[Fic] Sin with a Grin - Chapter 18/18 (Epilogue to follow)
Title: Sin with a Grin
Author: Stolen Childe
Disclaimer: Supernatural and all associated characters belong to Kripke and Co. I make absolutely no claims on any of them.
Special Thanks to dapperscript for the wonderful beta! Thank you!
Please see Master Post for Notes, Cover Art and Further Information
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Dean opened his eyes and groaned as he became aware once again of the pain rocketing through his body. Dean was surprised to find he was no longer in the large, open area of the warehouse but in a smaller, darker room. There was a single flickering column of fluorescents overhead, half dead with age and barely carrying enough light to brighten Dean’s small space in the centre of the room, let alone the corners.
Like the rest of the room, the single closed door was windowless.
Dean quickly realized he was still bound but now with handcuffs as opposed to being firmly stuck to a chair. His wrists were red and sore from where the tape had been violently pulled off.
Dean frowned and tried to clear the cobwebs from his mind, feeling sick and dizzy and more sore than he could ever remember being. His face was stiff and itchy, rivulets of blood dried to his skin. He was thirsty as well but luckily, or perhaps unluckily, in too much pain to feel anything resembling hunger. His situation was in no way good, but he much preferred it to the torment from earlier with that smug son of a bitch.
Dean closed his eyes and tried to think. He had to get out of here, if only he had been smarter, he wouldn’t have been here in the first place. Going off the handle at Castiel like that, accusing him of things Dean knew in his heart that the older man would never do. Then, to have it compounded with Meg telling him that she had tricked Castiel into it. That she had practically date raped him and even then, drugged and drunk, Castiel had fought it. Meg had been too pissed off to be lying about that, and she had no reason to lie. It’s not like she needed to defend his reputation.
Dean stopped and had to wonder how he could be such an idiot sometimes.
Five Days Earlier
Dean was face down on his bed, fully clothed, glaring into the pillows. The minute he had returned to his apartment after Christmas with Sam, he had yanked all the sheets off the bed and tossed them in the hamper. He didn’t need to sleep surrounded by the smell of Castiel when he had more than enough memories without his other senses getting triggered. It hadn’t helped; the pillow Castiel had used whenever he stayed with Dean still smelled like him. It made Dean equal parts angry and sad.
A huge part of Dean couldn’t really believe that Castiel had done what Meg had implied. Castiel, who on more than one occasion had ranted about the idiocy of infidelity, who had made Dean himself promise that if he wasn’t interested any longer to just tell Castiel flat out and break the ties. Though, despite all Dean’s misgivings and disbelief, Castiel hadn’t even tried to deny it. Perhaps that had been a good thing. Perhaps not.
Dean let out a heavy sigh as he pushed himself up from his bed and turned down the sheets. He had been spending far too much time in the safe cocoon of the bedclothes but figured he was allowed. At least for a little while. It was December 27th and he was all alone. It sucked; four years of an amazing relationship (well mostly) and now he was alone.
Dean had just managed to get one foot out of his jeans when a knock startled him. Grumbling, the teacher pulled them back on hastily, hopping awkwardly to the door, Dean managed to get the pants zipped and buttoned mostly one handed by the time he reached the entrance.
Campus was essentially deserted, the teachers and students were all home with their families except for the few remaining custodial staff members. Figuring it could only be Castiel or Sam, Dean wrenched open the door ready to yell at either one of them. Sam for driving down here when he was injured, Castiel for being there at all.
He must have looked more furious than he thought though, even with the building anger, because the look on Alec’s face was borderline frightened.
“I’m sorry, have I come at a bad time?” the man asked meekly.
“Jesus! Sorry man! No, no… I just, ah… wasn’t expecting you. I thought everyone had gone home for the holidays. I thought it would be… Never mind. Come in, come in.”
Alec gave Dean a shaky little smile and crossed the threshold. He looked embarrassed for whatever reason, and Dean couldn’t think for the life of him why that would be. Perhaps though, Dean thought with slight mortification, Alec had witnessed his display at the Christmas party. Dean hoped not.
“Look… I’m not entirely certain of how appropriate this is…” Alec began, dashing all Dean’s hopes that his confrontation with Castiel had gone unseen.
“Man, Alec… I’m am so sorr-”
“Dean,” Alec interrupted. “I’m not here to reprimand you or anything of the sort. I’m merely here to offer my condolences and a friendly shoulder if need be. I offered you the permanent position here and I don’t intend to take that away because of a silly little spat over which you had no control. I thought, perhaps wrongly, that we’ve grown to be sort of friends and I am merely here offering my support during a time which you clearly need it.”
Dean sagged in relief and offered a shaky smile. “That’s cool of you, Man, and of course we’re friends. You’re about the only teacher around here I ever talked to… I guess I could use the company. I’ve been moping around here for the better part of two days. Come in, come in. Just want to say right off the bat though, that I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Understandable,” Alec nodded, he kicked out of his shoes and settled on the couch. “I come with snacks. Left the alcohol at home this time, though.” He presented Dean with the take-out bag, and by the smell it contained burgers and onion rings. Dean had hardly touched food in the past few days and he couldn’t help his mouth from watering once his nose caught the scent.
Dean chucked, “Man, you’re awesome. This’ll be great.”
“Drinks too,” Alec pulled a bottle of water and a bottle of Coke out of the pockets of his jacket and set them on the table. He took the water for himself and cracked the lid, taking a long swallow before smiling tightly.
Dean watched curiously for a moment but shrugged it off.
“Dig in, dig in,” Alec prompted. “Oh, wait, my burger is the one lacking tomatoes. I can’t stand the bloody things. I wasn’t entirely certain of how you would like your burger, so I requested the basics. Will it do?”
“It will do nicely,” Dean nodded. “Thanks again, Man. So why are you still stuck here over the break?”
Alec smiled a little sadly. “I’m afraid the hols aren’t quite what they used to be for me. I’ve… lost a large portion of my family in recent years and have become used to spending the holidays on my own.”
“So sorry to hear that, Man. I normally do a big family shindig full of tons of relatives I don’t see very often, but my Mom and Dad decided they didn’t want to host the thing this year and went on a cruise instead. I’m ridiculously jealous of them too… Mom’s been tweeting pics of her swimming with dolphins and lounging on the beach for days now.”
Alec raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Your mother tweets?”
“My mother is more tech-savvy than I am,” Dean laughed. “The woman has nothing better to do than social network apparently… I personally can’t stand the damn sites and they ain’t good to have in this career anyway, as you probably know. I’ve heard horror stories, Man, you wouldn’t believe…” Dean blinked as a sudden blur crossed his eyes and his mouth went dry. He found that strange but decided perhaps the salt was just getting to him. Castiel hadn’t let him have much salt in recent years after the older man read some articles about high blood pressure and what a family history of heart disease can do to a person. Both Dean’s grandfathers passed away from related issues. Grampa Winchester had a stroke and Grampa Campbell had a heart attack.
Dean felt a sad pang resonate in his chest and blinked down at his lap to stop the welling sting in his eyes. He finished his burger and onion rings quickly, taking long swallows of Coke after. Fuck Castiel. If the blue-eyed man had cared so much for Dean, he could have kept it in his damn pants.
The dizziness didn’t dissipate though… In fact it seemed to grow. Dean blinked confused eyes over at Alec, who was picking at his own burger idly and staring at Dean with a curiously fascinated gaze. Was Dean acting all right? He was pretty sure it became a hell of a lot quieter in here recently. Alec wasn’t asking though. Maybe it was all in Dean’s head.
Dean lurched forward and only managed to catch himself on the edge of the coffee table before he could take a header into the hard pane of glass along the top. His Coke bottle toppled off the table and Dean watched half-curiously as it rolled out of sight and underneath the low bottom of the couch.
Dean blinked when he heard his door open and saw that Alec was no longer sitting where Dean last remembered him sitting. The world was fuzzy around the edges and Dean felt as if he were floating through water. The room sounded like it too: there was muted rushing in his ear and voices (there were two now) sounded muffled and far away.
“It took longer than I expected,” the deeper voice said.
“Damn, Dean-o has some fight in him, huh?” a higher voice, lilting and grating. “Help me get him up. I don’t know if he’ll be able to walk. Doused him with enough of Crowley’s Special Blend to knock out a horse.”
“After this it’s done, right? I get my girl back?” the deeper voice was desperate now.
“Sure, Sweetie,” patronizing and flippant.
Then Dean remembered nothing.
xx
Dean gritted his teeth and slammed his head back against the damp concrete of his cell. Not hard enough to cause lasting damage but certainly hard enough to hurt. He looked around in the dim light, trying to find something, anything to help him out of this mess.
He always trusted the wrong people. You’d think he’d be used to betrayal by now. Dean was rapidly beginning to realize that betrayal was something you never got used to. He should have figured Alec’s chummy attitude was odd. Really, what boss was that nice at first?
Dean was a nest of bruises, aches, and cuts but he still managed to awkwardly shuffle across the edge of the cell, looking out for anything he could use. He may have gotten soft and comfortable in his years since becoming a teacher but he still remembered things from his woe begotten youth.
As he slid along the dirty edge of the room, he heard the faintest sound of metallic scrapping against cement. Dean’s eyes widened and he scrambled around behind his back, hissing as he felt the dull push of a worn point into the delicate tip of his finger. Dean shifted his fingers around until he could run them along the edge and length of the object. His eyes widened; it was a tiny nail.
Not about to second guess his luck, Dean spun the nail around and got to work on the handcuffs. He would not be caught off guard again.
xx
“Stay here,” Castiel insisted.
“Cas, don’t be an idiot. You don’t honestly think I’m letting you go in there on your own, do you?” Sam glared.
“Sam, I shouldn’t have even let you get this far. One of the conditions was I come alone, so trust me when I say I’m going to do just that. I can take care of myself. I’ll be fine. If you don’t hear from me in twenty minutes, call for back-up to move in but promise me you won’t go in there yourself,” Castiel said urgently. “I failed to protect you once, I’m not about to do so again. Do you understand? Dean would never forgive me if something happened to you. I’d never forgive myself.”
“Cas…”
“Sam.”
“Fine,” Sam sighed. “But fifteen minutes, not twenty.”
“Fine,” Castiel bit back. “Fine. Just… stay put.” Castiel patted his chest and hip once before opening the driver’s side of his SUV and moving to slip out. He paused when he felt Sam’s hand snake out and latch onto his arm.
Castiel turned with questioning eyes.
“Do you fucking dare get killed,” Sam said ferociously.
Castiel’s smile was crooked but genuine. “I’m not that easy to get rid of.”
“Castiel, you’ve escaped death by a hair way too many times already. You need to make it out of there so Dean can forgive you, all right? For him.”
“For him,” Castiel nodded firmly. “I promise, Sam. Everything I ever do is for Dean. I’d sacrifice everything I am to see him smile again.”
Sam squeezed Castiel’s arm again, his lips pressed in a firm line before the youngest Winchester nodded and released the older agent. Castiel slid out of the car and shut the door firmly behind him, drawing his gun before taking a step towards the building.
Castiel had dialed the number Alec had given him and waited for the call-back. When he received it, he had been surprised it was Crowley himself on the other line. Crowley had directed Castiel towards the abandoned prison, with specific instructions to go to the side door. Apparently the front was heavily chained and padlocked.
Castiel didn’t really want to know how Crowley even found this place or had access to it. He just wanted to know that Dean was all right and safe and then Castiel would worry about taking care of the crime lord. Hopefully, if Castiel gave Crowley enough incentive, the Scotsman would even give up some information on Lilith and then Castiel would take a nice, long vacation. Right now though, he had to worry about staying alive long enough for that to happen.
Castiel half-expected resistance as he moved through the hallways. It just seemed so dreadfully easy. It was also ridiculously nerve-wracking, expecting something around every turn, only to be met with empty air again and again. He felt as if his boots were too loud in the deserted halls, his suit choking and restricting. Castiel reached up and nervously loosened his tie, rolling his shoulders and shifting his grip on his handgun.
According to the instructions that Crowley had rattled off only a few hours earlier, Castiel was very nearly there. Dean’s captor was set up in the mess hall and would be waiting for the agent. Castiel saw the plate proclaiming the heavy set of metal doors in front of him belonged to the room he was looking for. The blue-eyed man steeled himself before pushing inside, gun raised.
“Welcome home, Honey,” a cool, curling voice broke in, endlessly amused. “Tough day at the office?”
“Where’s Dean?” Castiel demanded.
Crowley was far less impressive than Castiel was expecting. He was short and stout with a deceptively mild face and a near perpetual smirk on his lips. He was dressed in an expensive suit that Castiel was certain was designer and that Gabriel would have been able to identify had he been here. That didn’t matter, though. Castiel just wanted Dean and then he wanted out.
“Skipping the foreplay, are we? Can’t say I’m not disappointed,” Crowley sighed dramatically. “No bother. First things first. Before I give you your precious little teacher, I have some conditions.”
“You never mentioned any conditions,” Castiel gritted out.
“Yes, because it was always going to be that easy,” Crowley rolled his eyes. “I’m ashamed, Castiel. Really, I am. I expected more from you than that.”
Castiel took a menacing step forward. “Enough of this. Tell me where you have Dean. Now.”
Crowley didn’t even flinch; he just rose an almost bored eyebrow. “Aren’t we demanding?”
“Now, Crowley. I won’t ask again,” Castiel gritted out.
“I’m terrified, really,” Crowley remarked flatly. “You honestly think you’re in a position to be
making demands?”
“I’m not the one with the gun pointed at my head,” Castiel said impatiently.
“Is that what you think?” Crowley chuckled.
Before Castiel could be surprised, and hating himself for being caught off guard, he felt a sharp jab in his kidney and a hand slice against the juncture of his neck and shoulder blade. Castiel fell to his knees, his gun skittering away across the room.
Castiel twisted suddenly, startling his attacker and kicking him with the heel of his foot, catching the large man in the stomach and bringing him down to his knees. Castiel jumped up and punched the man in the jaw before dancing around him and grabbing the man around the neck. Gradually the man lost oxygen and it wasn’t long until he was collapsing unconscious to the floor. Castiel looked at the prone form idly for a second before turning cold eyes to Crowley.
“Now perhaps can we discuss your reasons for bringing me here? I’m growing impatient,” Castiel said.
“Yes well… Perhaps that is for the best,” Crowley replied, only slight unease creeping into his otherwise cool tone.
“I’m waiting,” Castiel said. “Why Dean? Why Alec? Why get them in the school and have your own child right in the line of fire?”
Crowley laughed, “You took something from me, Agent… A little matter of the souls. So I’m taking something from you. Not so nice when you’re on the other end, is it?
“You see, I knew I would never get close to that boy-toy of yours if you were nearby, so I had to orchestrate a little scenario to get you as far away from each other as possible. The fact that Dean was a teacher and my son an elementary school student was merely a convenient solution.
“I fed the idea of Jesse being in danger to my charming ex-girlfriend. I knew she wouldn’t take this slight on her lightly, especially considering we were working together. That’s another little endeavour you sabotaged, by the way. But I still had Dean nice and close to Jesse and could get everyone exactly where I wanted them.”
“You would use your own child as bait?!” Castiel exclaimed, aghast, visions of a small, dark haired boy with laughing grey eyes flashing unbidden to his mind. Broken and shattered all in an instant because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because Castiel had been late getting there.
“That and oh so much more. He was never in any real danger anyway, not with your Righteous and Noble Teacher his little shadow.”
“You son of a bitch,” Castiel spat, stealing Dean’s much loved phrase. He rushed the smaller man, thrust him painfully against the wall and glared into cold brown eyes. Castiel was gratified to see the man wince at the force.
“I’ve been called worse,” Crowley managed, still infuriatingly calm.
“So all this was just one big convoluted trap? For what? What are you gaining out of this other than pissing me off?” Castiel demanded.
Crowley laughed again, “My dear, you’d think it’d be obvious by now, wouldn’t it? And you were supposed to be the smart one. A bargaining chip, Sweetness.”
“What?” Castiel frowned, backing off.
“Five years ago you destroyed the most lucrative part of my business. I was at the top of my game, had enough girls and boys at my disposal to live long and happy for many years to come. The little bitches practically sold their souls to me to stay where they were. I gave each and every one of them something they wanted. A few were easy, drugs and whatnot, some were more difficult, like protection for themselves or their families, but they were all willing and able.
“Then you rode in, a white knight to save the day, and destroyed my business.
“Now, I’m very close to starting it up again. Lilith and I have come to an agreement, you see. It’s all for dear Jesse anyway, isn’t it? I just need you to agree to leave me alone. I let you go your way with your charming boy and you let me go mine. You don’t interfere, and if I ever get into a bind you put in a… good word for me,” Crowley said idly. “In return, I occasionally feed you little tidbits about my esteemed colleagues that will have you basically bounding up the ladder rungs. I wager you’d make Deputy Director in five years.”
Castiel scoffed and glared at the man. “You’re insane. I don’t make deals with demons.”
Crowley shrugged and made a show of straightening and dusting off his suit. “Then Dean dies. Plain and simple. This isn’t really a hard concept to grasp, Castiel. You agree, I tell you where to find your lover, we both walk away unscathed. Everyone’s happy and in one piece. You don’t agree… I get my dear friend there behind you to blow your head off and then I go to Dean and start slicing off all the bits that stick out.
“He’s pissed me off this last week and I would love nothing more than to finish the job I started.”
Castiel went cold inside, his fist clenching at his side. “How can I trust he’s still alive? What if I agree to this and then he turns out to be dead anyway?”
“I make a deal, I stick to it, Darling. Call it a personal code of morals.”
Castiel snorted, “That’s rich.”
“Yes, well… It’s true. But if you insist, I’ll bring your boy out, you can see him relatively unharmed, and then you give me your word and you can both go,” Crowley shrugged.
Castiel gritted his teeth again, stared very hard down at the cracked and dirty pavement before looking up and nodding stiffly. “Fine. Show me he’s all right, then I’ll give you my word.”
“Lovely. Darling, go fetch our guest, will you?” Crowley said with a winning smile.
Castiel turned to see the thug at his back nod dumbly before the man ambled away. Castiel waited until he was clear of the room before he moved. In a flash, he had his back-up gun in his hand. A quick stride forward and Castiel had Crowley shoved against the wall once again, this time face forward. He pressed the muzzle of his gun to the smaller man’s temple then leaned in close to his ear.
“We’re going to move in a minute. When your friend comes back in, you tell him everything’s fine and I don’t put you in a wheel chair for the rest of your life, do you understand me?” Castiel growled low.
Crowley scowled and nodded quickly.
Castiel nodded back and shifted so his back was to the wall, gun pressed to Crowley’s spine as he waited, both of them peering in the direction the thug has just taken. It wasn’t long until purposeful steps and a shuddering gait reached Castiel’s ears. His stomach clenched, dreading to see the shape Dean was in.
The agent’s heart lurched as Crowley’s goon shoved Dean forward into the room, the green-eyed man barely managing to stay on his feet. Dried blood left a sticky trail from temple, nose and lip. Eyes swollen and blackened, brown blooms clearly visible on Dean’s jeans and t-shirt. At least none of the injuries seemed terribly recent.
Crowley chuckled, “Once again, Castiel, you disappoint me.”
A gun cocked to Castiel’s left and he turned to see Meg training a shotgun at Castiel; there was another door on the other side of the room, half obscured by a rough partition.
“Hello Lover, miss me?” Meg asked sweetly. “Now let Crowley go or my pal there blows Dean’s pretty little head from his shoulders.”
Castiel flicked wide panicked eyes over at Dean who shot the blue-eyed man a tired, resigned smile. “It’s all right, Cas.”
“Dean!” Castiel stuttered. “What are you…?”
“Cas, we’re good, okay? You and I. So it’s all right. Just don’t let that bastard get away.”
“Oh very touching,” Crowley muttered. “Lower you gun Cupcake, Dean-o’s running out of time. Brutus has quite the trigger happy little finger.”
“Cas… Come on, Man,” Dean’s eyes locked with Castiel’s in that moment and then Castiel understood, plain as day.
“Right, right, of course,” Castiel nodded, lowering his arm enough for it to be noticeable. Meg seemed to relax slightly then the next few moments were a blur of motion and a cacophony of gun fire.
At some point, Castiel realized, Dean had managed to free himself from his cuffs. The moment he noticed Meg was relaxing, the green-eyed man pivoted and swung his unlatched hands up, clipping the man behind him with the sharp metal edge of the shackles.
Castiel lunged forward and elbowed Crowley harshly in the back of the head, the smaller man bucking forward with a surprised cry. Meg, unsure of who to train her weapon on, swung back at Castiel and cocked the shotgun, raising it and taking aim, just as Castiel was about to fire his own round into the scrambling Crowley. A shot rang out and Castiel froze. He watched dumbly as Meg blinked down at her stomach, slowly blooming red in the low light before the woman coughed out a dark stream of blood.
Castiel slammed the butt of his pistol against Crowley’s head, knocking the man out cold before turning wide blue eyes at Dean. Dean, who stood perfectly steady, Castiel’s fallen Glock aimed where Meg had stood just a moment before.
Castiel blinked and looked dumbly across the room as the armour-clad SWAT team filtered into the room, taking Dean to his knees and handcuffing the teacher, before proceeding to do the same with the rest of the splayed bodies on the floor.
Sam ran in yelling orders, but Castiel’s ears seemed to have forgotten how to work. He just watched dumbly as Crowley, his two guns-for-hire, and Dean were hustled out of the old prison. A paramedic came in a moment later, latching Meg to a gurney.
Castiel fell to his knees, blinking at the dirty concrete in front of him.
xx
A muffled sound startled Castiel awake and he turned tired eyes and a faint smile towards Dean, who blinked open his eyes into the sterile environment of the private hospital room.
“Ah Man… how long was I under this time?” Dean asked, voice gruff and scratchy from disuse.
Castiel chuckled from his spot in the bedside chair. “Just for the night… The nurse gave you something for the pain which put you out pretty fast. You fought it rather hard for a while though.”
Dean groaned, “Remind me to never get kidnapped and beat-up again, will you?”
“Dean, you shouldn’t have been able to move,” Castiel said urgently. “I think it was a little more than just ‘beat-up’.”
“I’m a tough sonuvabitch, what can I say?” Dean grimaced. “Adrenaline does wonders, they should bottle the stuff.”
Castiel shook his head. “Dean…”
“Yeah, yeah,” Dean waved it off. “So ah… what’s the news? Any updates?’
“We have Crowley automatically on the kidnapping charge and assault charge. We also managed to get extortion thanks to Kruschev’s testimony. Meg agreed to testify on the sex trafficking charges, so Crowley should be put away for a good long time.
“Meg was actually working for Lilith the entire time. She and Ruby were in on it together. Lilith knew Crowley would try something and was sure to plant one of her girls in his organization. It was all part of Lilith’s plan to take Crowley out. When he began threatening their son, it provided her with the opportunity to start her plan in motion.
“Ruby was captured on purpose to feed us information and Meg was working to find out how to give Crowley what he wanted on Lilith’s behest. She’s been following us for months,” Castiel explained.
Dean nodded. “So we have Crowley, good. Now you just have Lilith to worry about.”
Castiel smiled. “Actually, no.”
Dean frowned. “Huh?”
“Thanks to you and Jesse, we’ve managed to find something to put Lilith away with.
“After you mentioned her, I further investigated that Ruby girl Jesse mentioned. It wasn’t the Ruby we had, but it was a girl named Ruby Cassidy. She had been taken off the streets when she was fifteen and forced to work with Lilith. She wasn’t actually very good at the original purpose that she was taken for, but she was pretty good in a fight and good with children. Lilith reassigned her to be Jesse’s nanny, but when Ruby started getting too close, Lilith decided it was best to get rid of her… So she did.
“Lilith had her killed and buried. She only got away with it for so long because Ruby had never been terribly close to her family. She wasn’t declared missing until after her body was discovered and was never in the Missing Person’s database. It was only the search I did that popped her in the first place. I had a forensic anthropologist investigate and we managed to get enough evidence to find what killed Ruby and put Lilith away.”
Dean blinked. “Just like that?”
“Well… I assure you it was a lot more complicated than I make it out to sound. I unfortunately don’t have the knowledge to walk you through the investigation process of Ruby Cassidy’s remains, but I do promise the evidence is sufficient and Lilith will pay,” Castiel smiled.
“Jesse?” Dean asked sadly. “What will happen to him?”
“I called a favour in to Missouri, remembering her contacts, and she found a good foster home for him. Jesse will be fine,” Castiel said.
“Missouri… She’s awesome,” Dean smiled tightly.
“When I was speaking to her, she also told me your position is ready and waiting for you as soon as you feel better,” Castiel relayed.
Dean nodded and grinned as widely as he was able, settling back on the pillow for a moment. The silence stretched on, broken only briefly by Castiel’s out-of-character, nervous shift in the hospital chair.
“Dean…” Castiel began hesitantly. “I just want you to kno-”
“Shut up, Cas,” Dean interrupted gently. “I’m not mad anymore. Meg told me what happened when I was captured. You didn’t do anything wrong… Crowley had cooked up this drug… It’s supposed to smell flowery sweet or something… Anyway it was this airborne chemical that decreased inhibitions and made you get drunk on less and faster. A side effect of it is short term memory loss… Anyway, she used it on you when you ran into her and she tried to get you to, well… You know. She didn’t though, Cas, it didn’t work. She told me all she got was a kiss. Before you pushed her away.”
Castiel shook his head. “That explains an awful lot… It was her perfume. I just remembered how cloying it was, and after I ran into her at the bar the night turned into a bit of a blur. I didn’t think I had drunk enough for the results I got that night… I just couldn’t remember. God, Dean, the thought of me doing that to you… I hated myself so much.”
Dean smiled, soft and gentle. “We’re good, Cas. I’m sorry I doubted you in the first place. I should have known better.”
Castiel smiled back and reached out to grab Dean’s hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze, which Dean returned.
End
Previous | Master Post | Epilogue
Author: Stolen Childe
Disclaimer: Supernatural and all associated characters belong to Kripke and Co. I make absolutely no claims on any of them.
Special Thanks to dapperscript for the wonderful beta! Thank you!
Please see Master Post for Notes, Cover Art and Further Information
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Dean opened his eyes and groaned as he became aware once again of the pain rocketing through his body. Dean was surprised to find he was no longer in the large, open area of the warehouse but in a smaller, darker room. There was a single flickering column of fluorescents overhead, half dead with age and barely carrying enough light to brighten Dean’s small space in the centre of the room, let alone the corners.
Like the rest of the room, the single closed door was windowless.
Dean quickly realized he was still bound but now with handcuffs as opposed to being firmly stuck to a chair. His wrists were red and sore from where the tape had been violently pulled off.
Dean frowned and tried to clear the cobwebs from his mind, feeling sick and dizzy and more sore than he could ever remember being. His face was stiff and itchy, rivulets of blood dried to his skin. He was thirsty as well but luckily, or perhaps unluckily, in too much pain to feel anything resembling hunger. His situation was in no way good, but he much preferred it to the torment from earlier with that smug son of a bitch.
Dean closed his eyes and tried to think. He had to get out of here, if only he had been smarter, he wouldn’t have been here in the first place. Going off the handle at Castiel like that, accusing him of things Dean knew in his heart that the older man would never do. Then, to have it compounded with Meg telling him that she had tricked Castiel into it. That she had practically date raped him and even then, drugged and drunk, Castiel had fought it. Meg had been too pissed off to be lying about that, and she had no reason to lie. It’s not like she needed to defend his reputation.
Dean stopped and had to wonder how he could be such an idiot sometimes.
Five Days Earlier
Dean was face down on his bed, fully clothed, glaring into the pillows. The minute he had returned to his apartment after Christmas with Sam, he had yanked all the sheets off the bed and tossed them in the hamper. He didn’t need to sleep surrounded by the smell of Castiel when he had more than enough memories without his other senses getting triggered. It hadn’t helped; the pillow Castiel had used whenever he stayed with Dean still smelled like him. It made Dean equal parts angry and sad.
A huge part of Dean couldn’t really believe that Castiel had done what Meg had implied. Castiel, who on more than one occasion had ranted about the idiocy of infidelity, who had made Dean himself promise that if he wasn’t interested any longer to just tell Castiel flat out and break the ties. Though, despite all Dean’s misgivings and disbelief, Castiel hadn’t even tried to deny it. Perhaps that had been a good thing. Perhaps not.
Dean let out a heavy sigh as he pushed himself up from his bed and turned down the sheets. He had been spending far too much time in the safe cocoon of the bedclothes but figured he was allowed. At least for a little while. It was December 27th and he was all alone. It sucked; four years of an amazing relationship (well mostly) and now he was alone.
Dean had just managed to get one foot out of his jeans when a knock startled him. Grumbling, the teacher pulled them back on hastily, hopping awkwardly to the door, Dean managed to get the pants zipped and buttoned mostly one handed by the time he reached the entrance.
Campus was essentially deserted, the teachers and students were all home with their families except for the few remaining custodial staff members. Figuring it could only be Castiel or Sam, Dean wrenched open the door ready to yell at either one of them. Sam for driving down here when he was injured, Castiel for being there at all.
He must have looked more furious than he thought though, even with the building anger, because the look on Alec’s face was borderline frightened.
“I’m sorry, have I come at a bad time?” the man asked meekly.
“Jesus! Sorry man! No, no… I just, ah… wasn’t expecting you. I thought everyone had gone home for the holidays. I thought it would be… Never mind. Come in, come in.”
Alec gave Dean a shaky little smile and crossed the threshold. He looked embarrassed for whatever reason, and Dean couldn’t think for the life of him why that would be. Perhaps though, Dean thought with slight mortification, Alec had witnessed his display at the Christmas party. Dean hoped not.
“Look… I’m not entirely certain of how appropriate this is…” Alec began, dashing all Dean’s hopes that his confrontation with Castiel had gone unseen.
“Man, Alec… I’m am so sorr-”
“Dean,” Alec interrupted. “I’m not here to reprimand you or anything of the sort. I’m merely here to offer my condolences and a friendly shoulder if need be. I offered you the permanent position here and I don’t intend to take that away because of a silly little spat over which you had no control. I thought, perhaps wrongly, that we’ve grown to be sort of friends and I am merely here offering my support during a time which you clearly need it.”
Dean sagged in relief and offered a shaky smile. “That’s cool of you, Man, and of course we’re friends. You’re about the only teacher around here I ever talked to… I guess I could use the company. I’ve been moping around here for the better part of two days. Come in, come in. Just want to say right off the bat though, that I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Understandable,” Alec nodded, he kicked out of his shoes and settled on the couch. “I come with snacks. Left the alcohol at home this time, though.” He presented Dean with the take-out bag, and by the smell it contained burgers and onion rings. Dean had hardly touched food in the past few days and he couldn’t help his mouth from watering once his nose caught the scent.
Dean chucked, “Man, you’re awesome. This’ll be great.”
“Drinks too,” Alec pulled a bottle of water and a bottle of Coke out of the pockets of his jacket and set them on the table. He took the water for himself and cracked the lid, taking a long swallow before smiling tightly.
Dean watched curiously for a moment but shrugged it off.
“Dig in, dig in,” Alec prompted. “Oh, wait, my burger is the one lacking tomatoes. I can’t stand the bloody things. I wasn’t entirely certain of how you would like your burger, so I requested the basics. Will it do?”
“It will do nicely,” Dean nodded. “Thanks again, Man. So why are you still stuck here over the break?”
Alec smiled a little sadly. “I’m afraid the hols aren’t quite what they used to be for me. I’ve… lost a large portion of my family in recent years and have become used to spending the holidays on my own.”
“So sorry to hear that, Man. I normally do a big family shindig full of tons of relatives I don’t see very often, but my Mom and Dad decided they didn’t want to host the thing this year and went on a cruise instead. I’m ridiculously jealous of them too… Mom’s been tweeting pics of her swimming with dolphins and lounging on the beach for days now.”
Alec raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Your mother tweets?”
“My mother is more tech-savvy than I am,” Dean laughed. “The woman has nothing better to do than social network apparently… I personally can’t stand the damn sites and they ain’t good to have in this career anyway, as you probably know. I’ve heard horror stories, Man, you wouldn’t believe…” Dean blinked as a sudden blur crossed his eyes and his mouth went dry. He found that strange but decided perhaps the salt was just getting to him. Castiel hadn’t let him have much salt in recent years after the older man read some articles about high blood pressure and what a family history of heart disease can do to a person. Both Dean’s grandfathers passed away from related issues. Grampa Winchester had a stroke and Grampa Campbell had a heart attack.
Dean felt a sad pang resonate in his chest and blinked down at his lap to stop the welling sting in his eyes. He finished his burger and onion rings quickly, taking long swallows of Coke after. Fuck Castiel. If the blue-eyed man had cared so much for Dean, he could have kept it in his damn pants.
The dizziness didn’t dissipate though… In fact it seemed to grow. Dean blinked confused eyes over at Alec, who was picking at his own burger idly and staring at Dean with a curiously fascinated gaze. Was Dean acting all right? He was pretty sure it became a hell of a lot quieter in here recently. Alec wasn’t asking though. Maybe it was all in Dean’s head.
Dean lurched forward and only managed to catch himself on the edge of the coffee table before he could take a header into the hard pane of glass along the top. His Coke bottle toppled off the table and Dean watched half-curiously as it rolled out of sight and underneath the low bottom of the couch.
Dean blinked when he heard his door open and saw that Alec was no longer sitting where Dean last remembered him sitting. The world was fuzzy around the edges and Dean felt as if he were floating through water. The room sounded like it too: there was muted rushing in his ear and voices (there were two now) sounded muffled and far away.
“It took longer than I expected,” the deeper voice said.
“Damn, Dean-o has some fight in him, huh?” a higher voice, lilting and grating. “Help me get him up. I don’t know if he’ll be able to walk. Doused him with enough of Crowley’s Special Blend to knock out a horse.”
“After this it’s done, right? I get my girl back?” the deeper voice was desperate now.
“Sure, Sweetie,” patronizing and flippant.
Then Dean remembered nothing.
xx
Dean gritted his teeth and slammed his head back against the damp concrete of his cell. Not hard enough to cause lasting damage but certainly hard enough to hurt. He looked around in the dim light, trying to find something, anything to help him out of this mess.
He always trusted the wrong people. You’d think he’d be used to betrayal by now. Dean was rapidly beginning to realize that betrayal was something you never got used to. He should have figured Alec’s chummy attitude was odd. Really, what boss was that nice at first?
Dean was a nest of bruises, aches, and cuts but he still managed to awkwardly shuffle across the edge of the cell, looking out for anything he could use. He may have gotten soft and comfortable in his years since becoming a teacher but he still remembered things from his woe begotten youth.
As he slid along the dirty edge of the room, he heard the faintest sound of metallic scrapping against cement. Dean’s eyes widened and he scrambled around behind his back, hissing as he felt the dull push of a worn point into the delicate tip of his finger. Dean shifted his fingers around until he could run them along the edge and length of the object. His eyes widened; it was a tiny nail.
Not about to second guess his luck, Dean spun the nail around and got to work on the handcuffs. He would not be caught off guard again.
xx
“Stay here,” Castiel insisted.
“Cas, don’t be an idiot. You don’t honestly think I’m letting you go in there on your own, do you?” Sam glared.
“Sam, I shouldn’t have even let you get this far. One of the conditions was I come alone, so trust me when I say I’m going to do just that. I can take care of myself. I’ll be fine. If you don’t hear from me in twenty minutes, call for back-up to move in but promise me you won’t go in there yourself,” Castiel said urgently. “I failed to protect you once, I’m not about to do so again. Do you understand? Dean would never forgive me if something happened to you. I’d never forgive myself.”
“Cas…”
“Sam.”
“Fine,” Sam sighed. “But fifteen minutes, not twenty.”
“Fine,” Castiel bit back. “Fine. Just… stay put.” Castiel patted his chest and hip once before opening the driver’s side of his SUV and moving to slip out. He paused when he felt Sam’s hand snake out and latch onto his arm.
Castiel turned with questioning eyes.
“Do you fucking dare get killed,” Sam said ferociously.
Castiel’s smile was crooked but genuine. “I’m not that easy to get rid of.”
“Castiel, you’ve escaped death by a hair way too many times already. You need to make it out of there so Dean can forgive you, all right? For him.”
“For him,” Castiel nodded firmly. “I promise, Sam. Everything I ever do is for Dean. I’d sacrifice everything I am to see him smile again.”
Sam squeezed Castiel’s arm again, his lips pressed in a firm line before the youngest Winchester nodded and released the older agent. Castiel slid out of the car and shut the door firmly behind him, drawing his gun before taking a step towards the building.
Castiel had dialed the number Alec had given him and waited for the call-back. When he received it, he had been surprised it was Crowley himself on the other line. Crowley had directed Castiel towards the abandoned prison, with specific instructions to go to the side door. Apparently the front was heavily chained and padlocked.
Castiel didn’t really want to know how Crowley even found this place or had access to it. He just wanted to know that Dean was all right and safe and then Castiel would worry about taking care of the crime lord. Hopefully, if Castiel gave Crowley enough incentive, the Scotsman would even give up some information on Lilith and then Castiel would take a nice, long vacation. Right now though, he had to worry about staying alive long enough for that to happen.
Castiel half-expected resistance as he moved through the hallways. It just seemed so dreadfully easy. It was also ridiculously nerve-wracking, expecting something around every turn, only to be met with empty air again and again. He felt as if his boots were too loud in the deserted halls, his suit choking and restricting. Castiel reached up and nervously loosened his tie, rolling his shoulders and shifting his grip on his handgun.
According to the instructions that Crowley had rattled off only a few hours earlier, Castiel was very nearly there. Dean’s captor was set up in the mess hall and would be waiting for the agent. Castiel saw the plate proclaiming the heavy set of metal doors in front of him belonged to the room he was looking for. The blue-eyed man steeled himself before pushing inside, gun raised.
“Welcome home, Honey,” a cool, curling voice broke in, endlessly amused. “Tough day at the office?”
“Where’s Dean?” Castiel demanded.
Crowley was far less impressive than Castiel was expecting. He was short and stout with a deceptively mild face and a near perpetual smirk on his lips. He was dressed in an expensive suit that Castiel was certain was designer and that Gabriel would have been able to identify had he been here. That didn’t matter, though. Castiel just wanted Dean and then he wanted out.
“Skipping the foreplay, are we? Can’t say I’m not disappointed,” Crowley sighed dramatically. “No bother. First things first. Before I give you your precious little teacher, I have some conditions.”
“You never mentioned any conditions,” Castiel gritted out.
“Yes, because it was always going to be that easy,” Crowley rolled his eyes. “I’m ashamed, Castiel. Really, I am. I expected more from you than that.”
Castiel took a menacing step forward. “Enough of this. Tell me where you have Dean. Now.”
Crowley didn’t even flinch; he just rose an almost bored eyebrow. “Aren’t we demanding?”
“Now, Crowley. I won’t ask again,” Castiel gritted out.
“I’m terrified, really,” Crowley remarked flatly. “You honestly think you’re in a position to be
making demands?”
“I’m not the one with the gun pointed at my head,” Castiel said impatiently.
“Is that what you think?” Crowley chuckled.
Before Castiel could be surprised, and hating himself for being caught off guard, he felt a sharp jab in his kidney and a hand slice against the juncture of his neck and shoulder blade. Castiel fell to his knees, his gun skittering away across the room.
Castiel twisted suddenly, startling his attacker and kicking him with the heel of his foot, catching the large man in the stomach and bringing him down to his knees. Castiel jumped up and punched the man in the jaw before dancing around him and grabbing the man around the neck. Gradually the man lost oxygen and it wasn’t long until he was collapsing unconscious to the floor. Castiel looked at the prone form idly for a second before turning cold eyes to Crowley.
“Now perhaps can we discuss your reasons for bringing me here? I’m growing impatient,” Castiel said.
“Yes well… Perhaps that is for the best,” Crowley replied, only slight unease creeping into his otherwise cool tone.
“I’m waiting,” Castiel said. “Why Dean? Why Alec? Why get them in the school and have your own child right in the line of fire?”
Crowley laughed, “You took something from me, Agent… A little matter of the souls. So I’m taking something from you. Not so nice when you’re on the other end, is it?
“You see, I knew I would never get close to that boy-toy of yours if you were nearby, so I had to orchestrate a little scenario to get you as far away from each other as possible. The fact that Dean was a teacher and my son an elementary school student was merely a convenient solution.
“I fed the idea of Jesse being in danger to my charming ex-girlfriend. I knew she wouldn’t take this slight on her lightly, especially considering we were working together. That’s another little endeavour you sabotaged, by the way. But I still had Dean nice and close to Jesse and could get everyone exactly where I wanted them.”
“You would use your own child as bait?!” Castiel exclaimed, aghast, visions of a small, dark haired boy with laughing grey eyes flashing unbidden to his mind. Broken and shattered all in an instant because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because Castiel had been late getting there.
“That and oh so much more. He was never in any real danger anyway, not with your Righteous and Noble Teacher his little shadow.”
“You son of a bitch,” Castiel spat, stealing Dean’s much loved phrase. He rushed the smaller man, thrust him painfully against the wall and glared into cold brown eyes. Castiel was gratified to see the man wince at the force.
“I’ve been called worse,” Crowley managed, still infuriatingly calm.
“So all this was just one big convoluted trap? For what? What are you gaining out of this other than pissing me off?” Castiel demanded.
Crowley laughed again, “My dear, you’d think it’d be obvious by now, wouldn’t it? And you were supposed to be the smart one. A bargaining chip, Sweetness.”
“What?” Castiel frowned, backing off.
“Five years ago you destroyed the most lucrative part of my business. I was at the top of my game, had enough girls and boys at my disposal to live long and happy for many years to come. The little bitches practically sold their souls to me to stay where they were. I gave each and every one of them something they wanted. A few were easy, drugs and whatnot, some were more difficult, like protection for themselves or their families, but they were all willing and able.
“Then you rode in, a white knight to save the day, and destroyed my business.
“Now, I’m very close to starting it up again. Lilith and I have come to an agreement, you see. It’s all for dear Jesse anyway, isn’t it? I just need you to agree to leave me alone. I let you go your way with your charming boy and you let me go mine. You don’t interfere, and if I ever get into a bind you put in a… good word for me,” Crowley said idly. “In return, I occasionally feed you little tidbits about my esteemed colleagues that will have you basically bounding up the ladder rungs. I wager you’d make Deputy Director in five years.”
Castiel scoffed and glared at the man. “You’re insane. I don’t make deals with demons.”
Crowley shrugged and made a show of straightening and dusting off his suit. “Then Dean dies. Plain and simple. This isn’t really a hard concept to grasp, Castiel. You agree, I tell you where to find your lover, we both walk away unscathed. Everyone’s happy and in one piece. You don’t agree… I get my dear friend there behind you to blow your head off and then I go to Dean and start slicing off all the bits that stick out.
“He’s pissed me off this last week and I would love nothing more than to finish the job I started.”
Castiel went cold inside, his fist clenching at his side. “How can I trust he’s still alive? What if I agree to this and then he turns out to be dead anyway?”
“I make a deal, I stick to it, Darling. Call it a personal code of morals.”
Castiel snorted, “That’s rich.”
“Yes, well… It’s true. But if you insist, I’ll bring your boy out, you can see him relatively unharmed, and then you give me your word and you can both go,” Crowley shrugged.
Castiel gritted his teeth again, stared very hard down at the cracked and dirty pavement before looking up and nodding stiffly. “Fine. Show me he’s all right, then I’ll give you my word.”
“Lovely. Darling, go fetch our guest, will you?” Crowley said with a winning smile.
Castiel turned to see the thug at his back nod dumbly before the man ambled away. Castiel waited until he was clear of the room before he moved. In a flash, he had his back-up gun in his hand. A quick stride forward and Castiel had Crowley shoved against the wall once again, this time face forward. He pressed the muzzle of his gun to the smaller man’s temple then leaned in close to his ear.
“We’re going to move in a minute. When your friend comes back in, you tell him everything’s fine and I don’t put you in a wheel chair for the rest of your life, do you understand me?” Castiel growled low.
Crowley scowled and nodded quickly.
Castiel nodded back and shifted so his back was to the wall, gun pressed to Crowley’s spine as he waited, both of them peering in the direction the thug has just taken. It wasn’t long until purposeful steps and a shuddering gait reached Castiel’s ears. His stomach clenched, dreading to see the shape Dean was in.
The agent’s heart lurched as Crowley’s goon shoved Dean forward into the room, the green-eyed man barely managing to stay on his feet. Dried blood left a sticky trail from temple, nose and lip. Eyes swollen and blackened, brown blooms clearly visible on Dean’s jeans and t-shirt. At least none of the injuries seemed terribly recent.
Crowley chuckled, “Once again, Castiel, you disappoint me.”
A gun cocked to Castiel’s left and he turned to see Meg training a shotgun at Castiel; there was another door on the other side of the room, half obscured by a rough partition.
“Hello Lover, miss me?” Meg asked sweetly. “Now let Crowley go or my pal there blows Dean’s pretty little head from his shoulders.”
Castiel flicked wide panicked eyes over at Dean who shot the blue-eyed man a tired, resigned smile. “It’s all right, Cas.”
“Dean!” Castiel stuttered. “What are you…?”
“Cas, we’re good, okay? You and I. So it’s all right. Just don’t let that bastard get away.”
“Oh very touching,” Crowley muttered. “Lower you gun Cupcake, Dean-o’s running out of time. Brutus has quite the trigger happy little finger.”
“Cas… Come on, Man,” Dean’s eyes locked with Castiel’s in that moment and then Castiel understood, plain as day.
“Right, right, of course,” Castiel nodded, lowering his arm enough for it to be noticeable. Meg seemed to relax slightly then the next few moments were a blur of motion and a cacophony of gun fire.
At some point, Castiel realized, Dean had managed to free himself from his cuffs. The moment he noticed Meg was relaxing, the green-eyed man pivoted and swung his unlatched hands up, clipping the man behind him with the sharp metal edge of the shackles.
Castiel lunged forward and elbowed Crowley harshly in the back of the head, the smaller man bucking forward with a surprised cry. Meg, unsure of who to train her weapon on, swung back at Castiel and cocked the shotgun, raising it and taking aim, just as Castiel was about to fire his own round into the scrambling Crowley. A shot rang out and Castiel froze. He watched dumbly as Meg blinked down at her stomach, slowly blooming red in the low light before the woman coughed out a dark stream of blood.
Castiel slammed the butt of his pistol against Crowley’s head, knocking the man out cold before turning wide blue eyes at Dean. Dean, who stood perfectly steady, Castiel’s fallen Glock aimed where Meg had stood just a moment before.
Castiel blinked and looked dumbly across the room as the armour-clad SWAT team filtered into the room, taking Dean to his knees and handcuffing the teacher, before proceeding to do the same with the rest of the splayed bodies on the floor.
Sam ran in yelling orders, but Castiel’s ears seemed to have forgotten how to work. He just watched dumbly as Crowley, his two guns-for-hire, and Dean were hustled out of the old prison. A paramedic came in a moment later, latching Meg to a gurney.
Castiel fell to his knees, blinking at the dirty concrete in front of him.
xx
A muffled sound startled Castiel awake and he turned tired eyes and a faint smile towards Dean, who blinked open his eyes into the sterile environment of the private hospital room.
“Ah Man… how long was I under this time?” Dean asked, voice gruff and scratchy from disuse.
Castiel chuckled from his spot in the bedside chair. “Just for the night… The nurse gave you something for the pain which put you out pretty fast. You fought it rather hard for a while though.”
Dean groaned, “Remind me to never get kidnapped and beat-up again, will you?”
“Dean, you shouldn’t have been able to move,” Castiel said urgently. “I think it was a little more than just ‘beat-up’.”
“I’m a tough sonuvabitch, what can I say?” Dean grimaced. “Adrenaline does wonders, they should bottle the stuff.”
Castiel shook his head. “Dean…”
“Yeah, yeah,” Dean waved it off. “So ah… what’s the news? Any updates?’
“We have Crowley automatically on the kidnapping charge and assault charge. We also managed to get extortion thanks to Kruschev’s testimony. Meg agreed to testify on the sex trafficking charges, so Crowley should be put away for a good long time.
“Meg was actually working for Lilith the entire time. She and Ruby were in on it together. Lilith knew Crowley would try something and was sure to plant one of her girls in his organization. It was all part of Lilith’s plan to take Crowley out. When he began threatening their son, it provided her with the opportunity to start her plan in motion.
“Ruby was captured on purpose to feed us information and Meg was working to find out how to give Crowley what he wanted on Lilith’s behest. She’s been following us for months,” Castiel explained.
Dean nodded. “So we have Crowley, good. Now you just have Lilith to worry about.”
Castiel smiled. “Actually, no.”
Dean frowned. “Huh?”
“Thanks to you and Jesse, we’ve managed to find something to put Lilith away with.
“After you mentioned her, I further investigated that Ruby girl Jesse mentioned. It wasn’t the Ruby we had, but it was a girl named Ruby Cassidy. She had been taken off the streets when she was fifteen and forced to work with Lilith. She wasn’t actually very good at the original purpose that she was taken for, but she was pretty good in a fight and good with children. Lilith reassigned her to be Jesse’s nanny, but when Ruby started getting too close, Lilith decided it was best to get rid of her… So she did.
“Lilith had her killed and buried. She only got away with it for so long because Ruby had never been terribly close to her family. She wasn’t declared missing until after her body was discovered and was never in the Missing Person’s database. It was only the search I did that popped her in the first place. I had a forensic anthropologist investigate and we managed to get enough evidence to find what killed Ruby and put Lilith away.”
Dean blinked. “Just like that?”
“Well… I assure you it was a lot more complicated than I make it out to sound. I unfortunately don’t have the knowledge to walk you through the investigation process of Ruby Cassidy’s remains, but I do promise the evidence is sufficient and Lilith will pay,” Castiel smiled.
“Jesse?” Dean asked sadly. “What will happen to him?”
“I called a favour in to Missouri, remembering her contacts, and she found a good foster home for him. Jesse will be fine,” Castiel said.
“Missouri… She’s awesome,” Dean smiled tightly.
“When I was speaking to her, she also told me your position is ready and waiting for you as soon as you feel better,” Castiel relayed.
Dean nodded and grinned as widely as he was able, settling back on the pillow for a moment. The silence stretched on, broken only briefly by Castiel’s out-of-character, nervous shift in the hospital chair.
“Dean…” Castiel began hesitantly. “I just want you to kno-”
“Shut up, Cas,” Dean interrupted gently. “I’m not mad anymore. Meg told me what happened when I was captured. You didn’t do anything wrong… Crowley had cooked up this drug… It’s supposed to smell flowery sweet or something… Anyway it was this airborne chemical that decreased inhibitions and made you get drunk on less and faster. A side effect of it is short term memory loss… Anyway, she used it on you when you ran into her and she tried to get you to, well… You know. She didn’t though, Cas, it didn’t work. She told me all she got was a kiss. Before you pushed her away.”
Castiel shook his head. “That explains an awful lot… It was her perfume. I just remembered how cloying it was, and after I ran into her at the bar the night turned into a bit of a blur. I didn’t think I had drunk enough for the results I got that night… I just couldn’t remember. God, Dean, the thought of me doing that to you… I hated myself so much.”
Dean smiled, soft and gentle. “We’re good, Cas. I’m sorry I doubted you in the first place. I should have known better.”
Castiel smiled back and reached out to grab Dean’s hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze, which Dean returned.
End
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