Late Night Hunting

Chapter 4: A Secret to Keep

Cas walked towards Dean, who was still being a hopeless flirt towards the blonde behind the counter, who was actively ignoring him and texting on her phone. When Cas walked over, she looked up, and stopped suddenly when she saw the bright, warm blue depths of his eyes and his kind, but shy, smile. "H-hi..." she stuttered, still slightly in shock at the beautiful, perfect angel before her. Cas was confused. Why was this girl looking at him as if he were an angel or some other ethereal being? Obviously angels were real, Dean had said once before. He'd said that they'd been good friends with one once, but then he Fell and became human, forgetting all about his former life, like a really severe case of amnesia. Hmmm, Cas thought, something about that story doesn't seem quite right. He couldn't figure out what was missing or why, but whatever it was, it was pricking at the very edges of his consciousness, and he had a feeling that it would stay right where it was until he finally figured out what it was. When Cas finally came back to the present, he and Dean were in the hall outside of the cinema where Part 2 had been playing. Dean was leaning against the wall, grumbling to himself about how it was unfair that Cas could stun a girl just by looking at her, while Cas was sitting on the grimy floor, wondering how they'd gotten there. The last thing he remembered was Dean's mouth hanging open as Cas swooned the girl without even trying to or thinking about it at all. "Dean, how'd we get here?" Cas asked, confused. "We drove. Well, I drove." Dean chuckled at Cas's sudden amnesia. "No, I mean how did we get in this hallway?" Cas asked again, looking up at Dean. "Oh. Well, you kinda passed out on the floor in front of that girl, so I picked you up and set you down out here till you came to just now." Dean grinned slightly at the memory of Cas's faceplant in front of the pretty blonde. "But man, was she startled when you slumped over in front of her. She thought you were having an attack of some kind, but I figured that you were just really tired, and reassured her that everything would be fine. I even got her number!" he said triumphantly, pulling out the folded piece of paper and smiling from ear to ear at Cas. Cas sighed tiredly and put his face in his hands, which made Dean immediately stop and bend down to him. "Hey, are you alright? Do you want to go home? I'll drive." he offered selflessly. Cas looked up into Dean's green, worried eyes, and tears welled up in his steel blue ones. Dean was bewildered and worried, but he smiled gently at Cas and pulled him closer so that he could sob quietly into his shoulder. They stayed like that for over an hour, Cas silently sobbing and drifting off every once in a while, Dean hugging his best friend tightly to his chest, comforting him in a brotherly way. When Cas could finally breathe with only a hitch in every fourth or fifth breath, he stiffly sat up and waited for Dean, who had gone to the bathroom as soon as he knew Cas could breathe ok without needing someone to support him, and gotten as many paper towels as he could carry. Dean had just come around the corner when he saw that Cas was awake and sitting up again. He slowly walked over, sank down on the ground, and hugged Cas as hard as he could while holding in the tears of his own that were threatening to spill over. "Are you ok?" Cas asked, pulling back in concern. Dean managed a strangled laugh and let go of Cas. "Yeah. Don't worry about me, Cas. I'll be fine. I'm just glad you're ok now. What was that earlier? You know you can tell me anything, anything at all." Dean said surely. Cas hesitated. Dean had enough to worry about, he thought. "Are you sure Dean? You've got enough to worry about lately, you shouldn't be worrying about me too...." Cas trailed off, uncertain whether he should burden Dean with his seemingly harmless nightmares. "Tell me, Cas. I'll worry about who I want, and you can't tell me who I should and shouldn't worry over, because right now, I'm worrying about you." Dean said earnestly, staring at Cas and pleading, almost begging, with desperate eyes. "You're family, Cas. I love you like a brother, and I'd do anything for you. Hell, I love you almost more than I love Sam, and it takes a lot to make me love somebody as much as I love you two." Dean said, a single tear escaping his eyes. Cas sighed and smiled a small, defeated smile. "Okay Dean. Just..... Please don't freak out." Dean smiled and said "I'll try my best." Cas took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second, putting his thoughts together and leaning back to lay his head against the wall and stare at the ceiling. "Have you ever had nightmares? I don't mean normal nightmares, I mean ones that happen again and again and..... You just can't get them out of you head......" He said, then looked over at Dean, wondering what he was thinking. Dean was looking at Cas calmly, a look of slight nostalgia in his eyes. "Yeah, I've had those before. What was it about?" he asked Cas carefully, so he wouldn't hit a nerve. Cas stiffened slightly. "Please don't laugh, but...... It's about this girl..." he began until Dean stopped him with a slight grin and said "Of course. I should've guessed. I suppose you'll need some pointers on how to-" Cas clamped a hand over Dean's mouth with horrified eyes. "No Dean, not that kind of nightmare. I mean that she... Called out to me, said I was her dad and that she needed my help, but I don't know why. Does that make any sense?" By now, Cas had let go of Dean's mouth and was now sitting upright and staring Dean in the eyes, but Dean was staring off in space with a blank look in his eyes that completely terrified Cas. "Yes, Cas." he said in a rough whisper like broken glass. "It makes sense. Too much sense." Dean woke from his stupor and grabbed Cas by the shoulders. "Listen to me Cas," he said, staring hard into the other boy's eyes. "I can't explain now. I forgot to tell you earlier that Dad called while you were asleep earlier and told me that he and Sammy were off hunting some Wendigos in Salt Lake City with Bobby, so the motel room is empty. We can go talk there and hopefully get some answers." Dean said when his stomach growled. "But first, lunch. I'm starving!" Cas was bewildered. What had just happened? But he went with Dean out to the Impala and sank into the passenger seat, which was warm from the heat of the sun, and fell asleep. That was when the dreams began.