Fic: Prisoner of Love (12/?)

[snowin_you]

MASTERPOST / AO3



Chapter Summary: Cas' sister asks him to make a promise; Dean's brother asks him to lie.

~:~:~

It was that place again, the woods not far from their cabin home. Castiel turned around. He narrowed his eyes and strained his ears for any sign of life, but everything was dead quiet. Not even the faintest scent of soil wafted through the gloomy air.

Castiel trod along the sodden path carefully, his leather shoes were tainted with mud in no time. He was not familiar with this area of land and he wondered how far off they had wandered from their usual trail. He quickened his steps, in the hope of reaching recognizable patches or finding his little sister soon.

"Anna!" Castiel called, all the while mentally telling himself to calm down but the fact was that he was extremely worried. After a long walk, he was still trapped among unfamiliar lines of lifeless trees and his sister was nowhere to be found. He probably travelled in circles, but there was no way he could tell.

"Anna!" He called again. After what felt like hours of trekking, Castiel thought the air would change or the sky would get darker or brighter, but none of that happened either. Crushed and confused, he gave up, flopping down on the ground, breaking, in every sense of the word.

With his face buried between his knees, Castiel sensed a tap on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw young Anna, all pretty and impeccable. He quickly pulled his little sister into his arms, shaking as a wave of relief flooded him.

"Oh, Anna," he cried, letting a small teardrop roll down his cheek. "I'm glad you're safe."

Anna stilled. When Castiel realized she didn't reply or hug him back, he let go of her, to check his sister for injuries.

"Are you alright?" he asked, running his hands along her limbs and lacy white dress; turning her around only to see she was spotless. His sister just nodded, then grabbed his hand and started walking.

Castiel scrambled to his feet. Anna kept her pace slow and steady, her brother trailing behind in awkward silent. The air felt heavier without the usual small voice of his chirpy sister. Soon they were hit by a sudden blinding light. When Castiel lowered the arm which he had covered his eyes with, he was faced with the standing building. It was a bright sunny afternoon, as warm and as boisterous as he remembered.

Without hesitation, Anna paced forward and into the house. Castiel hastily ran along, leaving a muddy trail along the wooden porch and hall. But when he saw his little sister stump up the flight of stairs, Castiel's heart set an irregular rhythm. Soon, fear had him remain rooted where he stood at the small landing of the staircase.

Panting for breath, he looked up to see little Anna at the topmost step, beckoning him to follow. Castiel willed his shaking legs to move, and he crawled up the steps to the second floor.

His sister opened the door to her room, stepping aside to let Castiel through. To his half-relief and half-surprise, the bed was made, as if no one had been sleeping on it for quite some time now. He gingerly stepped in. The soles of his shoes tapped upon the wooden floor; the sound resonated across the empty room.

Nothing had changed. They only stayed here on vacations so there were only simple furniture and no fancy decoration: the queen-sized bed he and his sister squeezed in under an ugly brown comforter more nights than not; the heavy wooden desk and wardrobe they used to play hide-and-seek in. Windows were old and creaking as Castiel lifted one of them open. He looked over to see the younger version of himself and his sister playing in the yard. Distant sound of laughter drifted through the thick wooden frame. Castiel wished he was nine again so his life could revolve only around his family and nothing more.

"You always loved me when I was young and innocent," came a familiar voice. Castiel swiftly turned on his heels to see his sister, all grown-up and elegant. What Anna didn't know was that he found her more and more gorgeous with time.

"You know that is not true," Castiel said as he offered his hand with a small smile. Anna took it and stepped beside him by the window sill, locking their arms together. "I've always loved you."

"And you loved Daphne."

Her comment came out more as a sigh while she gazed vacantly out the window. The two children were still playing in the afternoon sun, locks from the girl's red hair flowing pleasantly as they ran in circles. Their faces shone with mirth.

"She was my wife," was always the polite answer he gave.

"And you love Dean."

Castiel was taken aback. And he loved Dean? He didn't even have a polite answer for that. He thought he had known what love was, but since Dean came into his life, he had no idea what love was anymore. What Dean was to him surpassed every definition of the word.

"You're family." Castiel changed the subject. After all, he knew his sister only brought up Daphne, and now Dean, because she was afraid her brother would be taken away from her.

"What about Mom and Dad? Are they family too?"

That remark sent a biting chill through his chest. "Anna," Castiel sighed, holding his sister's hands firmly. He knew soon his sister would break down. She always did every time she broached the subject.

"You let them die!" she screamed, snatching her hands and backing away. Her whole body was shaking as tears ran down her face. "You let me die!"

"Anna, I'm so sorry," Castiel pleaded, reaching out to his sister. He wanted to hold her in his arms, to comfort her once more. "I love you, sister."

"You don't love me," Anna sobbed. "You don't want me now that I'm dirty and damaged and broken beyond repair. You are disgusted with me!"

"That is not true," he said as calm as can be. Anna's back was now against the wall. Castiel carefully stepped closer, slotting his arms around her body and placing her weeping face on his shoulder. "I love you," he said, soothing her in a soft voice. "Even if you're dirty and damaged and broken, I love you and I'll fix you."

His sister slowly quieted down. "But you're going to leave me," she said between faint sniffles. The red-haired angel wrapped her arms around Cas' body and held him tight. "To be with Dean"

Castiel placed a kiss on her hair, the auburn curls he always loved running soft against his fingers. "No one is leaving you," he said, reassuring her. "I'm not leaving you."

"Promise me."

Castiel quietly sighed to the wall. He wanted to be with Dean more than anything. He missed Dean's touches, missed Dean's solid bulk against him, grounding him to the ground, holding him whole. But his sister needed him. He was all she had, and he didn't see it in him to leave her, not in a time like this.

"I promise," he gave his words with a resolve.

~:~:~

Dean gradually took in the familiar surroundings. The room swirled around the prisoner as he turned his head, causing Dean to emit a groan. He tried to keep steady by pressing his palms against his temples. Slowly he started to remember what went down earlier, why he was knocked out and why he and Gabriel needed to figure out ways to acquire some mysterious drugs. Cas' life depended on him.

"Guards!" Dean sprang to his feet, grabbing the metal bars and shouting for attention. He wondered how long he had been out, what time it was and whether Cas was still alive.

"GUARDS!" Dean raised his voice after seeing no sign of anyone coming. He hoped to God it wasn't a recurrence of what had happened last night: that everyone had been ordered not to come to him.

To his relief, the alarm rang and a familiar face came walking down the hall.

"What is it, Winchester?" Garth swung the baton over his shoulder, acting smug as ever. Dean made a mental note to break that frigging baton in half for knocking him out at such a critical moment.

"Let me out," Dean hissed through gritted teeth. Garth, of all people, should know he wasn't supposed to be in his cell right now.

"And I'll fly to the moon," the scrawny guard snickered. He then grabbed Dean by the shirt through the bars and whispered into his ear, "I searched Luci's cell and found nothing. Lunch is in twenty minutes. Make the best use of your time."

He then stepped away from Dean's cell. "Don't call again unless someone dies," Garth growled, pointing the baton menacingly at Dean.

"The next person who's going to die is you!" Dean yelled back, though it was more for show. So, twenty minutes. Thankfully he was unconscious long enough he didn't have to suffer hours of being awake and useless in a cage. Apparently, Gabriel must have asked Garth to search Lucifer's now empty cell for the drug. It was one of the options they had discussed on their way back from the infirmary.

That one failed, which meant Dean would have to carry out the next option. He would have to choke it out of the junkies. Well, those who Dean knew to be ex-junkies, anyway. For once, Dean hoped the house was not as clean as Dean had thought it was. Otherwise, he would have to cross buildings to get the drug. That would be a hassle, considering each minute could be vital for Cas.

Angered with his uselessness, Dean punched the wall one more time, feeling the pain reverberate from his bruised knuckles down to his injured wrist that was still swathed, not so neatly right now, in bandages.

It all went downhill from there; when Dean mentioned the nightmare and Cas was so mad he tried to break Dean's arm, thinking Dean touched him only because he wanted to take advantage of Cas' affliction. Or it could head downhill from when Dean decided to touch him in the first place. Or maybe it zipped downhill from the start: the instant Dean first set eyes on Cas during his orientation.

He remembered that moment well: a smile so soft and eyes so bright that, if he were four years old, he would have run to his mother and told her he had found an angel. His dainty, pristine angel Dean had so preciously cherished. Lucifer ripped that away from him.

And the last word Dean said to him was 'you little slut.'

Tears slid down Dean's face. Tears from the pain so deep it cut through the pit of his soul. He didn't know why he said those sickening words. Dean didn't share well. It was a known fact. Just to think Cas would want to be with anyone else pained him like no other laceration.

Little did he know that Cas would be with someone else - only not willingly.

"LUCIFER!" Dean howled, the scream dripping with fury so fierce it sent the entire building rattling in fear.

~:~:~

As Dean walked down to the lunch hall, he could feel it: the shift in the air. They hung in there, dull and heavy - the smugness, the embarrassment, and pity, and dubiety, and dread - as fellow inmates avoided meeting his eyes and guards dug their heads away. The dynamics of the place was not the same as they once were. Dean would worry about it, but that was for another time.

He met up with Gabriel and two of his lackeys, who smartly finished their meals while they had a chance. They were about to corner a former addict when someone caught Dean's eyes.

"Andy!" Dean hollered from across the hall.

Andy dropped the whole of his food tray, froze for two seconds when he realized whose voice it was, and set off running for his dear life. Apparently, he did not have the luxury of securing himself in solitary.

"Stop him!" Dean ordered, not to anyone in particular. He was too far away. If he couldn't catch Andy before he reached a prison guard, Dean wouldn't be able to carry out his business.

Someone raised his arm to block Andy's attempt at fleeing, and, just like that, Andy fell on his back to the floor, seeing stars.

Dean yanked the small guy to his feet and started beating the shit out of him. Andy didn't even have the slightest chance to defend himself as fist after fist struck his face and torso. The poor guy was tossed and turned with punches and kicks as if he was a marionette, soon to be reduced into a pulp if Gabriel did not interfere.

"What the hell, Dean?" Gabriel cried as he and Danny tried to lock Dean on both sides while Roy helped the beaten pup to his feet. Andy's face was bruised and swelling and he coughed up blood. "You can't go killing everyone you come across with."

"Like hell I can't," Dean growled, trying to wrench free from Gabriel and his lackey. "If you let that scum go, I'll skin you alive," Dean barked at Roy, who tightened his hold after hearing Dean's threat.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, what has he done to you?" Gabriel cried in annoyance.

"I'm so sorry, Dean," the very terrified Andy spluttered before Dean could answer Gabriel's question. "I didn't know Lucifer was going to hurt him. You have to believe me."

"What?" Gabriel, in his surprise, loosened his grip on Dean. Dean suddenly bolted towards his victim, who swiftly staggered away until his back hit the wall.

"I… I thought Lucifer only wanted to mess with you, telling you Castiel wanted to move out and everything." Andy gabbled, shaking wildly while Dean grabbed his shoulders, his thumbs threatening to press hard onto his trachea, choking him. "I swear, Dean. I like the guy. I would never want to hurt him."

"And you think messing with me was a good idea?" Dean bawled, his fingers crushing down with each syllable, making Andy gagged. Hearing no answer, Dean's voice got louder. "Why did you do it?!"

Andy pulled at Dean's arms in vain. He gasped for air like a dying fish, but it was the sharp pain that frightened him. He was now a sobbing mess, stuttering in tears when Dean finally eased his clutches, "I… I needed my fix, Dean. You know I'm a junkie, and Lucifer promised a batch if I'd just lie to you."

"You son of a bitch!" Dean snarled, pummeling the addict ferociously. "You sold Cas for a batch of drugs?"

"Dean!" Gabriel yelped, hauling Dean from the hapless guy. Dean flipped him away and lashed out at Andy again.

"Get me the drug," Dean ordered.

"What? Dean!" Andy wailed. "They're very expensive!"

Dean snorted. The fucker had the nerve to whine. "I'll give you two minutes," Dean scowled. "Get me the drug or you can kiss your ass goodbye."

~:~:~

"Is he awake yet?" Dean barged into the infirmary and suddenly dashed pass Dr. Sebastian to the private screening room where Castiel was being held. He looked through the door's wide window to see Cas sitting up on the bed, looking away from where Dean was.

He almost flew into the room if he could. Elated, Dean turned the doorknob, pushing the door hard only to be bounced back.

"What the…" he murmured to himself, repeatedly turning the doorknob in disbelief. "Doc, why is the door locked?" Dean started to shout and banged the door loudly. "Cas! You hear me? Are you alright?" Dean banged the door a few more times, shouting for the door to be opened, but Cas fixed his gaze at the far side of the room, as if he didn't hear Dean at all. "Cas!"

"Oh, for Cas' sake, Dean!" Balthazar bellowed. "Shut your cakehole or I'll get security to throw you out. You're only scaring him!"

"Then unlock the fucking door!" Dean bawled.

Gabriel looked between the snarling doctor and prisoner and decided to step in for everyone's best interest. He pried Dean away from the door. "Come on, Dean. Let's hear what Doc has to say first. See if everything's alright with Cas." With that, Dean allowed himself to be dragged and slumped into a chair in front of Dr. Sebastian's desk with a huff.

"Thank you, Gabriel." Balthazar nodded his thanks and sat down behind his desk, breathing deeply to keep himself collected. "Fortunately, Castiel regained consciousness. Initial checks showed no sign of brain or any organ damage. We can safely say he is stabilized now, though I will keep him under observation for another twenty-four hours. After that, I'll start a mandatory psychological evaluation. It is his physical injuries that I'm worried about. He seemed to be in immense pain, but I cannot give him sedatives or pain killers as I had no idea what kind of drugs he had already taken."

Dean straight away passed the drug he had gotten from Andy to the doctor.

"Is this-" The question left unsaid as Balthazar took the pill to examine it.

Dean grumbled sullenly in the affirmative.

"This will be very helpful. I'll get this to the lab." Balthazar, in all his eagerness, promptly turned to leave the room.

"Wait, doc," Dean halted him, and then jerked his head in the direction of the observation room. "Can I see him?"

"Oh, that" The doctor sank back down on his chair, exhaling softly. "Castiel specifically requested not to see you," he cautiously explained. Dean couldn't help but gape. He didn't understand for the life of him why Cas would make such a request. "Give him some time, Dean," Balthazar continued. "It is difficult for him to be near another man right now. Even I had a hard time examining him."

"But I'm not any other man!" Dean lashed.

"All the more intricate," Balthazar mumbled, followed by a whoosh of air through his lips. "I know you're worried about him, but give him room, Dean. He'll come around."

Dean was about to counter when he was interrupted by a prison guard announcing he had a visitor. Dean frowned. He had no idea who could be visiting him today.

"Go see your brother first," Gabriel put in gravely. The unusual solemnity stopped Dean from asking why or how in the world he knew who Dean's visitor was. "I'll talk to Castiel. I can see him, right, Doc?"

Balthazar nodded lightly, lacing his fingers together. "I believe so, yes." When Dean hesitated, he added, "It's all for the better, Dean."

Dean took another glance through the door's window. Cas had already lain down on the bed, his back to the door. Dean couldn't tell if he was sleeping or simply pretending to sleep. Heaving a dejected sigh, Dean reluctantly followed the officer out of the infirmary.

Once Dean went out of sight, Gabriel turned to the physician. "Doc, there's something I need to talk to you about."

~:~:~

Sam made sure the visiting room was empty, except for one of the officers he knew Dean was acquainted with, who stood guard at the door, before asking to see Dean. He chose to sit at the far end of the room to get themselves as much privacy as they could possibly have.

When Gabriel called early this morning, he had asked Sam to see him first. That was how Sam spent the hours before lunch, while Dean was knocked out unconscious in his cell for pulling a little stunt in front of Garth, listening to all the horrible accounts of what had happened the night before. Sam's brain raced a mile a minute at the bunch of new information the short inmate bestowed on him, scurrying to find a way to use this newsflash to Dean's advantage, on top of Castiel's back story Jo had given him last night. Sam wished Jo was here with him at this moment. At least he would have someone to bounce ideas with.

The door to the visiting room opened with a buzz. Sam rose to his impressive height, watching as Dean dragged his legs along what seemed like an excruciating length of the room, and his heart sank. Maybe before devising any devious scheme, he should come up with a plan to restore Dean's humanity before all else.

Dean came close to a walking corpse. No spark of life was visible on his worn-out visage. Sam didn't know if he wanted to cry, or run out and hug his brother, or simply break apart on the spot. From the look of things, Dean could be doing all three at the same time.

When Dean stood face-to-face with him, he dropped his gaze to Sam's shoes, biting his lower lip. Dean lightly bounced on the balls of his heels, saying nothing. There was absolutely no trace of his usual smugness, and Sam was afraid that one right or wrong word from him could cave in the whole of his brother's existence.

"I'm really sorry, Dean." He tried the most neutral words of consolation; though at once he wished he could them take back. It seemed even the simplest form of condolence shook the core of Dean's being, and slowly Dean lowered himself down, onto the floor, succumbing to his own weaknesses.

Sam carefully sat down facing Dean, who hid his face between his knees. He strained to hear if Dean was crying, but he couldn't hear a single sound. Sam prayed he'd hear a whimper or something. Dean had a tendency to mask his emotions, and most of the time that was not healthy at all.

He scooted closer and placed his hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean feebly trembled at the touch so Sam rubbed his hand up and down which he hoped was comforting. That was when he heard Dean sniffle.

"He refused to see me," Dean mumbled, lifting his head up. He ran a hand through his face in an attempt, Sam knew, to hide his tears. For a brief moment, Sam didn't understand what Dean was talking about.

"Cas," Dean continued, his voice heavily muffled. "He used to be so clingy, but now he locked me out of his room. He wouldn't even look at me. What am I going to do?"

There was a silent plea for help in Dean's voice, in the way his face was now helplessly wet with tears. Sam felt a lump in his throat as his heart was slashed in half. Very few things could make Dean Winchester cry and the sight shook him. But Sam quickly puffed up. He needed to be strong for his brother. Dean needed him to be strong for him.

"Give him some time, Dean," Sam said, trying to sound as solemn as possible. "He's just gone through a trauma. He needed time."

Dean shook his head. "He must hate me," he sobbed. "I brought this on him."

"It wasn't your fault!" Sam came back sharply. "Lucifer's the culprit here, Dean. You can't blame yourself for everything."

Dean shook his head again, violently this time. "You don't understand. He was raped because of me! Lucifer used him to get to me. And I… I pushed him into that bastard's arms. Oh, God-"

It was obvious Dean was seething with self-loathing. Sam couldn't help pulling him into a hug, feeling himself being torn apart as Dean noiselessly sobbed on his shoulder. "We'll get them, Dean," Sam consoled his brother. "We'll get everyone who did this to Castiel. But I need you to stay focused now. We can't do it without you."

"I will end him, Sam," Dean hissed through gritted teeth, pulling away from Sam's hold. His eyes were swollen red on the lids, but his glare was black with demonic malice. "I will cut his balls off and cook it for everyone to eat. Then I'll make sure every dick in here gets shoved up his ass. The last one will be riding his corpse."

"No, no, Dean, don't do that." Sam was admittedly scared by the overheated threats. He grabbed Dean by the shoulders, steadying him. "The thing with Alastair was a mess. We can't do that again. Focus!" Sam spoke up. "We'll do it better this time, and you and Cas will walk out of here."

Dean snapped out of it. "Who says anything about leaving?" He panicked. "I'm not leaving here. Cas won't leave. I won't leave without him."

"Wait. You asked him?" Sam cried in astonishment. And here he thought he was so smart planning to get Castiel out so Dean would follow. Now, he couldn't let some unknown killer sabotage his brother's chance of escaping.

"I did, and he said he won't leave. I'm not going anywhere, Sam. I can't leave him here."

Dean visibly trembled, as if the thought itself made him nervous, frightened even. Sam wondered how close the two of them actually were. "How much did you tell him?" he asked.

"I told him nothing. I asked him to leave with me. He strongly objected. That was all."

So they were close enough for Dean to jeopardize his own safety, Sam thought, without even discussing with him first. Given Cas hadn't opposed the idea, Dean would have revealed his identity. But Sam guessed that didn't matter now.

"Ask him again," Sam suggested firmly. "After all these things, he may have changed his mind."

Dean just continued shaking his head and pursed his lips. So Sam leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Gabriel told me about the drugs and the guard's order. I say we have a case. I'll ask Ellen to take it up and we investigate like we always do."

"It's frivolous," Dean cut in, again shaking his head and rocking his body back and forth. "It's not gonna work."

"Doesn't matter," Sam reaffirmed. "We've built a case on less. We'll keep digging, bring the bad guys down and you walk. I'll make sure Castiel walks with you, too."

When Dean looked up, Sam couldn't deny seeing a glint of hope in those emerald eyes, even though it quickly deflated. "What if he doesn't want to?"

For what reason would a man not want to leave prison, Sam wondered; unless they were as pig-headed as Dean, of course. Then Sam would have to make sure Castiel wants to walk. There was still this whole serial-killer Cas thing that Sam hadn't told Dean about, but he figured that was not for today. Maybe he would talk about it after his trip to California, when he knew enough to have the upper hand, enough that if Cas held Dean back from walking free, Sam would have some leverage against him.

"Then you change his mind," Sam reiterated. "Lie if you have to."

~:~:~

A/N: I know this will sound like a very lame excuse, but I feel the need to say it nonetheless. My schedule has been very tight these past several weeks (and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future), thus the very slow update. I do apologize and if you're still with me at this point, please know that I really appreciate it. Even though I did try to speed things (in the story) up, it still seems to me like it is getting nowhere, so please bear with me. Another thing you should note is that I did not tag this story as angst, so it won't be forever downhill. The true account of the mysterious(?) Cas' delusional(?) scene will also be revealed in the next chapter. Please stay tune.