Title: Welcome Back, Baby [In a Trenchcoat]
Fandom|Pairing: Supernatural|Dean/Castiel, I'm so sorry, but they're devouring everything about me.
Rating|Warning: PG-ish, but mostly for the mushyness and boys liking boys thing... sorry, kiddies, I just don't want anyone being uncomfortable. And my writing's getting wonky again, I don't like it. But it's something.
~~~
Disclaimer: Not mine, they belong to Eric Kripke.
~~~
"Son of a--!" was all Dean managed to bark, as he stomped on the brakes.
Sam was thrown forward, but he managed to slam his hands against the dashboard, his eyes wide with alarm.
It took Sam all of two seconds to take it all in: Cass stood in front of the car, his palms pressed into shallow dents on the Impala's hood that their run-in had just left. His right eye was red and bleeding, and from what Sam could see, his breathing was laboured.
Sam blinked and Dean was suddenly outside, immediately at Castiel's side.
"--hell you've been?!" Dean was absolutely frantic. "Are you okay? Cass?! Hey!"
Sam lunged out of the car, rounding hastily to the hood. And Castiel was oblivious to Dean's shouting, he only continued to stare blankly at nothing. His legs suddenly gave out, and he started to slump down and forward. Sam's arms went out immediately to support the angel, but Dean already hauled Castiel closer, bearing all of the angel's weight as he wrapped both of his arms around Castiel, and despite the fierce protectiveness in Dean's eyes, his face darkened with worry.
Swallowing hard, Sam glanced at his brother, "Dean..."
"Take the wheel, Sammy," Dean said hoarsely. He allowed Castiel to drop back slightly, still supporting him with his left arm, while stooping down and literally swept Castiel's feet out from under him with his right. As he moved to carry Castiel around to the passenger side of his car, he glanced back at Sam. "Can you get the door?"
Nodding, Sam followed and opened the backdoor, moving around the back of the Impala to get to the driver's side. Dean leaned in as far as he could reach, carefully holding Castiel close to avoid smacking his head against the car's sturdy frame, as he sat the angel in the backseat. And Dean didn't hesitate to slide in after Castiel, gently cradling him close, keeping his arm firmly around Castiel's shoulders, allowing Castiel's head to rest against his shoulder.
Despite his initial concern, Sam was almost relieved to see that, even with Dean's frantic worry, his brother almost looked "whole" again.
And Sam pretended not to notice Dean carefully lean his head against Castiel's.
~~~
They drove in silence for a while, and Sam was starting to feel his anxiety rise; if anything happened to Cass, Sam knew for a fact that Dean would not take it well. Finally, Dean spoke up, albeit quietly.
"Hey," he said softly, speaking to Castiel. "You hearing me? Come on, Cass, look at me." A short pause, "yeah, there we go... hey."
Sometimes it was easy to forget Dean could sound like that, all tenderness and patience. And Sam was beginning to feel like he was committing an act of intrusion, so he forced himself to ignore his brother and his angel in the backseat. They both made for a very poignant scene with the level of intimacy between them.
"You seeing me?"
"... hello, Dean."
Dean chuckled weakly, "hey, Cass," he responded.
And Sam heaved a sharp sigh of relief, "thank God."
"What Sam said," Dean murmured. "You finally stopped bleeding, how's your grace? Still an angel?"
"Mm."
"No, Cass," Dean said gently. "Come on, talk to me, okay? Your grace, is it good?"
"... yes."
A short pause, before Dean spoke again, his voice lowering with so much relief. And affection. "Missed you, 'm glad you're back."
"I'm sorry."
"'s okay, it's just good to see you."
Now Sam definitely felt like he was intruding. Thankfully, Dean cleared his throat, and changed the subject.
"Gonna show you something awesome," he told Castiel. "Ever hear of the Men of Letters?"
"Mm."
"We got us a homebase, Cass, been wanting to show you for a while. All the books you could ever hope to nerd-out over... gonna need you to teach me more Enochian so I can check some of it out myself."
~~~
Sam did not dare take Castiel from Dean.
Castiel was bloody, barely conscious, but honestly, this was most life Sam had seen in Dean in weeks. The most Sam could do for both of them was open doors, and stay out of the way. And before Sam could ask where Cass could go, Dean immediately headed down the corridor, towards his room.
Sam hesitated to enter after them, and hung back, stuffing his hands in his pockets and waited. Dean had laid Castiel down gently on his bed, and leaned closer over him, "hey, look at me, okay? Still seeing me?" he asked softly.
"I see you."
Sam looked away to grant them some privacy, as Dean's hand tentatively reached out to touch Castiel's face. "Your eye okay?"
"It seems to be."
"Good," Dean sighed as he straightened up, and he turned to face Sam, briefly surprised that he was still there, before clearing his throat. "He's, uh, Cass isn't injured," he said. "At least not that I can see."
Nodding, Sam glanced at Castiel, relieved that the angel's eyes were already closed as he seemed to doze off. "Alright, that's good, I'm glad," he said. He studied Dean briefly before asking, "you okay?"
Dean frowned, "me?"
Sam shrugged, "just asking."
Dean shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at Castiel. "I, uh, yeah, I'm good," he answered. "Just, uh, just seeing Cass again, all in one piece? Yeah, I'm good."
"Alright," Sam smiled, "so, you can stay here with Cass, and I'll head out to see what Kevin's got."
Dean's brow furrowed, "you sure?"
"Yeah, if he's got the next trial figured out, we might as well hash it out, right?" Sam shrugged.
Dean pursed his lips, and pointed at Sam warningly, "you're just finding out what the trial is," he said firmly. "No going off and trying to do it on your own, understand?"
It took effort, but Sam managed to hide his exasperation, "Dean..."
"I mean it, Sammy," Dean cut in. "Just 'cause you're the one stuck doing these trials doesn't mean you have to be alone to do them. If you go and get yourself close to killed, after I just got Cass back, I'll find you and kick your ass. You hear me?"
Right then, Sam couldn't help his smile.
Dean's stern expression slipped into confusion, "what?"
Clearing his throat, Sam shook his head, "nothing," he said. "And yes, I hear you," he added. "I'll visit Kevin, learn the next trial, and I'll be back as soon as I can. Alright?"
After a tense second, Dean nodded his approval. "Alright, and get everything down to the letter," he said. "We can't risk any mistakes."
Sam nodded, "alright, take care of Cass," he said, glancing at Castiel soundly resting on Dean's bed. "And I'll see you, tomorrow night at the latest."
"Yeah," Dean followed Sam's gaze, and he frowned as he studied Castiel with some concern, before glancing back at Sam. "Drive safe," he said shortly.
Sam nodded, turning to leave Dean alone to take care of Castiel. And as he head back outside to the car, Sam gave a silent prayer for Castiel to be okay and for him and Dean to just take care of each other while he was gone; however short his trip would be.
No More, Yay
Need many a spelling and grammar check, but ah well. It's something, I got it out of my head. I am content.
And I definitely wanna do more on FF13. Hrm, hopefully. Heheh, "hopefully." ^^;;; um, yeah... Happy Valentines' Day?
Oh yeah, and this song is pretty awesome. I love it. Rock Symphonies, ftw? Yep, ftw.