Guardian Angel

Chapter 3

"Cas? Cas?" shouts Dean, frantically glancing between the road and the backseat.

I instinctively move over to Castiel and place two fingers under his jaw to check if he has a pulse. I feel a rhythmic beating under my fingers and breathe a small sigh of relief.

"He has a pulse," I say as I lay my ear to his chest. I hear a slow intake of breath. "He's breathing. Someone hand me a flashlight."

"Why do you need a flashlight?" Dean asks, seeming nervously angry.

"I need to make sure his brain is functional," I say. "If his pupils contract and dilate, he's fine."

I see the suspicious look Dean's giving me in the rear view mirror and I add, "I used to watch a lot of medical shows on TV. I picked up some stuff."

Sam hands me a flashlight. I pull back one of Castiel's eyelids and shine the light into it. His pupil contracts. I turn off the flashlight and release a sigh of relief.

"He's alive and responsive," I say. "We should probably find a place to stop and figure out what to do next."

"She's right," Sam agrees after a slight hesitation.

Dean glances at Castiel, laying unconscious in the backseat, and gives me a mistrustful look before saying, "Fine. But I'm getting two rooms and she's not staying with Cas."

"What happened in there?" Sam asks, looking at me in the backseat.

"Castiel tried to go into a locked part of my mind. When he did that, I woke up. I have no idea what happened to him," I say with concern as I look at Castiel, wondering what happened to him.

We ride in silence for about forty five minutes, the conscious worried about Castiel and Castiel sprawled out beside me, unmoving. I check his pulse once to make sure he hasn't died.

We reach a small town and stop at a rundown-looking motel. Dean puts the Impala in park and turns around to face me.

"If you try anything with Sam or Cas," he threatens, "I will shoot you. Understand?"

I nod and Dean gets out of the car and goes into the motel. After a moment of silence, Sam sighs heavily.

"So are we going to talk now or later?"

"Why not with Dean?" I ask.

"Dean doesn't exactly instinctively trust people. I don't think it would be a good idea to have a talk with him involved."

"I see. In that case, later. I don't know if he can hear what's going on or not," I say, nodding towards Castiel. "I don't want him hearing anything that might make him panic when he comes to."

"You don't know Cas very well. He's not exactly the type to panic. Or flee," Sam adds as an afterthought.

"Still. I don't like the idea of an eavesdropper. Besides, Dean could come back any minute, and if we're going to talk, we should do so without interruptions."

"Alright," Sam sighs, seeming a tad annoyed at having to wait to get information.

"Speak of the devil, there he is," I say as Dean walks back to the Impala, carrying two room keys.

Sam and I step out of the Impala and I go around to the other side of the car.

"I got a set of adjoining rooms," says Dean, tossing one key to Sam and pocketing the other.

"Alright. Let's get Cas inside and get settled," replies Sam as he pockets his key.

I open the door to Castiel and grab him by the shoulder before he falls onto the cracked blacktop.Sam hurries around the door, picks up Castiel, and puts him over his shoulder.