You Soar & You Drown (Destiel AU)

Chapter Five

“He’s not answering,” Dean groaned, staring at his father’s motionless body, hidden by a web of tubes, wires, and machines. His eyes were closed, and he looked…almost peaceful. More relaxed then Dean or Sam had ever seen him.

“Do you have his number, or something?” Sam asked. “I know he has a phone, because he called me from it.”

Dean shook his head, cringing from the question. He hadn’t had time to ask for Cas’ number. They’d gotten to the apartment, kissed, and then the demon had attacked and Sam knew the rest.

“I’ll check in my recent calls,” Sam suggested, noting the blush hinting on his brother’s cheeks and trying not to smile, despite the serious situation. He scrolled through the recent calls on his phone—Jess, Jess, and finally the unfamiliar number that he guessed was Cas’. He clicked on it and pressed the phone to his ear, waiting.

* * *

Cas glanced down in surprise as his pocket vibrated and started ringing insistently. He pulled the small silver-and-black object Gabriel had given him from his pocket. He flipped it open, like Dean had told him to, and pressed the “talk” button, like Dean had also told him to.

“HELLO?!” He shouted into the phone, wondering if whoever was on the other side could hear him. “WHO IS THIS?!”

“God, Cas, it’s just me,” Sam’s voice complained on the other side of the line. “You don’t need to yell.”

“Ohhh-kay.” Cas held the phone closer to his ear so he could hear Sam better and asked, “So, why are you…uh…calling me?”

“Our dad—”

“—is in the hospital, yes, I know. I heard Dean.” Cas felt his stomach prickle with guilt, but he knew he couldn’t do anything has long as the holy fire bound him.

“So…where are you? Can you help us?” Sam’s voice was so hopeful, Cas groaned inwardly. He hated disappointing people. He hated that his brother was ignoring his prayers. He hated that he was in love with Dean Winchester.

“I can’t,” Cas whispered into the phone.

“What was that?”

“I can’t. Crowley caught me and trapped me in holy fire. I…can’t move.” Cas sat down, hugging his knees to his body with one arm.

“Who the hell is Crowley?” It was Dean’s voice this time, and he sounded angry.

“He’s a demon.”

“But why would he suddenly take an interest in you?” Dean asked, sounding strangely upset.

Cas swallowed the lump in his throat. He wasn’t sure if he should tell Dean about the note or not. He wasn’t sure how Dean would react if Cas told him that it was his fault his father was dying.

“Cas?”

“Dean, I—oh hell!” Cas dropped the phone as Gabriel appeared right in front of him, literally two inches away from the holy fire. “Gabe?!”

His brother snapped his fingers and the circle of fire disappeared, leaving the phone (which Cas had dropped right into the flames) smoldering on the floor, and Cas free.

Gabriel sighed in relief and enveloped Cas in a hug, holding onto him tightly as if it’d been years since they had last seen each other. “You don’t know how worried I’ve been, Castiel. The demons could’ve found you, I was going to check in on you—” He pulled away and his face fell as he saw Cas’. “I take it your first day didn’t go so well?”

Cas shrugged dejectedly. “I guess you know about Crowley wanting my head on a plate.”

Gabe patted him on the back. “It’s okay. I’m protecting you.”

“But you don’t know about him…killing the angels? And the Winchesters?” Cas lifted his face up to his brother’s confusedly. “He told me that until I gave myself up—willingly—then he’d keep on killing them.”

Gabe groaned. “I’ll deal with Crowley, okay? Don’t worry. We’ll find a way through this. I’m not letting that demon get his hands on you.”

Cas tried for a smile, but he knew that he didn’t look convincing. “I guess…”

Gabriel grinned at him mischievously. “I’ll get those boys of yours, and then we’ll go after Crowley.”

“Wait—Gabe—their father’s already dying. They’ll probably blame me for it,” Cas protested, but his brother just winked at him, and then he was gone.

* * *

Dean clicked “end” on Sam’s phone, looking up at his brother as they sat in a shocked silence. Even after a few seconds in the fire, Cas’ phone wasn’t broken, and the call had continued on. The Winchesters had heard every word spoken between Cas and his brother.

“Crowley?” Sam asked finally. “Wasn’t he that obnoxious demon we could never catch? The one who claimed he was king of Hell?”

“And he’s after Cas,” Dean said, shaking his head.

“That’s right,” a familiar voice said from behind them, and they turned around just in time to see a smiling face before they were back in Cas’ apartment. But there was no sign of the angel.

“Oh, damnit,” the Trickster sighed, disappearing again. A few seconds later, he was back with Cas, who was tugging on his arm insistently, trying to pull out of Gabriel’s hard grip. He saw the Winchesters staring at them, and immediately Dean saw the guilt in the blue of his eyes. Dean wanted to take Cas’ hands in his and pull him close, and then reassure him that it was okay between kisses, but he resisted the urge and glanced down at the floor, suddenly red with embarrassment.

But Sam was hot with indignance. “This is Gabriel?! The Trickster! Remember, Dean?!” He turned back to his brother, who glanced up from the floor reluctantly. “Mystery Spot?”

“Oh, right.” Dean glared at the angel, who just shrugged and grinned, pulling a lollipop out of one of his pockets and sticking it in his mouth.

“Gabe, I’m…going to go to the hospital,” Cas muttered to his brother. “I think I can heal John.”

“Are you sure?” Gabriel’s expression changed from mischievous glee to brotherly concern. “I thought Crowley said—”

Cas glared daggers at his brother, shutting him up immediately. “I’ll be right back, okay?”  

“But he told you not to—”

“That’s right, I thought I did,” Crowley said, appearing in front of Cas. “I was very specific, too.”

Dean reached into his jacket, feeling for the demon knife and pulling it out. Gabriel shot him a warning look, and Sam reached a hand out to stop him, but before either of them could do anything the knife flew out of Dean’s hand and impaled itself in the kitchen wall.

“None of that, Winchester,” Crowley said sweetly, stepping closer to Cas. The angel immediately zapped next to the Winchesters, pulling his angel blade out in fierce determination, but Crowley just laughed. “Do you know how many demons I have posted outside this building? You make one move, and I could have all of them in here. The Winchesters would be dead in seconds.”

Cas nodded almost invisibly at Gabriel, then zapped closer to Dean so they were barely three inches apart, grabbed a fistful of his jacket, and disappeared. Gabriel gripped Sam and they vanished.

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