Background for AU Fic:
Dean and Sam are both alive. Castiel was last seen by Dean after his confession, getting sucked into the Empty over six months ago. Crowley is the King of Hell, and made a deal with the Winchesters that would reduce the number of human casualties from demon attacks around the same time that Castiel was lost. The angels are all in Heaven, watching over humanity and keeping peace amongst themselves. The bunker is where the Winchesters eat and sleep between hunts. The world is mostly quiet, except for the occasional monster attack. Hunting is back to normal, for the most part. The Winchesters are known as renowned Hunters across the globe by all Hunters, demons, angels, and the people they saved. And to everyone else, they're just regular men—as it's supposed to be. This story starts at the end of a devil hunt—an easy one, in fact. A crossroads demon making their usual deals with helpless and hopeless humans. The usual—ten years, for a miracle…
…..
Chapter One:
"We had a deal!" Sam shouted. The night sky was dark, save for a few dim stars in the far-off black. The road stretched before him in four directions, and the wind blew dried leaves across the gravel at his feet. The tall Winchester held a steel demon blade to the woman's throat in front of him and gave it a light press. The woman hissed as her red eyes shimmered in the night.
The man standing across the way tapped his foot twice on the ground and clicked his tongue. "First of all," he said, his Irish accent cutting through the silence, "What makes you think you can threaten me with a measly grunt?" The woman with the red eyes gulped once under the blade. "And second of all…" He paused and then smiled. "I'm here to renegotiate the terms of our agreement."
The second Winchester took a step forward, glaring at the King of Hell. Dean never could stomach the man. "And what makes you think you have anything to renegotiate with? The deal was bad guys only, Crowley." He started counting on his hands. "That's murderers, rapists—you know the drill. Anyone else, there's no possession. No deals. No killing. You take the bad souls to hell, and you leave everyone else the hell alone." He paused and glared again. "You break that deal…"
"Yes, yes, I know," Crowley rolled his eyes. "You'll put me in a devil's trap for eternity. Torture, maim, blah, blah blah."
"Every Hunter on this planet's got a demon blade. One word from us, and we could have all your topsides sent back home for good."
"And what if I don't like this deal anymore?" he smirked. "What if I don't like the dramatic decrease in souls coming into my Hell?"
"Well that's just too damn bad."
"Undo the deal you made," Sam said, pushing the knife further into the crossroads demon's throat, enough to draw a bit of blood and cause a fearful inhale. "Now."
"How about this, boys," Crowley smirked, "You leave my little demon there alone, let me do whatever I please, and I'll give you…" he trailed off and clicked his tongue again, "something you've lost."
"You've got nothing we want," Sam spat. "Undo the deal, Crowley!"
"Tsk, tsk, Moose. So impatient, as always. Go ahead, kill her. But then you'll never know what I've got." He looked at Dean and smiled. "Or… who I've got."
"What?" Sam asked, narrowing his eyes. Dean continued to glare at the powerful demon. "Who?"
"Exactly," Crowley said. His smug expression was really pissing Dean off.
"Okay," Dean said, nodding once in anger and dropping his eyes to the ground between his feet. "How about this then?" He took a step towards his brother and quickly grabbed the demon knife in Sam's hand, motioning it to slit the red-eye's throat. Blood sprayed up his arm and he wiped it on his shirt. When the dead body collapsed to the ground, he turned back to Crowley. "You undo the deal, before I get really mad."
"You don't even want to know who I've got?" Crowley asked, unsurprisingly unfazed by the dead demon in front of him. "Here's a hint—He's an old boyfriend of yours." Immediately, Dean snapped to attention, but Crowley just kept talking. "And honestly, do you really want me to reverse the deal? The stupid man was saving his daughter from illness. You'd be killing a child, you know. Just let the deal go through. Sure, he's not a bad man, but he's got ten good years to spend with his daughter, instead of a lifetime to regret her death. I'd say it's a blessing, wouldn't you?"
"Wait…" Dean said, and Sam glanced over at his brother.
"Demons are doing good work now, as per your request," Crowley went on. "The man didn't trade his soul for wealth or fame. He did it to save a life. I wouldn't say that's such a terrible thing, would you?"
"Wait," Dean said again, more forceful this time.
"We're saving lives, here, boys. We're not killing people anymore. We make deals. Hell makes deals. It's part of the job—sales and whatnot—"
"Wait!" Dean shouted, blinking twice.
"Your brain finally caught up to you?" Crowley shouted back, a big smile plastered on his smug face, as always. "So… ready to negotiate then? Let's see here… I want free reign for my demons to inhabit humans again. And make deals—fair ones, of course. Oh, and—"
"Absolutely not," Sam cut him off.
"Sam," Dean said quickly. "Hold on."
"What are you talking about? He's asking to kill people again, Dean. Good people."
"I didn't say that," Crowley piped in, raising his finger in the air.
"Who…" Dean paused, his eyes dark and burning a hole through the King of Hell. "He's dead. I watched him die."
"And it's not like you or I have ever been dead before," Crowley rolled his eyes.
"Dean, what is he—"
"Cas."
Crowley raised an eyebrow as Sam's brain caught up with the conversation. "And what would you give to get him back?"
"He's dead."
"Keep telling yourself that, lad."
"What?" Sam asked. "What do you mean?"
Crowley shrugged. "You don't want to believe me? Fine. I'll just keep him in Hell, then. I've never had an angel to torture down there before. Should be fun. See you boys later." He raised his hand to snap his finger, but Dean took a running step forward.
"Wait!"
Crowley slowly lowered his hand and laughed. "There it is. That Winchester weak spot."
"What do you want?"
"A little slow on the uptake, are we?" he said, narrowing his eyes. "I want to renegotiate the terms of our agreement."
"Yea, we know. What is it you want, Crowley?"
"Well, I want things to go back to the way they were," he shrugged. "Demon possessions. Crossroad deals. Souls coming into Hell at a nice, steady pace. You could say the flow recently has been… well, there really isn't one. And Hell doesn't do well without souls."
"You mean you don't do well," Sam sneered.
"Of course not," he shrugged again. "Souls are a source of power. And with the bloody angels finally off our backs, demons need that power now more than ever."
"So, you can hurt people."
"And that's why we're negotiating," he smiled.
"No deal—"
"—Sam."
"Dean." The taller Winchester looked at his brother in disbelief.
"Now boys, no fighting."
"He's lying," Sam said. "Cas is dead, Dean. You and I both know what happens when angels go to the Empty. He's not coming back, and Crowley—or any creature—doesn't have the juice to bring anyone back from that. He's gone." He looked back at Crowley. "No deal."
"All right," Crowley said, still smug. "I'll give the little angel your regards before I rip out his tongue."
"Prove it," Dean said, taking another step towards Crowley. The demon looked down at Dean's shoes and pretended to shiver.
"Well now you're just making me uncomfortable."
"I said, prove it."
Crowley pursed his lips and pretended to be filled with fear, but a moment later he laughed. "No."
Dean paused in disbelief. "What do you mean, no?"
"No means no," he said, shrugging once again. He was clearly enjoying this. "You make a new deal with me, and I will deliver your angel back to you. You don't make a new deal with me… Well, then that's that, I suppose."
"Dean, he's lying!" Sam shouted, running to stand beside his brother. "We're not renegotiating anything! Undo the deal you just made, or you've broken our contract, and we'll sick every Hunter on every demon until you have no one left to rule."
Right before the angels left this world and returned home, they'd decimated the demon population. The only hope for Hell was to slowly gather new souls in death to regain their ranks. However, it often took decades to turn a soul into a full, possession-able demon. Crowley's deal with the Winchesters allowed him to prey on the humans who already had a path to Hell laid before their feet. Crossroads deals with the innocent were forbidden.
"And if I'm not…" Crowley asked, raising an eyebrow. "Then you're going to leave your feathery friend to rot."
"Fine."
"Dean!"
"Sam!" He whipped around to face his brother. "Cas died to save you! And me, and everyone! And if he's somehow back—"
"I know! But even if this isn't a trick, he wouldn't want you to make this deal! The world is finally at peace with demons, Dean. How long and hard we've worked for this… He wouldn't want to be the reason it's undone."
Dean just sighed. "It's Cas." He paused, as if that was the only thing he had to say. "He'd do it for us."
"So," Crowley interrupted, "Are you two idiots going to argue all day or can we get down to business?" He snapped his fingers, and a long parchment unraveled from his hand. It was the deal they signed six months ago. "Let's all agree to burn this petty piece of paper, and I'll give you back your pet. How's that sound?"
"Yes—"
"Dean." Sam cut him off, and Crowley grunted and rolled his eyes. "Are you sure about this?"
"New deal," Dean said.
"Oh god, what is it now?" the King of Hell grunted.
"New paper. Sign it," Dean said, "Saying you'll give us Cas."
"Very well," he said, snapping his fingers again. A new parchment—much shorter—unrolled on top of the other. "Don't strain your eyes, Moose," he sneered, as Sam leaned forward to read the fine print. After a few minutes, he turned to Dean and nodded once.
Dean gripped the demon blade in one hand and brought the sharp side to his other palm. His face scrunched as he sliced through his own skin and blood pooled in his palm. He reached out his hand and squeezed the drops onto the end of the parchment. And as the third drop hit the old paper, the deal underneath it quickly caught flame and burned to ash.
"Atta boy," Crowley smirked. "And good luck." He raised his hand to snap. "He's a little out of sorts." His two fingers slid across one another, and the King of Hell was gone in a heartbeat.
"Crowley!" Dean shouted into the night. He spun around, looking for the demon, but no one was there but his brother. "That bastard! He—"
A lump of trench coat lay on the ground in the center of the crossroad. Dean's lips parted but he couldn't move.
"Cas?!" Sam shouted, running over. He flipped him over, but the angel was unconscious. "Dean!" he said, turning to his brother with tears in his eyes. "It's him. It's really him." He pressed two fingers to the angel's neck. "He's alive," Sam breathed, a tear spilling over. "Dean, he's alive! I don't know how, but…"
A few moments that felt like an eternity passed and Dean finally took a breath. "Get him to the car."
.
"I know how you see yourself, Dean. You see yourself the same way our enemies see you. You're destructive, and you're angry, and you're broken… You think that hate and anger, that's what drives you, that's who you are. It's not. And everyone who knows you sees it. Everything you have ever done, the good and the bad, you have done for love. You raised your little brother for love. You fought for this whole worldfor love. That is who you are. You're the most caring man on Earth. You are the most selfless,lovinghuman being I will ever know."
He had been crying. Cas had been crying. But he didn't look scared back then. He looked happy. He was content.
"You know, ever since we met, ever since I pulled you out of Hell... Knowing you has changed me. Because you cared, I cared. I cared about you. I cared about Sam. I cared about the whole world because ofyou. You changed me, Dean."
It was a goodbye. He knew it was a goodbye and he'd just bided his time, hoping a miracle would happen. Hoping that someone would pull him out of a dream. Hoping that Cas had found a way out—that this wasn't really happening. He should have stopped him. He should have fought harder. Why didn't he fight harder?
"I love you."
They had both been crying. He remembered crying. The feeling of loss. It never got easier. It never went away. He'd always just shoved it down, hoping it would go away one day.
"Dean?" Sam said, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder as he drove twenty-five over the speed limit, on their way back to the bunker. It was a three-hour drive. "He's gonna be okay."
He was crying again. The tears rolling down his face made it hard to see the wet road in the middle of the night.
"Hold on," he whispered, glancing at the limp trench coat in the backseat through the rearview mirror. "I got you, Cas."
…..
"How do you think he got him out?" Sam asked, sitting at the main table. Dean took a step down into the room, two plates in his hands. "I mean, demons have nothing to do with the Empty, and they definitely don't have any power over it. They can't make deals to get angels out of it, and as far as we know, it's infinite. It's not even death. It's just… nothing."
"Maybe God?" Dean asked, sitting down and sliding a plate to his brother.
"I don't know. Maybe Cas can tell us." He looked up to the second-story room where they'd put him to rest. "Whenever he wakes up…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean snapped, and Sam quickly raised his hands in defense.
"Nothing. I'm just saying, it's been a few days."
"So, what?" he snapped again.
"So, nothing."
"He's gonna wake up."
"I know he is."
"So, don't say it like that."
"Sorry, I just—"
A thump from upstairs came, and before Sam could react, Dean was already out of his chair and heading for the stairs.
"Cas!" Dean shouted, barging into the room. The angel was on the floor, slowly pushing himself up. "Whoa, whoa! Easy!" He ran to his side and helped him to his feet, his arms around the angel's shoulders. But as soon as Cas locked eyes with him, Dean immediately felt something strange, and let go of him.
"I love you."
No, no, no.
"Dean…"
"H-Hey, Cas. How are you feeling?" The angel stumbled and Dean reached to help him stand again, but didn't. "How are you alive? How are you here? How did you get out?"
"That's a lot of questions, Dean," Cas struggled to say, reaching for the side of the bed and quickly sitting down. "I don't know."
"You don't know what?"
"I feel fine. A little weak, but…" He raised his hands in front of his face and turned them to look at the backs. "Otherwise fine." He paused for a moment before locking eyes with Dean again, who seemed to be… anxious? No, that wasn't right… "What happened?"
"The Empty… it took you."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I do remember… nothing."
"What?"
Sam ran into the doorway. "Cas!"
"Hello, Sam. It's good to see you." The angel nodded weakly at the other Winchester.
"Wait, wait. What do you mean, you don't remember anything?" Dean asked heatedly.
"No, I mean… I remember nothingness. And then… I thought it would be like Heaven—a sort of paradise—but… There was pain, and then… I don't know."
"Pain?" Dean asked, but Cas held up a hand.
"I'm fine, Dean."
"You're not fine! You don't even remember how you got out!"
"Dean…" Sam placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I just… woke up here."
"Yea, because we brought you here, dumbass!"
"Dean!" Sam said, pulling on his shoulder. Dean turned to his brother, who nodded his head towards the hallway to talk. He held up a finger to Cas, who still seemed out of it, half on the bed and half on the floor. He pulled Dean out into the hallway and shook his head at him. "Dude, calm down. Cas is fine, and he's here. Why are you getting so worked up? Shouldn't you be happy to see him? It's been six months."
Dean tsked. "Of course I'm happy to see him. I just…" He shook his head. Why was he so frustrated anyway?
"Six months?" Cas leaned himself against the doorframe and faced the brothers. His voice was ragged. "I've been gone for six months?"
"I… We looked for you," Dean said slowly.
"How did you find me?"
"We didn't," Sam said. "Apparently… you were in Hell."
"What? No, that's impossible. Angels don't go to Hell. And the Empty is supposed to be…" Cas trailed off, his eyes closing involuntarily. He staggered and started to slip down the doorframe.
"Cas!" Dean reached for him and held him up. "Come on, buddy." He dragged him back into the room and lowered the angel onto the bed.
"Dean, I…" Cas said, his eyes closing.
"It's all right. Just relax. We'll talk when you've got some rest."
…
Another ten hours went by, and Dean kept walking in front of Cas's room. Sam got tired of telling him to chill out and went to sleep over an hour ago. Finally, Dean did another round past the angel's doorway and saw some movement.
"Hey," he immediately said, stepping inside. "You all right?"
"Dean."
"You feeling okay?"
"A little better," the angel groaned, sitting up. "Have you been… watching over me?"
"No, I…" Dean trailed off. Why was he lying anyway? "Cas… we should talk."
"Of course. I want to hear about everything I've missed. Once I was gone, I assume the angels…"
"They went back to Heaven, yea. But that's not—"
"And the demons?"
"We made a contract with Crowley. After everything, trying to destroy Hell… Heaven… everything needs a balance. But listen, that's not what I mean."
"You made a deal with Crowley?" Cas's eyes hardened. "Dean…"
"Hold on," he said, then more frustrated, "Hold on!"
"What is it?"
"I mean, we should talk about… you know."
"I don't know what you mean."
Dean rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He couldn't meet the angel's eyes as he spoke. "About what you said… right before you were sucked in."
"I…" Cas trailed off.
To be honest, Dean didn't even know what there was to say. Maybe he wanted clarification, but he knew exactly what Cas meant back then. Maybe he wanted to hear him say something else? Maybe he wanted to hear him say it again? No, no, that was ridiculous. He had to talk about it, or else… or else what? They were family, after all. Family… and his best friend. And…
"I don't remember." Cas said suddenly, snapping Dean back to reality.
"Wh… What?" he asked. "You don't remember what?"
"I just… remember feeling happy, and content. And then… nothing."
"No, Cas. I mean, the conversation we had right before it took you."
He stared at Dean, and their eyes stayed locked this time. Cas seemed to be contemplating something, and Dean's anxious expression was back from before. "I apologize, Dean," he said, staring into those green eyes. He didn't want the man to worry anymore. Maybe this was for the best…
"I don't remember."
….
Heyoooo!
Does anyone even care about Supernatural anymore? LOL. I hope so. I've been rewatching it for the first time in like… ten years, and I've always been a fan of Destiel, but it's a bit stronger now during the rewatch. xD I'm super excited about this fic, and I hope you enjoy the premise. Honestly, I've read a few Destiel fics on here, and I find myself a little dissatisfied with the way they're portrayed, and the tweaks in their character's personalities, especially Dean's. I think up until the moment Cas confessed his love, Dean never actually thought about Cas in that way. I think the way he was raised—like a southern, kickass, badass, overly-masculine Hunter—it kinda leaves a sense of "raised into anti-lgbtq", even though (in my opinion), clearly he has affections for both genders throughout the show, and not just towards Castiel, but other men, too. (dr. sexy *cough cough*) So, according to my own views on it, I think he always had repressed thoughts about Cas in that way, but it was all just like… non-reality thoughts, if that makes sense. Like… the love Dean has for Cas is male x male, but also male x angel. What I mean by that, is that even if Cas took a female vessel, I don't think Dean would have slept with Cas, because of how strong the feelings between them were—but his love for him would have been exactly the same—aka: true love for another (like soulmate love), as opposed to sexual/romantic love. I don't know if that makes any sense on paper… LMFAO. Let me know in the comments if you like my interpretation or not. Maybe if you have something more to add that I haven't thought about, it could help the story progress. But so far, the plot I have in mind revolves around what I just said.
So, here I will do my best to keep to their original personalities, with my own views on their relationship, and I hope you enjoy!~
Yours Truly,
-Light