Art Title: Sanctuary
Prompt Number: 1060
Artist:
felidraxianFic Title: Needle in a Haystack
Author:
hippivickyxFandom/Genre: SPN AU/ Action Drama
Pairing(s): Dean/ Castiel
Rating: PG 14
Word Count:
Warnings: Mild self harm (android harm,) Mild Droid Violence, Minor Characters Death.
Summary:
Art Link:
LJFic Links: Part Two | AO3 coming soon
Thank you to my wifie
aspired999 for helping me. like a lot. She is my true beta'r who fixes my English.
Enjoy.
PS! I'm writing a fun 6 months later chapter this week (with smut) so keep an eye out for that! <3
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“Winchester!" Bobby hollered from his office. "Help Castiel."
Dean rolled his eyes, he didn’t have anything to work on right now but he didn’t feel comfortable helping the doctor out. Walking into the office full of hanging prosthetic body parts and strange blue wires just freaked him out. He grabbed onto his left arm - sure, his arm was replaced with one of these, but the stuff still made his stomach clench.
Castiel was on the far wall, hunched over a workbench covered in strange tools. His ‘patient’ was staring at Dean when he walked in. He had tubes coming out of his wrists and his eyes glowed. Droids freaked him out, but he just ignored them as much as possible.
“Uh, Cas? Bobby said you needed me?” he ran a hand over his plastic arm, a nervous tick he had picked up.
“Yes, could you please open his plate, I seem to be having trouble.” He remained facing whatever he was working on.
Dean sighed, he should have never showed Castiel that he knew how to open them. He used his prosthetic hand to dig into the synthetic skin and grab the plate’s lock. With his prosthetic, it was a more dynamic cut. Dirty work, but someone had to do it. He pushed his hand against the patient's shoulder and tapped around for the lock, listening for the right clank. The droid was just staring at him with that freaky glow.
“This might hurt.” Dean said quietly before placing two of his prosthetic fingers over the lock.
“We do not feel pain, nor was I programmed to.” Its voice was freakish, a mix of something human and something, well, not.
Dean couldn’t help but roll his eyes and press forward into the synthetic skin. It was also freaky how much the skin looked real but was squishy. He tried to ignore it until he heard the click of the lock and the breast plate popped open.
“Done.”
“Thank you, Dean. You’re always so helpful.” Castiel turned around to shine his blue eyes at him with a small smile.
Castiel had always been so quiet and reserved. It took a while to coax a smile out of him. He might not work in the shop like Dean does, but he is still his co-worker.
“I don’t understand why you have so much trouble with the plates. Dontcha have a machine for it?” he went over to the small sink and washed the pink plasma blood off his hand.
“Yes, well, I sold it to buy a better machine with more uses. I might be depending on your expertise in the future.”
He watched Castiel dig around the front of the guy now that the plate was open and to the side. It gave Dean a shiver down his spine to see something that looked so human with its chest open and glowing computer-like parts inside of it.
“I bet Bobby can budget the machine in for you.” Dean stood at the door, awkwardly watching as Castiel poked inside the patient who was still staring at him.
“I’m afraid not. Need to wait for a few more higher bot payments in order to pay for it.” He straightened his back and turned to Dean. “I hope you do not mind helping me out on your down time.” He had this facial expression surprisingly similar to his brother, Sam. It was between a puppy begging and a child’s joy. Something Dean wasn’t used to saying no to.
“Guess not, I am being paid for it.” He took a step back and smiled once more at the good doctor.
Bobby owned one of the only shops that fixed up older model droids in town, but to stay in business he brought in Castiel who fixed up newer models. He came out of nowhere, just started working in the back room with his white doctor coat, cleaning the dark room to be pristine white and sterile.
At first, they hadn’t interacted at all. Dean didn’t mean to ignore him for so long, he just didn’t have a reason to talk to the doctor. Then one day, his prosthetic started to malfunction. He ignored it until a car almost fell on top of him after his finger decided to push a button. Castiel was so kind and handled his injury calmly and softly. He looked too young to be a doctor and know so much. He knew exactly what to do to fix Deans arm in less than ten minutes.
“Winchester!” Bobby hollered again from his office, making Dean roll his eyes and walk over to the office. “Did you order those parts I asked ya for?”
“Yes, Bobby I did. I have been meaning to ask, why do we need an active poly-synthetic reactor? Those kind of bots never come in here.”
“Don’t worry ‘bout it!”
“Ok, but I feel like we could have used that money to buy Cas some new equipment and-”
“Drop it.” Bobby gave him a glare that caused Dean to just walk away.
Dean worked a few more droids before calling it a night. Cas was cleaning up his office, making little to no sound, so Dean hollered a good night and Cas just waved at him. After yawning enough, he started his motorcycle and headed home. Sam was still awake, despite his long day at school.
“Do you ever sleep?” Dean said, taking his helmet off and throwing it with his keys.
“Do you ever stop complaining?” He referred to that morning when Dean didn’t agree with his schedule. Bobby was working him early, waiting for shipments and to let Castiel into the office. The doctor lived above the shop, yet didn’t own a key to the shop.
"Yah, well whatever. You hungry?" After Sam declined the food, Dean made enough pasta for the both of them anyways. He cleaned the kitchen and dragged himself to sleep.
-
It was too early. The sun was peeking over the horizon as clouds began to settle. Dean rubbed his eye with a large yawn. He sat in the large chair in the shop trying not to freeze. No shipment. No Castiel. He thought about taking a nap and got so far as settling into the chair, when the door squeaked open.
"Good morning Dean."
"Ah, shit!" He only had a moment to respond after the door opened. Castiel was already standing in front of him. Dean eyed the door, which was a good twenty feet away, then Castiel.
"How are you so damn quiet?" Dean stood and took a step back from the space invading doctor.
He shrugged and apologised as he proceeded to his office. Dean shut his eyes just for a moment, thinking he had a few hours before they officially opened, or before Bobby got there or before-
“Dean.”
“What!” He opened his eyes and Castiel was back in front of him, now in his white coat.
“The shipment.” He pointed to the garage door where a truck was sitting in the grey sunlight. “I apologise if startled you again.” Castiel looked unsure, staring over at the truck.
“No, sorry dude. I just- nevermind.” Dean ran a hand over his face and stood up. He shrugged over at Castiel with a smile, the doctor tilted his head and squinted his eyes which made Dean smile. “Don’t you have some parts to work on?” Castiel nodded and retreated to his office.
As Dean unloaded the bulk of the load, the driver came around with a white box about the size of a chinese take out box with the
label on it.
“It says to hand it to you guys directly. These suckers can be lethal.” The driver pushed it into his hands and picked up his clipboard.
“Heaven must be a fancy brand, huh.” Dean looked over the box for the part type. The guy sarcastically snickered and pushed a pen into Dean’s free hand. He quickly signed and watched the guy climb into his truck. Dean looked up at the cloudy sky and walked back inside, examining the box. He walked across the garage to stand in Castiel’s doorway.
“Hey, do you know why Bobby ordered something so expensive? An active poly-synthetic reactor? Isn’t that for high end droids?” As he spoke he watched as the doctor’s head spin around, wide eyed, before he marched up to Dean. He collected the box and looked it over.
“It’s uh,” Castiel took a step back and eyed Dean, then quickly looked down. “Bobby, wanted it in stock just, just in case. You know.”
“Uh, no Cas. I don’t. It only stays active for so long.”
“Well, uh, I’ll keep it active. And safe in here.” His eyes fluttered from Dean to a spot on the wall to his feet. Something else was going on.
“Winchester!” Great, Bobby was here early.
“Whatever Cas. See ya at lunch.” He went back into the garage, where Bobby was hovering over the unloaded shipment.
“Hey Bobby.”
“Did the reactor arrive?”
“Yeah, gave it to Cas.”
“Good. Put these away and get ready to open.” Dean bit his lip, trying to keep his mouth shut. Both Bobby and Cas shut him down on why they needed the reactor yet it was important. Dean let out a long sigh and began moving the shipment items to their designated areas.
-
It was almost lunch time and Dean was working on a bot with a missing gear in its left arm. He went over to the supply closet near Castiel’s office when he heard arguing. Dean peered in and his heart stopped.
The droid from yesterday had Castiel pushed up against the wall. Castiel was struggling against his grip, eyes closed tightly and teeth grinding. He ran in, but not before grabbing the large sledgehammer by the door.
“Deactivate!” He yelled, hoping the droid would hear him. Its glowing blue eyes turned to Dean too sharply for his liking. “Deactivate,” he said, lifting the sledgehammer with his prosthetic arm.
“Oh, a human threatening me. How cute.” The droid turned back to Castiel and lifted his fist.
Dean reacted. He threw the sledgehammer back as the droids fist made contact to Castiel’s sternum. Dean swung hard and sent the droid across the room. A buzzing noise came from the droid as Dean didn’t wait, he rushed to Castiel and picked him up from where he fell. His eyes were shut tight and his hand was pressed over his stomach.
“What in tarnation is going on?” Bobby rushed in, examining the scene before taking Castiel from him. “Dean!” The droid was back on his feet, synthetic skin was ripped from his metal body, revealing his true nature. His eyes glowed a dull red as he cracked his neck.
“This is your last warning. Deactivate or I will do it for you!” Dean lifted the hammer, watching the droid proceed forward. Dean swung, hitting the droid square in the head. It popped off and flew across the room, its body fell limp. Dean watched to make sure it wasn’t moving again before leaving the office and looked for Bobby and Castiel. They were sitting in the large chair, he dropped the hammer and rushed over.
“Are you okay Cas? Is he okay?” he put his hand on Castiel’s arm, hoping it would comfort himself that he was okay. Castiel had his head bowed, eyes still shut tight.
“Quit crowding him. Cas.” Bobby looked at the white coat stained blue. “Ah, the droid’’s blood is all over your coat. Dean go get him a blanket.”
“What? Just take the coat off.”
“Just go!” Dean got up and rushed to the work room where they had some supplies. When he got back, Bobby and Castiel seemed to disappear. He looked around, panicking that Bobby went to the hospital with Castiel and left Dean here.
“Get some ice, Winchester!” Bobby hollered from his office. The door was shut, and Dean thought of going in there first but went to get ice. By the time he got the ice in a bag and delivered it to the office, Bobby was wrapping a bandage around Castiel’s now bare chest. Dean stared at the bandage, curious of what a wound looked like from the punch of a droid.
“I need to call the droid department to come clean this up. Can you please take Castiel home with you Dean?”
“What? Why not just help him upstairs?” Bobby helped Castiel back into his shirt, as the doctor hissed at every touch of his midriff.
“He doesn’t want to stay here. Just take him home with you. You have that spare room right?” Castiel looked up at Dean with sympathetic eyes, but didn’t voice his opinion.
“Yes, fine. At least I’m getting the day off.” He walks over to where Castiel was sitting on top of Bobby’s desk, and swung the doctors arm around his shoulder, carefully taking him out of the garage.
“I better hear from you two tomorrow.” Bobby hollered.
Outside, they both stared down at Deans motorcycle for a moment. Castiel looked up with a strike of fear in his eyes.
“Right, I have our delivery truck out back. Let's take that.” Dean turned him and slowly walked them to it. He made sure Castiel was secure in the passenger seat before walking around to the driver's. The old pick up had been a junker before Dean took it and fixed it up for Bobby.
“Sam?” He called out when he opened the front door. Of course his brother wasn’t home, it wasn’t even after noon yet. He watched Castiel, who insisted he could walk, limp behind him as he walked down their small hallway. He opened the door to their guest room, which was cold and bland.
“Well this is it. I hope you can get comfortable. I’ll bring you the couch pillows. Do you need pain killers?”
“No, Bobby gave me some.” He limped to the bed and plopped down. “Thank you Dean, this is fine. I shall rest.”
Dean wanted to say something but it felt awkward and out of place. He just nodded his head and closed the door behind him. He went into the kitchen and began planning his lunch. The curiosity at what had happened nagged at his brain. He knew he would be able to ask Castiel later, after he rested.
Dean must have fallen asleep on the couch because Sam shook him on the shoulder and the sky seemed to have gotten darker.
“Uh, Dean. I think Castiel needs you.” He pointed over his shoulder at the hall way.
Dean ran a hand over his face and pushed himself to his feet. The sleep haze caused him to run into the wall with his shoulder, waking him up a bit. He knocked lightly on the door, it opened slightly. Castiel was laying in the bed, breathing heavily and his eyes pinched shut. A heavy feeling laid in the air, causing Dean to gasp for air.
"Cas?" He walked over when the doctor didn't reply. He was shivering and shaking under the covers, symptoms of a fever yet no sweat on his brow. "Cas." After no response, he reached out and touched Castiel's forehead.
"Jesus! You're burning up! Cas!" He attempted to wake the doctor while trying not to harm him. "You need to go to the hospital."
As he spoke those words, Castiel's eyes shot open.
"No. You can't take me to a hospital. T-take me to the shop."
"We just came from there. Seriously, Cas. Tell me whats going on."
"Please Dean. I'm-m overheating."
"Let me take you to the hospital." He went to grab Castiel, to drag him if he had to.
"No!" Castiel grabbed onto Dean's arm and a hissing noise made him turn. Castiel's hand had burned through his flannel and onto his prosthetic shoulder. He stared at the mark, making sure it was real. He turned to Castiel, whose eyes were now glowing blue.
"You're a droid."
"Please. The reactor at the shop." He fell back against the bed. "S-shower."
Dean grabbed at him again, pulling him towards the small bathroom across the hall. He practically dumped Castiel into the tub and turned on the shower as cold as it would go. As soon as the water hit the doctor, steam rolled off of him. He panted, but produced a pleased moan. Dean eyed him in disbelief before staring at his burned shoulder. He was so lucky he hadn't asked for the feeling reattachment to his prosthetic.
"Dean what's going on?" Sam was standing in the doorway, staring at Castiel, who was still steaming.
"Cas is a droid. Fancy that. He's overheating. Droids and bots don't live through overheating." It hit him, Castiel is dying. "I need to get him back to the shop, can you help me?"
"Yeah, but won't he burn up the seats?"
Sam was always logical.
"I'll put him in the back. The cool air should help him. Come on, we don’t have much time." Dean's mind was pulled between helping Castiel. He was a droid, hid it from everyone. An expensive droid. A runaway droid. Shit.
After a struggle to get a dead weight Castiel into the bed of the truck, Dean speeded a bit to the garage which was usually a twenty minute drive. He made it in seven.
"Shit Cas. You're burning up too fast." Castiel was dry again, eyes shut tight. Sam and Dean struggled to bring him into the garage and laid Castiel down onto his exam bed.
"What do we do?" Dean knew he needed the reactor, and began frantically searching the office for it.
"Open my plate. C-careful, it was damaged. The r-reactor, it should be glowing red. Replace it."
He found the box in a drawer. He opened it with shakey hands; when did he get so nervous?
"Hold this, Sam."
He pulled Castiel's shirt up to find the bandage covered in blue plasma blood. Castiel's blood. He grabbed something close to surgical scissors, not hesitating to cut it. Under was a small tear where the droid hit him. Plasma blood was seeping out with a dark bruise growing under the synthetic skin. Dean searched for the lock, finding it just above the tear.
"Ready?"
"Just do it." He said through his teeth. Dean pushed through the skin, causing a blood curdling scream from Castiel.
"Sam, shut him up!" There was too much plasma blood. This shouldn't be happening, droids didn't feel pain or bleed like this. He felt the lock and quickly pulled on it.
Castiel's screams seized, his body went limp as the plate popped.
"Dean?" Sam held Castiel's shoulders down, looking at the lifted plate. He slowly lifted it and pulled it open like a cupboard. A circuit board Dean had never seen in any droid or bot stared back at him. He saw a small cube far inside, flashing red.
"Hand me those tong things," he pointed to the table.
Sam quickly retrieved them, they were surrounded by soft rubber. He'd seen Castiel use them on droids. He placed the white box open with a direct copy of the reactor inside. He slowly pushed the tongs inside, but they didn’t reach. He threw them to the side; he didn't have much time.
He took his prosthetic hand inside, it sizzled when it touched the overheated parts. Touching the reactor caused his hand to short circuit for a moment, sending electricity down his spine. He grabbed the reactor and pulled. It melted his fingers slowly as he dropped it onto the table. He quickly picked up the new reactor and pushed it into the slot.
Dean and Sam stared down into the doctor, waiting for something to happen. A whole minute passed, fear crept into Dean that he had killed him. The reactor pulsed, causing Castiel's body to jolt and the brothers to yelp. The reactor burned blue.
"You did it." Sam said. A thud caused them to both look at the faded reactor where it had melted through the small metal tray and fallen to the cement floor. Dean looked down at his prosthetic hand, three fingers were melted off and burn marks scored the plastic. He closed the plate and watched it snap shut.