The Year of Redemption

Chapter 7: Savin' Me

It was early twilight. The sun was just beginning to rise, and the neighborhood was misty with the early morning dew. Castiel was leaning against the Impala in front of Lisa's house. He'd been patiently waiting there all night, carefully listening for any sound of the goddess exerting her will over Dean again. But the sounds coming from the house did not suggest anything of that sort. Cas had been on Earth long enough to understand that much.

Castiel had spent the night wondering. He wondered what his brothers were up to in Heaven. He wondered why he wasn't up there helping them. He wondered what on Earth could be more important than that. He wondered why he cared so much if Dean did kill himself. He wondered why his body trembled involuntarily at that thought, and his mind desperately searched for a distraction.

Cas's musings were abruptly interrupted by the harsh squeal of tires on asphalt. The noise came from down the street and around the corner. Castiel immediately vanished and appeared at the street corner. He saw Dean in the middle of the main road. Cars were braking hard and trying to swerve around him. He was either going to get hit, or the cars were going to end up crashing into each other in their attempts to try to avoid him.

"Shit," Cas swore. He looked both ways to time it right, then appeared in front of Dean, touched his forehead, and they both reappeared outside the Impala again. Dean stumbled a bit, and Cas gripped his arm to steady him.

"What the hell...?" Dean asked, trying to clear his head. "What happened?" He looked towards Cas, his vision still a bit blurry.

"Well..." Cas began, "You and Lisa apparently hit it off last night."

Dean's memory started to recover. "That's not what I me--... How did you even know...?"

Castiel just stared at Dean. "Angel, remember?" he said, motioning to himself. "I am imbued with excellent hearing - unfortunately. And I have been around you long enough to know what sex sounds like," he remarked brazenly.

Dean looked away, obviously uncomfortable. Then he remembered something suddenly. "So why am I still the goddess of fidelity's bitch?"

"Maybe you kissed her incorrectly." Cas stated bluntly.

This time, Dean stared at Cas, who lifted his shoulders innocently. "Cas!" Dean yelled, flustered. "You're an idiot." He then walked over to the driver's side and got in the Impala, rolling the passenger side window down. Castiel was still standing outside, flabbergasted. "You coming?" Dean called.

Cas opened the door and got in. "Where are you going?" he inquired.

"No idea," Dean replied, earning him another blank stare. "Human, remember?" he said, motioning to himself sarcastically, then turning on the Impala and roaring away from Lisa's house. "I need to clear my head," he explained.

They took off onto the interstate, and Dean exited onto some tall overpass. Suddenly, he swerved over to the shoulder and screeched to a halt. Cars were whizzing by on one side, but Dean ignored them and walked over to the edge of the overpass.

Castiel jumped out of the Impala and grabbed Dean's arm. Dean shook Cas off and climbed onto the short wall at the edge. He looked down. They were at least 50 feet in the air, with the interstate racing below them. Cas climbed up on the wall too and gripped Dean's shoulders, yanking him further from the edge and turning him towards the angel.

"Dean!" Castiel yelled desperately and shook him by the shoulders. All of Dean's muscles were working against Cas to throw himself over the edge, but the angel held him fast. "Dean, stop!" Cas yelled, still shaking Dean. His fingers were sinking into Dean's arms. Castiel's eyes moved frantically back and forth between Dean's, which were both glazed over. Dean wore a completely blank expression, as if he was merely a puppet.