Strings Attached

Chapter 24

"Who're you?" Castiel asks when a bunch of people enter the room. How many people? One, two, five — no, three — four, five, six... Six people.

"You don't recognize us?" one of them asks, sounding sad.

"No," Castiel replies, then pauses. "Sam... Samdriel... Samandriel. You're Samandriel. And Gabriel, and Lucifer, and Michael. And... And... An... Anna? You're Anna." He looks over at Chuck. "I do have a sister!"

Chuck just nods, not seeming to care about this new discovery.

"Are you okay?" Gabriel asks nervously.

"Aces," Castiel replies. "Why am I naming cards?"

"It's an expression," Gabriel replies. "And I seriously hope this is the drugs, because if we have to explain things like this all the time..."

"The nurse says amnesia," Chuck replies. "But temporary amnesia. He'll regain most of his memories soon. We hope."

"Me, too," Castiel replies. "This is weird. I don't like it."

"No one likes it," Gabriel replies.

"Hey!" Lucifer scolds him. "Stop talking to Mr. Amnesia Case like that!"

"Amnesia Case," Castiel giggles. "That sounds like amnesia Cas. Amnesia Castiel. Amnesia Case-tiel." He laughs at his joke. "Wait, Cas. I've heard that somewhere. Who calls me Cas? I don't... My name isn't Cas. So why... What?"

"What? You don't remember —" Gabriel begins, but Chuck cuts him off.

"He will," Chuck replies. "Probably, at least. He forgot he had a sister 'til he saw her. You said they're coming, right? He'll probably recognize them, no problem."

"I hope so," Gabriel replies.

"Who?" Castiel asks.

"You'll see," Gabriel replies, then mutters, "Hopefully."

Castiel gives him a questioning look but doesn't ask. He'll just wait until he sees, whatever it is they're expecting him to see.

A few minutes later, two boys enter the room. One is really tall with long hair, and the other is shorter, with short hair and a cute face. Castiel recognizes one of them immediately.

"Sam?" Castiel says, confused. "What are you..." He looks at Gabriel. "Ah, that makes sense. Ding! Lightbulb!" He laughs.

"Is this the drugs talking?" the other boy asks.

"Nope, this is just little Amnesia Case-tiel," Gabriel replies. "His name, not ours."

"Who're you?" Castiel asks.

"Who is who?" the short boy asks.

"You. Who are you?"

"You don't... You don't remember me?"

"Nope," Castiel replies. "Why? Should I remember you? Are we friends? I feel like we are... No. No, you're someone I don't like, right? You're one of the mean ones, like Bus Boy and Yellow Eyes and Crowley."

"No!" he says quickly. "No, I'm one of your friends."

"Then why... I don't like you. I feel like I should be scared of you. But... What? So you're not — you're not one of them? One of the mean ones?"

"No," he repeats. "I'm your friend. Tell me you remember that. I'm — I'm your friend. How do you not remember me? It's Dean. Dean, remember? Anything?"

"No, sorry," Castiel replies. "I don't think I know a Dean."

"Then think harder!" Dean says, practically begging now. "Cas, you have to remember me."

"I don't... Cas?" he repeats the nickname. "I remember... I remember Cas. Someone calls me Cas. Is that you?"

Dean nods. "Yeah! Yeah, that's me."

"Then we're friends," Castiel says. "Or... We were friends. We're not friends anymore. We had a fight. About... Something. And we're not friends anymore. I don't like you. Yeah, I don't like you, because... Because reasons. What were we fighting about?"

"We weren't," Dean says quickly. "We weren't fighting. We're just friends. Good friends. We never had a fight. You must have me confused with someone else."

"Probably," Castiel agrees. "I can't really remember... Yeah, I'm sure I just have you mixed up with some else."

"What happened?" Sam asks him.

Castiel thinks for a moment. "I don't... Um... I don't know," he admits.
"Something at school... With... Um... With... With someone — or someones? — because of... Something."

"That's very helpful," Lucifer says. "Wow. A-plus for you. All our questions are answered."

"I feel like that was less than sincere," Castiel replies.

"It's called sarcasm," Lucifer replies.

"Oh, right." Castiel laughs. "I'm stupid."

"I wasn't gonna say it, but..." Lucifer says with a playful grin.

"I don't get it," Castiel replies. "Was that a joke, or...?"

"Never mind," Lucifer says, rolling his eyes. "Forget it."

"M'kay," Castiel replies. "I can do that."

"Forget things?" Lucifer repeats. "Yeah, we've noticed."

"Was that an insult?" Castiel asks.

"No, it was... You know what? Never mind."

"M'kay."