawl. He jumped slightly, hearing a particularly loud scream and crash. He quickened his pace.
The further he got, the less voices were left to yell, and at this point those left were calling frantically for a retreat.
Right when he turned the last corner, there was only one.
Dean had the last vampire up against the wall, and he was pushing the machete through his neck as slow as possible while the vampire now began to gurgle, blood filling his throat and rendering unable to speak.
"Dean!" Sam called, stopping just a little ways away and watching this unfold. .
The older hunter looked back, making eye contact with Sam before turning and swiftly pushing the blade the rest of the way through the vampire's neck. He moved to face his brother only to find Sam directly in front of him.
Sam had his hands out, bracing Dean's shoulders as he quickly checked him over for any sign of injury.
Dean furrowed his brow, wondering what he had done to give him the impression he was hurt.
He glanced down at himself, and it became obvious. He was completely slicked with blood. He tried his voice. "I'm fine…" He rasped, his brain struggling to catch up with what had just happened.
Sam looked around at the carnage wrought by Dean, taking a sharp breath. He spared one last glance at his brother before retreating, machete up to confirm for himself the building was truly clear.
He tensed as he followed the trail of corpses between the center room and the door. Seventeen. There were seventeen bodies in total.
When Sam returned to where he had left Dean, he found his brother just standing in the middle of the carnage, still soaked with blood, hand still tightly gripped around the machete in his hand.
"Dean?"
The hunter flinched. When he finally turned his eyes towards Sam, they were somewhat distant.
"Dean, we should go…" Sam tried, his voice softening. When Dean made no moves to leave he walked over, and put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "Dean?"
"Sorry…" Dean mumbled, glancing up at Sam's face for just a second before stepping back to let Sam take the lead.
Sam kept his pace somewhat slow, making sure his shell shocked brother could keep up. He tried to push back the panic and concern he felt at seeing Dean like this. At witnessing Dean's recklessness. At seeing the trail of violence he had left.
He watched his brother hesitate when the car came into view. He stepped forward, pulling open the passenger door for his brother, knowing Dean shouldn't even be considering driving.
Dean didn't argue, instead simply climbed in, tossing his machete on the back seat's floor to deal with later.
Sam stepped away from the car, turning his back and pulling out his phone.
"Sam?"
"Cas… we're coming back…it's bad."
.
Castiel was waiting for them in the garage when they pulled in.
Dean hadn't said anything since they left, not seeming to even have noticed Sam's absence when he made the call. He barely seemed aware at all by the time they reached the bunker.
Cas walked to the passenger side as Sam climbed out. He met Sam's eyes, taking in his expression and giving a small nod. He reached Dean just as he had opened the door, stopping in place for a second. He reeled, seeing just the amount of blood. He forced himself out of it, reaching his hand out to grasp Dean's arm to help steady him as he got out of the car.
The angel gently put a hand on Dean's shoulder, guiding him towards the bunker.
Sam stood back, watching them leave before finally letting himself fall back against the impala to try to get a hold of his own emotions.
Cas led Dean down the hallways, pausing outside Dean's room for a moment. He slipped inside, quickly grabbing a set of the hunter's clothes before returning to the hallway.
Dean had let himself lean against the wall, face blank, deep inside his own mind. Cas coaxed him away from the wall again and continued their path to the bunker's shower room.
Dean sank down to one of the benches as soon as they were in there, his legs all but giving out underneath him.
Cas tossed his coats quickly to the side before approaching him again. He leaned down, lifting Dean's shirt, helping pull it free of his shoulders. Dean absently moved to help, his eyes not leaving the floor.
Castiel turned one of the showers on, waiting for it to get to temperature before gathering the hunter. He slipped an arm under Dean's, pulling him up to his feet and walking him into the clean water. He leaned him back against the warm tiles and reached for the soap.
Dean was numb to the water's normally refreshing presence. He was hardly aware of Cas standing in the water with him, of the hands running soap through his hair and thoroughly scrubbing his hands and arms free of blood.
It allowed him to regain a slight bit of clarity, finally coming around enough to finish getting clean and accept the waiting towel from the angel. He reached for the unsoiled clothes, wondering where his ruined outfit had been thrown. He didn't really care. He was just grateful he didn't need to see it.
He was back in his room before he even realized they had left the showers, but he allowed himself to be pulled towards his bed. He laid back, watching Cas come to sit on the edge beside him. He watched Cas' face pleading with him, and took a deep breath before giving a jerky nod.
Cas' shoulders dropped in relief, and he reached out, gently combing his hand into Dean's hair before he pushed his grace forward and sent Dean into a deep sleep.
.
Sam and Charlie were standing in the library talking in hushed tones when Cas came back out.
Sam looked up at him, a frown across his face. "Is he-?"
"He let me put him into sleep."
He let his breath out, letting himself lean back against a table.
Cas himself sank into one of the chairs, feeling tired in a way he hadn't since he was human. The state he found Dean in had unnerved him completely.
Charlie turned back to Sam. "What the heck happened?"
Sam scrubbed a hand over his face. "He cleared out the entire nest. Went in without me. By the time I got there he was ripping into the last one."
Cas closed his eyes, taking a moment to collect himself.
"I think it sent him back there. To Eastham." He continued. "He sort of shut down after that."
"Do you think he's going to be alright?"
Sam looked at her, shaking his head. "I don't know. Maybe."
Charlie nodded. "Well, Kevin and I have mostly gotten that tablet back in a readable order." She sighed. "So hopefully we find something else."
Sam looked up at Cas. "They figured out the warding. Hopefully we won't have to use it, but if we do have to lock him down, we can. Charlie already painted the sigils in 7b. If we…" He cut off for a second, taking a deep breath. "It'll hold him." He slipped down into one of the chairs, bracing himself against the table.
Charlie crossed her arms, looking a little shaken up herself by the sudden turn of events. "Maybe we should keep him away from hunting." She suggested softly.
Sam took a deep breath. "We can't."
Her face fell, waiting for the explanation.
"The mark… it's slowly killing him. If he doesn't… if he can't satisfy it, it gets worse faster."
Charlie sucked in a breath. "Oh."
"Of course losing control like this just worsens his behavior." Sam muttered. Still. He knew the resulting anger was easier to deal with than the alternative.
The younger Winchester looked up at Cas. "I think you need to come on cases with us again."
"Of course." Cas had already planned to do so from the second Sam called to explain the state they were returning in.
All three turned towards the door as they heard the shout in the distance.
Cas' heart fell, and he rose to his feet. "I'm-"
"Yeah." Sam interrupted, watching the angel turn on heel and leave the room. He paled, taking a shaky breath and trying to steady himself again.
Castiel found Dean wide awake, sitting at the edge of his bed, one hand over his face, the other digging his fingers so tightly around the bedsheet his knuckles were white.
The angel tried to push down the dismay at how quickly Dean's dreams had pushed through his angelic sleep. He had to keep calm, had to hide his distress. He cleared his throat. "Come on."
Dean jumped, whipping around as he became aware of Cas' presence, not having heard him enter.
Cas held out his hand, pulling the hunter up and towards his own room. Cas took his usual spot leaning back against the headboard and lifted his arm in an invitation. Once Dean was settled against his chest and a movie was playing on the television, Cas laid his hand against Dean's forehead again and sent him back into an angelic rest.
This time he remained.
.
It took a while for Dean to push the emotions behind a wall after he woke up, but eventually he managed to sit up from Cas' arms and begin going through the motions.
By the time he made his way out into the bunker library, he had put up a good front, and he managed to flash a smile at his brother when he flopped down into one of the chairs.
Sam felt a little better, seeing his brother out with any expression other than the grief he wore last night. He knew it was probably a facade, but just the fact he had himself together enough to put on a front was an improvement.
Dean leaned back in his chair, swinging his legs up onto another. "I'm working on a shopping list, so let me know if you guys have anything to add."
"Chips." Charlie said quickly, looking up from her computer. "And popcorn." She thought for a moment. "And gummy worms."
"You got it."
Sam rolled his eyes. "You know what I want."
"Rabbit food, you bet."
"And grab some stuff for sandwiches. Kevin's coming back today, so we're gonna have a lot of mouths to feed again."
Dean raised his eyebrows. He knew Sam would have told the prophet about what happened last night. He was surprised Kevin was willing to come back at all. "Yeah… sounds good."
"You taking Cas with you?" Sam tried to sound casual, but he knew he said it a little too fast.
Dean winced slightly, picking up the tone. "Yeah."
Sam nodded, face flushing red.
"We'll bring home dinner."
Charlie smiled. "You better."
.
Sam and Cas were pleasantly surprised when Dean actually sat down with them and managed to eat.
Even more than that, Dean seemed almost alright. Everyone did.
Charlie was systematically backing everyone into getting their fortune read on a self-made chatterbox. Kevin leaned back, plate in hand, intently listening as she went on. Sam watched Dean crack up as Charlie read out something or other about Cas. He wasn't paying much attention to what was being said, instead just soaking up the conflict-free atmosphere.
They all knew it wasn't going to last. But right here, with a kitchen full of makeshift family and table set with chinese food, they could all pretend.
That things were okay. That nothing was getting worse. That the mark wasn't killing his brother.
That it might still be alright tomorrow...