Dean and Castiel Go on a Hunt

Chapter Eleven

Sam stumbled out of the hospital entrance, nearly slipping off of his crutches. Dean was already in the car, honking the horn excessively. "Come on, Sammy!" He yelled, sticking his head out the window. "Goddammit, Dean, hold on!" Sam hobbled as fast as he could to the car. Once he got to the passenger door he balanced himself on his left leg, put both of his crutches into his left hand and used his right to open the door and threw them at Dean. "Ow!" He exclaimed as Sam jumped into the car. Dean grabbed Sam's crutches and after wrestling with them for a few minutes, smacking both of them multiple times in the process, threw them in the backseat. "Dean will you cool it?!" Sam

screamed, still holding his bottom lip from the beating he had taken from his own crutches. "Look, Cas is out there somewhere, bleeding from the inside out with lead poisoning!" He tried to catch his breath from the whole ordeal. Sam sat there stiffly, avoiding eye contact with Dean, and swallowed hard. Dean sighed and leaned his head against the steering wheel. Sam furrowed his brow with worry as he leaned forward slightly, trying to get a better look at Dean's face. "... Come on, Sammy. We gotta go find him," Dean whispered dryly as he picked his head up and stared directly ahead.

Sam joined his distant gaze at the road ahead, switching his mind to focus on Castiel. (He's the one we should be worried about) Dean's words floated in his head. Dean cleared his throat and shifted into drive. They drove around the hospital and its surrounding streets as the sun slowly began to peek over the horizon, basking both of them in the dull glare of red, orange, and violet.

~

Dean slowly opened the bunker door, shoulders slumped (defeated). Dean descended down the stairs as Sam struggled to get his crutches into one hand, balanced on one leg. He clung tightly to the railing, hopping down each step carefully, his crutches threatening to be dropped with each step. Dean, already at the last step, turned around and looked up at Sam. "You need any help?" He asked tiredly. "... No," Sam grunted, "I'm... fine." He stopped to catch his breath. Dean sighed, annoyed at his stubbornness, and stood watching from the bottom of the stairs until Sam had finally completed his descent. Sam hooked the crutches back under his arms and flashed a fake smile. "See? I told you I could make it." He limped into their room of bookshelves, hoping to grab a seat at one of the long tables. Dean rolled his eyes and sighed. "You know we're gonna have to go back out and look for him again soon," he said loudly, following Sam. When they both entered the room they froze. Dean's eyes widened and his shoulders tensed up, though he wasn't sure if it was from anger or fear.

Sitting at the long table, Castiel turned to them, but quickly grabbed his stomach in a loose grip. He breathed deeply in and out before finally rising his head to meet the growing, glistening green eyes of Dean, masking the exquisite pain that rippled through him. "... Hello, Dean. Sam."