A New Earth: Chapter 13: In Which There is Pain and Pleasure
Title: A New Earth: Chapter 13: In Which here is Pain and Pleasure
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters: Castiel, Gabriel, Balthazar, Dean, Sam, Bobby, Michael, Raphael, Crowley, Meg, Ruby, Adam, Nancy, Charlie, Kevin, Becky, Samandriel, Zachariah, Virgil, Rachel, Hester, Joshua, Naomi, Alistair, Azazel, Lilith, Eve
Rating: PG-13
Genres: Humor, drama
Era: AU
Warnings: non-graphic torture and violence; it's really not too bad, but if you're sensitive to those things, be warned; and then, boy kisses; swear words
Word Count: 3,246
Summary: Angels and hunters don't know each other. Apocalypse happens. Righteous humans given to angels on earth. Read a better summary here. In this chapter, the big damn heroes go on a big damn rescue mission
Notes: I hope this isn't anti-climatic, but I needed to get this done. This is last chapter save the epilogue. I stayed up until 2 writing this, refusing to sleep until it was done. Like a boss.
“Do you know where they are?” I shouted, shoving my forearm into Crowley’s chest.
“No, you lovesick, idiot. If you think I would not only jeopardize my stay here and not leave after the crime, you’re more of a bloody idiot than I thought,” Crowley snapped.
He was right. I didn’t know if Crowley was strangely loyal or, more likely, strongly self-preserving, but he would not go after the boys and especially not Bobby. After I had found Balthazar, Gabriel had sensed that something was wrong and joined us. After realizing demons had breached our defenses without notice and had taken humans, he realized the attack was being orchestrated by someone higher up than a couple of demons. He had left us with Crowley - so we could all find out what we could before deciding on our next move.
As I stepped back, Balthazar stepped forward. “You say you’re not part of it,” he snarled, “but you must know something. Talk. Now.”
“Sure, boys. I’ve known something’s been in the works for a while now. Which is precisely why I came here. For some damn reason, I thought the good guys would be strong enough to hold back all those really scary monsters and keep me safe. Which, technically you have, but the Winchesters and Co. really can’t say the same, hmm?”
“You’re talking too much, but saying nothing. Tell us what you know now.”
“I have to say, Cassy, I am proud of your proper contraction use. So much less robotronic. Anyway, the two bitches that took your boys are Meg and Ruby, lower-level demons, so they obviously had help. If they told Balthazar the truth that Lilith and Eve sent them, then we do have a good reason to be quaking in our boots. I’m sure you’re familiar with them. I imagine this whole thing has been set up by the Big Bad, Lucifer, himself. Now if we include the Leviathans, that means we have way too many monsters and demons and things that go bump in the night working together than I’m comfortable with.”
I gave Balthazar a look. This is exactly what we had been fearing. “Why did they take the humans, but not all of them, and hurt none of the angels?”
“It was a smash and grab. Somehow, they got in quick, probably near any unprotected or isolated humans, grabbed them, and got out. That tells me, they don’t care who they got. To me that makes sense, other than Chuck or Kevin or any of the other prophets, they don’t see the humans as any more valuable than the others. I don’t think they want anything specific from one of them.”
As he finished, Gabriel, Michael, and Adam appeared in the house. “Then what do they want from them?” asked Gabriel stiffly.
“They want to torture you. They’ve stolen your beloved pets. Any information about defenses would only be a bonus. They already know the layout of this place pretty well already, so I’d imagine they’re more interested in hurting them, by hurting you.”
“Then we must get them back immediately, while keeping the rest of them safe,” said Michael, his hand wrapped firmly around Adam’s wrist, pulling him closer.
“Who else was taken?” I asked.
Michael listed them off, “Nancy, Joshua’s ward; Charlie, Hester’s; Becky, Samandriel’s, who they left badly beaten; Kevin Tran the Prophet; and your Dean, Sam, and Bobby. They took seven total.”
I closed my eyes, their faces running across my mind: sweet Nancy, playful Charlie, exuberant Becky, serious Kevin, gruff and caring Bobby, clever and brave Sam, and my own Dean. A painfully possessive feeling ran through my body at the thought of Dean. He was mine, and if it took my last breath, I would kill any who dared hurt him.
The feeling was so powerful that I swayed on my feet. Balthazar steadied me. “We’ll kill them all,” promised Balthazar.
I turned to Crowley, “Where do we find them?”
“Last I saw them, Meg and Ruby have a place - a warehouse - where they hide out. They keep a few other demons around. However, I’d guess that with this big an operation, they’ll either have moved or there’ll be a lot more than you can handle.”
“Demon,” Michael spit the word contemptuously from his mouth, “who do you think you are talking to?”
“A big ass archangel,” Crowley shrugged, “but even your majesty won’t be able to get past angel wards and holy oil traps. So kindly shove it.” Crowley straightened his tie before continuing. “Now let’s cut right past the haggling stage, since we all know what you’re going to ask me next. I will go in and do what I can to rescue your little puppies and will expect a handsome reward if I return. If they’re even there. Give me a map, and I’ll show you where to drop me off.”
“Thank you,” I said as I handed him a road atlas.
“Least I could do. You just better keep up your end of the deal.”
I wasn’t precisely sure what I had agreed to, but nodded anyway.
“This is the spot.” He pointed to the outskirts of a small town over four hundred miles away. “If Meg and Ruby are there, and that’s a big if, they obviously won’t have gotten there through regular transportation. They have big help. Don’t know why I’m doing this. Who’s going to be nearby to back me up when this all goes south?”
“I will be going,” said Michael. We looked at him in some shock. “As will Gabriel. Raphael will be in charge while we are going. If this threat is a big as the demon claims, we will our most powerful warriors. Samandriel is still too weak and Joshua is no fighter, but Castiel, Balthazar, Inias, and Hester will come for their charges. Zachariah, Virgil, Rachel, and Naomi will join us. The rest of the angels will stay here, ready to come or defend if needed.”
I was glad Michael seemed determined to rescue our people, but I wished we were there already. My chest felt tight and my head ached.
It was agony waiting for Crowley.
Two hours ago he had gotten into the warehouse easily, but there was no one there. However, he brought some tools outside and explained that he recognized them. “They belong to a real nasty piece of work, a demon named Alistair. If he’s out of hell, then he’s most likely with Azazel and his group. I’ll show you to his hideout.”
That had been exactly two hours and three minutes ago. Crowley had been in the hideout for thirty-three of those minutes. The hideout was a decrepit old mansion, high and lofty and falling apart. The place stunk of demons, and the walls were covered in wards and sigils. The whole place felt musty and evil.
All of the angels were waiting on two hills overlooking the manor. I wanted desperately to be closer, but if they sensed my presence the humans would be dead in an instant. So I waited in agony.
Six minutes and twelve seconds later, a loud siren came from the mansion below. I tried to stand to see what was going on, but Balthazar pulled me back down. “Fire alarm,” he whispered.
“Is that your demon calling for help?” snapped Rachel.
“He knew we would be unable to help,” I stated.
Balthazar nodded. “It may be a distraction.”
Just then five demons burst out of the front door. Crowley burst out a side door, one arm supporting Bobby and the other holding up a female. He tried to drag them a few steps forward, before Balthazar was there, gone from my side before I noticing him moving. I watched intently as he pulled the trio into his arms.
The next instant they were on the hill beside me. “I don’t think they saw me,” he huffed, laying Bobby down. “They’ll be wondering how Crowley got away so fast.” I took the girl from Crowley and laid her down. It was Becky. Though unconscious, she appeared uninjured.
Bobby tried to sit up, and Balthazar pulled him against his chest, ignoring Crowley’s smirk. “You’ve got to get them out,” he groaned. “They’ve started torturing the others.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“You mean after this idiot got knocked on the head? Those two female demons took us here - well, I guess they didn’t take us. It was more like getting angel zapped. Something powerful got us here quick. They had the seven of us chained up in a ballroom or some shit. A real creepy feller with yellow yes and one of the girl demons started on Sam right away. They weren’t hurting him, I don’t think, other than making him drink some of her blood. It was sick.” He shuddered.
Bobby took a deep breath, “Another sicko started on Dean. He was a bit away from us - I could hear him shouting. A monster in a little girl’s body was cutting on Nancy. They weren’t doing anything to Charlie or Kevin yet, but they pulled Becky here and me into another room. The other girl demon started asking us questions, but she didn’t hurt us. That’s when Crowley talked his way in. The rest happened so fast - I think I got hit on the head. Crowley got us out.”
As I listened to his words, the only thing I could feel was my fingernails digging into my palms. My hands stung, but I focused on the task at hand.
Below us there was commotion. In the windows, shadowy figures ran around, obviously searching for the missing prisoners, but not wanting to go outside. A scream suddenly echoed through the air, louder than any human voice. It was a woman’s scream, amplified in some way, to fill the air with her desperate pain.
Bobby shuddered and a sob escaped his throat. “You need to get them now.”
Michael commanded, “Inias, take them back to the camp.”
“What of Kevin?” he asked as he took Bobby and Becky’s hands.
“We will bring him back to you.” Inias bowed his head and was gone.
Michael to me, “The demon needs to remove enough angel-warding sigils so we can get to the main room he spoke of.”
“What do you think I was doing in there the whole time?” Crowley asked with a smirk. “Your path should be plenty clear. Go in through the door I came from, through the kitchen, and then the ballroom is straight through the hall ahead.”
A single word from Michael reverberated through all of our heads: “Now!”
I burst through the outer kitchen door, swinging my sword through a demon on my left. I did not slow for the other monsters there, but used my momentum to propel me into the hall. The angels behind me would take care of those. My only thought was on Dean and the others.
Michael, Gabriel, and a few others had gone to the front law minutes before I ran through the door to draw the demons to that side of the house. A few especially foolish creatures even dared to attack by venturing outside, but their end was swift.
Too swift perhaps, since none of the others risked it remained in the house. It did not matter; they would be slain later if not sooner.
The hallway was empty save one demon that fell under my sword. Crowley did not steer us wrong, and within moments I was running into the large room that had, perhaps, once been a ballroom. Now it was a dungeon of torture.
I did not hesitate; my sword swung in a swift arc as I dashed across the room, killing anything it touched. Despite my rapidness, I noticed several things: Charlie kicking a demon towards me as she tried to pick her handcuffs, Kevin rolled into a ball to protect himself, and Nancy unconscious as a child with a wicked grin sat on her blood-splattered lap. I didn’t see Sam or Dean.
I moved out of the room, leaving the fighting behind. I called for Gabriel to come through the house. He could deal with Lilith. I entered a foyer off the ballroom.
On the other side was Dean; a demon with white eyes was behind him, holding a jagged-edged knife to his throat. I paused, doors slamming behind me. A drop of blood fell to the floor. I strode toward Dean, lifted my sword, and threw it with all my might through the white-eyed demon’s throat.
The demon slumped to the side, knife clattering the floor. Dean collapsed into my arms. “I have you,” I murmured. I rested my forehead against his, willing my grace into his body.
I only stopped when he coughed. “Cas? I’m okay now, boss man.”
Looking around us, I only let him go when I saw we were safe. The other three humans were gone, taken somewhere safe. Angels were working swiftly, moving bodies and riding the building of its evil wards.
Gabriel was next to Sam, who was leaning over throwing up. Rubbing his back and reaching to hold back his hair, Gabriel said, “Get it all out, big guy. Don’t want to taste any demon blood on you when you give me my thank-you-for-rescuing-me-you’re-my-hero kiss.”
“Super gross, Gabriel,” laughed Dean.
Gabriel only smirked. “Where’s Cassy’s kiss, Deano?”
I froze. Dean flushed. Rachel, who was passing by, gave a disgusted snort.
I tried to catch Dean’s eye, but he refused to look at me. Was a kiss a necessary part of a rescue? Surely Gabriel was only teasing. I took Dean by the arm and helped him up. We walked outside.
Dark clouds were gathering overhead. “Rain will wash all this away.” I turned to Dean, “Your memories - I can wash them; I can make you forget.”
Dean looked up at the sky. A raindrop fell on his cheek. I watched it roll down the side of his face. “No thanks,” he finally said. “I’ve survived worse. I’ll get through this. I have my family with me after all.”
I smiled.
“Besides,” he continued. “I hate to forget the sight of you flinging your sword across the room and that bastard right in the neck. That was pretty bad ass, Cas.”
A week later it was almost as if nothing had happened.
The demons and monsters in the mansion were nothing compared to two archangels and another half-dozen angels. We burned the place down, with their corpses turned to dust inside. Only one escaped - the demon Meg. The humans said she was the only one who hadn’t hurt them, just asked questions. So we didn’t bother hunting her down. Michael decided it must have been Lucifer who had transported the demons in and out of our camp, so new borders were put up to keep even him out. The battle was far from other, but our humans would be safe here.
Gabriel and Sam were in the kitchen, making lemonade. Balthazar, Crowley, and Bobby were in the garage. I could hear them arguing about something from inside. Dean was sitting on the front porch.
I wanted to go to him.
I needed him.
I couldn’t.
I couldn’t go to him because I couldn’t have him, because he couldn’t return these feelings that made no sense, and I didn’t understand.
So I wanted and did nothing other than consider my thoughts.
I loved him truly and deeply. This went beyond a protective instinct or a friendly fondness. I love him, not because he was a precious creature, but because he was Dean, full of faults and full of virtues each of them more precious than my next breath. I ached to be away from him.
Guilt kept me away. Though I knew he liked me, he could never feel the way I felt about him. It was wrong of me to love him so, when he would never return my affections.
I was startled out of my morose contemplations by Sam calling to me, “Cas, Gabe and I are going to check up on Nancy and the others. Keep an eye out on the three in the garage, will ya?”
“Of course,” I called back.
Gabriel yelled something, but it was muffled by Sam.
I decided that I would go out front and just sit with Dean. I would teach myself to simply be content in his company. He was my friend; I would hurt him by avoiding him.
Dean smiled at me when I walked out. I meant to sit on a step, but he patted the porch swing next to him. So I sat, never more aware and self-conscious as I was then.
We talked of random things. I hoped that I was responding appropriately, as I was hardly aware of what I was saying. Of course, awkward conversation would not be out of the ordinary for me.
“Cas, if I tell you something, will you, you know, not hate me forever? I feel like such a girl,” Dean said abruptly.
“I would never hate you, Dean. You may tell me anything.” I hoped this was not related to his torture - what was he suffering? Perhaps he wanted me to remove his memories.
“Cas, stop it; I can see your brain going a mile a minute. Just let me tell you before you start jumping to conclusions.” I nodded, focusing on him. Dean rubbed the back of his neck; it was distracting. “I don’t know how to do this, so I’ll just say it. Cas, I love you.”
I blinked.
“I know you love me too, Cas - like you’re always protecting me and thinking of me first. I just feel more for you than that. I wasn’t sure if that even worked for angels until Gabe and Sam (which is still gross) and whatever Bobby has going on with Balthazar and Crowley (which is even grosser). I have got no idea if you feel for me at all, but when you’re close or you touch me, like you do way too often, I get all these feelings, right? The way you stare at me all the time or when you touch that scar you gave me, I get, I dunno, tingly. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before, but I’m really super crazy about you, and I hope this isn’t confusing you too badly.” He stopped and stared at me.
I stared back.
“Say something, Cas. What are you thinking right now?”
Blurting out the first thing that came into my mind, I said, “Is this bad staring.”
Dean smiled, “No, Cas, this is really, really good, really hot staring.”
“Ah. You are saying that what we have is not only a profound emotional bond, but a physical one as well?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I would agree.”
“You agree?”
“You make me tingly too.”
“No, no, Cas. You cannot ever say that again. That’s just weird.” He was blushing. “But thanks.”
I didn’t know what to do. Slowly, I reached up and touched his shoulder. I watched his face carefully and saw a tremor cross his features. He smiled slowly at me. “What should I do?”
“Kiss me.”
My mind was blank.
Dean laughed, “How ‘bout I start?”
“That would be accept-” the rest of my answer was lost as his lips pressed against mine.
And I was lost to him.
Forever.
Epilogue
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters: Castiel, Gabriel, Balthazar, Dean, Sam, Bobby, Michael, Raphael, Crowley, Meg, Ruby, Adam, Nancy, Charlie, Kevin, Becky, Samandriel, Zachariah, Virgil, Rachel, Hester, Joshua, Naomi, Alistair, Azazel, Lilith, Eve
Rating: PG-13
Genres: Humor, drama
Era: AU
Warnings: non-graphic torture and violence; it's really not too bad, but if you're sensitive to those things, be warned; and then, boy kisses; swear words
Word Count: 3,246
Summary: Angels and hunters don't know each other. Apocalypse happens. Righteous humans given to angels on earth. Read a better summary here. In this chapter, the big damn heroes go on a big damn rescue mission
Notes: I hope this isn't anti-climatic, but I needed to get this done. This is last chapter save the epilogue. I stayed up until 2 writing this, refusing to sleep until it was done. Like a boss.
“Do you know where they are?” I shouted, shoving my forearm into Crowley’s chest.
“No, you lovesick, idiot. If you think I would not only jeopardize my stay here and not leave after the crime, you’re more of a bloody idiot than I thought,” Crowley snapped.
He was right. I didn’t know if Crowley was strangely loyal or, more likely, strongly self-preserving, but he would not go after the boys and especially not Bobby. After I had found Balthazar, Gabriel had sensed that something was wrong and joined us. After realizing demons had breached our defenses without notice and had taken humans, he realized the attack was being orchestrated by someone higher up than a couple of demons. He had left us with Crowley - so we could all find out what we could before deciding on our next move.
As I stepped back, Balthazar stepped forward. “You say you’re not part of it,” he snarled, “but you must know something. Talk. Now.”
“Sure, boys. I’ve known something’s been in the works for a while now. Which is precisely why I came here. For some damn reason, I thought the good guys would be strong enough to hold back all those really scary monsters and keep me safe. Which, technically you have, but the Winchesters and Co. really can’t say the same, hmm?”
“You’re talking too much, but saying nothing. Tell us what you know now.”
“I have to say, Cassy, I am proud of your proper contraction use. So much less robotronic. Anyway, the two bitches that took your boys are Meg and Ruby, lower-level demons, so they obviously had help. If they told Balthazar the truth that Lilith and Eve sent them, then we do have a good reason to be quaking in our boots. I’m sure you’re familiar with them. I imagine this whole thing has been set up by the Big Bad, Lucifer, himself. Now if we include the Leviathans, that means we have way too many monsters and demons and things that go bump in the night working together than I’m comfortable with.”
I gave Balthazar a look. This is exactly what we had been fearing. “Why did they take the humans, but not all of them, and hurt none of the angels?”
“It was a smash and grab. Somehow, they got in quick, probably near any unprotected or isolated humans, grabbed them, and got out. That tells me, they don’t care who they got. To me that makes sense, other than Chuck or Kevin or any of the other prophets, they don’t see the humans as any more valuable than the others. I don’t think they want anything specific from one of them.”
As he finished, Gabriel, Michael, and Adam appeared in the house. “Then what do they want from them?” asked Gabriel stiffly.
“They want to torture you. They’ve stolen your beloved pets. Any information about defenses would only be a bonus. They already know the layout of this place pretty well already, so I’d imagine they’re more interested in hurting them, by hurting you.”
“Then we must get them back immediately, while keeping the rest of them safe,” said Michael, his hand wrapped firmly around Adam’s wrist, pulling him closer.
“Who else was taken?” I asked.
Michael listed them off, “Nancy, Joshua’s ward; Charlie, Hester’s; Becky, Samandriel’s, who they left badly beaten; Kevin Tran the Prophet; and your Dean, Sam, and Bobby. They took seven total.”
I closed my eyes, their faces running across my mind: sweet Nancy, playful Charlie, exuberant Becky, serious Kevin, gruff and caring Bobby, clever and brave Sam, and my own Dean. A painfully possessive feeling ran through my body at the thought of Dean. He was mine, and if it took my last breath, I would kill any who dared hurt him.
The feeling was so powerful that I swayed on my feet. Balthazar steadied me. “We’ll kill them all,” promised Balthazar.
I turned to Crowley, “Where do we find them?”
“Last I saw them, Meg and Ruby have a place - a warehouse - where they hide out. They keep a few other demons around. However, I’d guess that with this big an operation, they’ll either have moved or there’ll be a lot more than you can handle.”
“Demon,” Michael spit the word contemptuously from his mouth, “who do you think you are talking to?”
“A big ass archangel,” Crowley shrugged, “but even your majesty won’t be able to get past angel wards and holy oil traps. So kindly shove it.” Crowley straightened his tie before continuing. “Now let’s cut right past the haggling stage, since we all know what you’re going to ask me next. I will go in and do what I can to rescue your little puppies and will expect a handsome reward if I return. If they’re even there. Give me a map, and I’ll show you where to drop me off.”
“Thank you,” I said as I handed him a road atlas.
“Least I could do. You just better keep up your end of the deal.”
I wasn’t precisely sure what I had agreed to, but nodded anyway.
“This is the spot.” He pointed to the outskirts of a small town over four hundred miles away. “If Meg and Ruby are there, and that’s a big if, they obviously won’t have gotten there through regular transportation. They have big help. Don’t know why I’m doing this. Who’s going to be nearby to back me up when this all goes south?”
“I will be going,” said Michael. We looked at him in some shock. “As will Gabriel. Raphael will be in charge while we are going. If this threat is a big as the demon claims, we will our most powerful warriors. Samandriel is still too weak and Joshua is no fighter, but Castiel, Balthazar, Inias, and Hester will come for their charges. Zachariah, Virgil, Rachel, and Naomi will join us. The rest of the angels will stay here, ready to come or defend if needed.”
I was glad Michael seemed determined to rescue our people, but I wished we were there already. My chest felt tight and my head ached.
It was agony waiting for Crowley.
Two hours ago he had gotten into the warehouse easily, but there was no one there. However, he brought some tools outside and explained that he recognized them. “They belong to a real nasty piece of work, a demon named Alistair. If he’s out of hell, then he’s most likely with Azazel and his group. I’ll show you to his hideout.”
That had been exactly two hours and three minutes ago. Crowley had been in the hideout for thirty-three of those minutes. The hideout was a decrepit old mansion, high and lofty and falling apart. The place stunk of demons, and the walls were covered in wards and sigils. The whole place felt musty and evil.
All of the angels were waiting on two hills overlooking the manor. I wanted desperately to be closer, but if they sensed my presence the humans would be dead in an instant. So I waited in agony.
Six minutes and twelve seconds later, a loud siren came from the mansion below. I tried to stand to see what was going on, but Balthazar pulled me back down. “Fire alarm,” he whispered.
“Is that your demon calling for help?” snapped Rachel.
“He knew we would be unable to help,” I stated.
Balthazar nodded. “It may be a distraction.”
Just then five demons burst out of the front door. Crowley burst out a side door, one arm supporting Bobby and the other holding up a female. He tried to drag them a few steps forward, before Balthazar was there, gone from my side before I noticing him moving. I watched intently as he pulled the trio into his arms.
The next instant they were on the hill beside me. “I don’t think they saw me,” he huffed, laying Bobby down. “They’ll be wondering how Crowley got away so fast.” I took the girl from Crowley and laid her down. It was Becky. Though unconscious, she appeared uninjured.
Bobby tried to sit up, and Balthazar pulled him against his chest, ignoring Crowley’s smirk. “You’ve got to get them out,” he groaned. “They’ve started torturing the others.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“You mean after this idiot got knocked on the head? Those two female demons took us here - well, I guess they didn’t take us. It was more like getting angel zapped. Something powerful got us here quick. They had the seven of us chained up in a ballroom or some shit. A real creepy feller with yellow yes and one of the girl demons started on Sam right away. They weren’t hurting him, I don’t think, other than making him drink some of her blood. It was sick.” He shuddered.
Bobby took a deep breath, “Another sicko started on Dean. He was a bit away from us - I could hear him shouting. A monster in a little girl’s body was cutting on Nancy. They weren’t doing anything to Charlie or Kevin yet, but they pulled Becky here and me into another room. The other girl demon started asking us questions, but she didn’t hurt us. That’s when Crowley talked his way in. The rest happened so fast - I think I got hit on the head. Crowley got us out.”
As I listened to his words, the only thing I could feel was my fingernails digging into my palms. My hands stung, but I focused on the task at hand.
Below us there was commotion. In the windows, shadowy figures ran around, obviously searching for the missing prisoners, but not wanting to go outside. A scream suddenly echoed through the air, louder than any human voice. It was a woman’s scream, amplified in some way, to fill the air with her desperate pain.
Bobby shuddered and a sob escaped his throat. “You need to get them now.”
Michael commanded, “Inias, take them back to the camp.”
“What of Kevin?” he asked as he took Bobby and Becky’s hands.
“We will bring him back to you.” Inias bowed his head and was gone.
Michael to me, “The demon needs to remove enough angel-warding sigils so we can get to the main room he spoke of.”
“What do you think I was doing in there the whole time?” Crowley asked with a smirk. “Your path should be plenty clear. Go in through the door I came from, through the kitchen, and then the ballroom is straight through the hall ahead.”
A single word from Michael reverberated through all of our heads: “Now!”
I burst through the outer kitchen door, swinging my sword through a demon on my left. I did not slow for the other monsters there, but used my momentum to propel me into the hall. The angels behind me would take care of those. My only thought was on Dean and the others.
Michael, Gabriel, and a few others had gone to the front law minutes before I ran through the door to draw the demons to that side of the house. A few especially foolish creatures even dared to attack by venturing outside, but their end was swift.
Too swift perhaps, since none of the others risked it remained in the house. It did not matter; they would be slain later if not sooner.
The hallway was empty save one demon that fell under my sword. Crowley did not steer us wrong, and within moments I was running into the large room that had, perhaps, once been a ballroom. Now it was a dungeon of torture.
I did not hesitate; my sword swung in a swift arc as I dashed across the room, killing anything it touched. Despite my rapidness, I noticed several things: Charlie kicking a demon towards me as she tried to pick her handcuffs, Kevin rolled into a ball to protect himself, and Nancy unconscious as a child with a wicked grin sat on her blood-splattered lap. I didn’t see Sam or Dean.
I moved out of the room, leaving the fighting behind. I called for Gabriel to come through the house. He could deal with Lilith. I entered a foyer off the ballroom.
On the other side was Dean; a demon with white eyes was behind him, holding a jagged-edged knife to his throat. I paused, doors slamming behind me. A drop of blood fell to the floor. I strode toward Dean, lifted my sword, and threw it with all my might through the white-eyed demon’s throat.
The demon slumped to the side, knife clattering the floor. Dean collapsed into my arms. “I have you,” I murmured. I rested my forehead against his, willing my grace into his body.
I only stopped when he coughed. “Cas? I’m okay now, boss man.”
Looking around us, I only let him go when I saw we were safe. The other three humans were gone, taken somewhere safe. Angels were working swiftly, moving bodies and riding the building of its evil wards.
Gabriel was next to Sam, who was leaning over throwing up. Rubbing his back and reaching to hold back his hair, Gabriel said, “Get it all out, big guy. Don’t want to taste any demon blood on you when you give me my thank-you-for-rescuing-me-you’re-my-hero kiss.”
“Super gross, Gabriel,” laughed Dean.
Gabriel only smirked. “Where’s Cassy’s kiss, Deano?”
I froze. Dean flushed. Rachel, who was passing by, gave a disgusted snort.
I tried to catch Dean’s eye, but he refused to look at me. Was a kiss a necessary part of a rescue? Surely Gabriel was only teasing. I took Dean by the arm and helped him up. We walked outside.
Dark clouds were gathering overhead. “Rain will wash all this away.” I turned to Dean, “Your memories - I can wash them; I can make you forget.”
Dean looked up at the sky. A raindrop fell on his cheek. I watched it roll down the side of his face. “No thanks,” he finally said. “I’ve survived worse. I’ll get through this. I have my family with me after all.”
I smiled.
“Besides,” he continued. “I hate to forget the sight of you flinging your sword across the room and that bastard right in the neck. That was pretty bad ass, Cas.”
A week later it was almost as if nothing had happened.
The demons and monsters in the mansion were nothing compared to two archangels and another half-dozen angels. We burned the place down, with their corpses turned to dust inside. Only one escaped - the demon Meg. The humans said she was the only one who hadn’t hurt them, just asked questions. So we didn’t bother hunting her down. Michael decided it must have been Lucifer who had transported the demons in and out of our camp, so new borders were put up to keep even him out. The battle was far from other, but our humans would be safe here.
Gabriel and Sam were in the kitchen, making lemonade. Balthazar, Crowley, and Bobby were in the garage. I could hear them arguing about something from inside. Dean was sitting on the front porch.
I wanted to go to him.
I needed him.
I couldn’t.
I couldn’t go to him because I couldn’t have him, because he couldn’t return these feelings that made no sense, and I didn’t understand.
So I wanted and did nothing other than consider my thoughts.
I loved him truly and deeply. This went beyond a protective instinct or a friendly fondness. I love him, not because he was a precious creature, but because he was Dean, full of faults and full of virtues each of them more precious than my next breath. I ached to be away from him.
Guilt kept me away. Though I knew he liked me, he could never feel the way I felt about him. It was wrong of me to love him so, when he would never return my affections.
I was startled out of my morose contemplations by Sam calling to me, “Cas, Gabe and I are going to check up on Nancy and the others. Keep an eye out on the three in the garage, will ya?”
“Of course,” I called back.
Gabriel yelled something, but it was muffled by Sam.
I decided that I would go out front and just sit with Dean. I would teach myself to simply be content in his company. He was my friend; I would hurt him by avoiding him.
Dean smiled at me when I walked out. I meant to sit on a step, but he patted the porch swing next to him. So I sat, never more aware and self-conscious as I was then.
We talked of random things. I hoped that I was responding appropriately, as I was hardly aware of what I was saying. Of course, awkward conversation would not be out of the ordinary for me.
“Cas, if I tell you something, will you, you know, not hate me forever? I feel like such a girl,” Dean said abruptly.
“I would never hate you, Dean. You may tell me anything.” I hoped this was not related to his torture - what was he suffering? Perhaps he wanted me to remove his memories.
“Cas, stop it; I can see your brain going a mile a minute. Just let me tell you before you start jumping to conclusions.” I nodded, focusing on him. Dean rubbed the back of his neck; it was distracting. “I don’t know how to do this, so I’ll just say it. Cas, I love you.”
I blinked.
“I know you love me too, Cas - like you’re always protecting me and thinking of me first. I just feel more for you than that. I wasn’t sure if that even worked for angels until Gabe and Sam (which is still gross) and whatever Bobby has going on with Balthazar and Crowley (which is even grosser). I have got no idea if you feel for me at all, but when you’re close or you touch me, like you do way too often, I get all these feelings, right? The way you stare at me all the time or when you touch that scar you gave me, I get, I dunno, tingly. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before, but I’m really super crazy about you, and I hope this isn’t confusing you too badly.” He stopped and stared at me.
I stared back.
“Say something, Cas. What are you thinking right now?”
Blurting out the first thing that came into my mind, I said, “Is this bad staring.”
Dean smiled, “No, Cas, this is really, really good, really hot staring.”
“Ah. You are saying that what we have is not only a profound emotional bond, but a physical one as well?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I would agree.”
“You agree?”
“You make me tingly too.”
“No, no, Cas. You cannot ever say that again. That’s just weird.” He was blushing. “But thanks.”
I didn’t know what to do. Slowly, I reached up and touched his shoulder. I watched his face carefully and saw a tremor cross his features. He smiled slowly at me. “What should I do?”
“Kiss me.”
My mind was blank.
Dean laughed, “How ‘bout I start?”
“That would be accept-” the rest of my answer was lost as his lips pressed against mine.
And I was lost to him.
Forever.
Epilogue