Take The Heart I Never Wanted to Give

20

Castiel gritted his teeth, the adrenaline coursing through his veins dying down and being replaced with exhaustion. Every inch of his body began to ache with each hurried step he took and he struggled to keep himself and Dean upright.

He staggered to a stop, his breath coming out in short harsh gasps. He grunted, adjusting Dean in his arms, trudging forward stubbornly. He could see the castle quickly approaching his line of vision and he quickened his steps determined to get this godforsaken hunt over with. He finally exited the forest, a brief sigh of relief escaping his chapped lips. It was short lived when he spotted John and Naomi addressing twenty or so guards that must have been the search party. As he got slightly closer he could over here some of their conversation.

"Search the entirety of that forest." John demanded. "I don't care how long it takes, none of you are to return until your Prince has been found, do you understand?"

A resounding "Yes Your Grace" echoed throughout the guards.

Castiel stopped a good 15 feet away from them, none of them aware of his presence, and straightened his posture despite the dull throb in his spine. "That won't be necessary Your Majesty." He said catching all their attention.

John whirled around, several emotions playing at once on his face, too many for Castiel to try and identify. Naomi's face was impassive except for her eyes that burned with an expertly hidden anger. John moved forward in long strides meeting Castiel halfway, a tentative hand coming out to brush a strand of hair away from Dean's pale face, the gesture catching Castiel off guard.

"What has happened." John demanded, his voice surprisingly calm as he gazed down at his eldest son.

"He was shot. He needs medical attention now."

Without missing a beat, John yelled over three guards. "Take him to medical wing immediately." John commanded.

The three guards nodded and turned to Castiel who reluctantly handed Dean over. Castiel watched with bated breath as the three guards quickly carried Dean into the castle and turned his attention.

"Who did this?" John hissed lowly, "Tell me who did this!"

"Alastair." Castiel answered easily, casting a brief glance at Naomi. He didn't bother mentioning the part where his mother was involved. He'd be lucky if John believed him about Alastair's intentions, accusing Naomi would be pushing it.

John's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did he do." It wasn't really a question, more of a demand for clarification.

"He kidnapped him and interfered with the fox hunt. He intended to bed Dean, for what purposes I'm not sure but. You'll find him somewhere in the deeper parts of the forest either dead or close to it."

Castiel was surprised when John merely gave him a curt nod and yelled at his guards to search for Alastair. The remaining guards took off into the forest, footsteps lightly quaking the earth.

John turned his attention back Castiel, his lips turned down in a subtle frown, "Castiel Novak, you have prevailed in recapturing my eldest son and returning him to the kingdom, as promised, he will become your mate."

Castiel nodded tersely, not missing the way Naomi's hands clenched tighter together in carefully hidden anger.

"See to your mate." John said impassively. Castiel nodded again, moving briskly towards the castle.

"Castiel." John called suddenly.

Castiel paused and turned to look at the man in confusion. The man stared distantly into the forest, not meeting Castiel's eyes, something akin to gratitude and regret gleaming in the corner's of his eyes, "Thank you."  He said, barely above a whisper.

Castiel blinked at him owlishly and gave a hesitant nod. Castiel walked as quickly as he could to the medical wing reaching the entrance in a record time. Before he could even open the door, the sharp smell of copper instantly assaulted his senses setting warning bells off inside his head.

<i>Blood.</i>

Castiel shoved the doors open, the smell of blood even stronger. His breath quickened when he saw Dean lying alarmingly still on a gurney, a woman and Adonis hovering busily over him with blood covering their gloved hands.

"What's wrong with him?" Castiel demanded. The woman ignored him in favor of grabbing a pair of what looked like elongated tweezers.

"Hey!" Castiel barked. The woman glared at him briefly before turning to Adonis and muttering something too quiet for Castiel's ears to pick up. Adonis nodded at what the woman had said, quickly removing his blood stained gloves, and made his way to Castiel.

"Adonis what—"

Adonis, with surprising strength, grabbed Castiel's wrist and dragged him out of the medical wing quickly shutting the door behind him.

"What are you doing?" Castiel snarled. "Let me back in there!"

Adonis gave his prince an unimpressed look and shook his head firmly, "I can't do that, Your Majesty."

"Why the hell not?" Castiel shot back, his teeth bared.

"Ellen can't do her job if all you're going to do is hover and get in the way. You need to stay here so she can keep him alive."

Castiel narrowed his eyes, but sighed and nodded his head. He was too drained to stay argument with Adonis. "Can you at least tell me how he is?"

Adonis sighed and crossed his arms. "Ellen's got him on a blood bag. He lost a lot of blood when she pulled out the bullet. The bullet tore through a lot of muscle and was about two inches from hitting his intestinal organs."

Castiel swallowed heavily, the pupils of his eyes shrinking in alarm.

"Ellen says he'll pull through." Adonis finished quickly, recognizing the panic in the alpha's eyes. "He's gonna be weak and really sluggish, but he'll be okay." The omega put a gentle hand on Castiel's shoulder. "He's gonna be fine. He's a fighter. Just stay here and I'll come get you when Ellen is done, okay?"

Castiel nodded absently, worry for his soon-to-be mate prickling in the back of his mind. Adonis twitched up in a sympathetic smile and quickly left the exhausted in outside to return to the medical wing. Castiel turned his back the medical wing door, the back of his head connecting with the wooden door with a soft <i>thump.</i> He slid down to the floor, drawing his aching knees up to his chest as he stared dazedly at the high ceiling. He didn't bother to move when he felt several bodies sit next to and around him, their scents already well embedded within his mind.

"How is he?" Sam's voice reached his ears.

Castiel eyes moved from the ceiling to see to Sam sitting to his left, Gabriel to his right, Charlie, Kevin, Crevan, and Valerie sitting in front of him.

Castiel raked a jittery hand through his sweaty dark hair and exhaled deeply. "Adonis said he lost a lot of blood and that bullet barely missed his intestines, but the Ellen lady has him on a blood bag and she said he should pull through."

He heard them all sigh in quiet relief at the promising news.

"He'll pull through." Sam said confidently, a bare hint of uncertainty in his tone, "My brother is stubborn. He's not gonna die on us."

Charlie and Kevin hummed in agreement. Castiel nodded, the worry still not completely gone from his thoughts. Gabriel leaned forward, the side of his head coming to rest on Castiel's shoulder. Castiel lifted his arm and wrapped it around Gabriel's shoulders, his fingers playing absently  with the hair that curled around his ears.

"He'll be okay." Gabriel murmured. The others scooted closer, hands laying gently on any part of Castiel's body they could reach, grounding the alpha until all traces of worry disappeared from his mind.

"We'll all be okay."