The Fall

Part 5

Castiel:

          He drifted in and out of consciousness, sifting through a stream of disconnected images. They were at someone’s house. Cas wasn’t entirely sure whose. An old army medic, an old friend, their father’s friend, maybe. Gabe showed up a little while later, or was it his dad? No, it wouldn’t be him. It was just Gabriel.

His brain was fuzzy and his skull was sore  after sustaining what was most likely one too many blows to the head. He couldn’t feel much at this point, just a couple of things here and there. The pain he felt was dull, though he knew it shouldn’t have been. His nose was broken, so was his hand, and maybe a rib. Still, the pain was distant, as if it was not his own, but someone else’s, and he was simply overhead watching it all take place. He knew one thing though, clear as day.

Dean was holding his hand.

Cas could feel that. It would have taken a hell of a lot more hits for him not to feel it. He hoped that the rest of them couldn’t see the flush of his cheeks but Cas was pretty sure that his nose was bleeding profusely enough to cover it. Something about it reminded him of being a kid again. Maybe it was the simplicity, which would make sense. There was something very pure about Dean. It wasn’t the most apparent thing about him, not at all, but after a while it became obvious. Dean drank, maybe smoked, he picked fights and womanized and he pretty much took the cake for screwiest childhood, but he was still good. Cas had never met anyone like that,

Maybe that wasn’t it though, maybe it was something else entirely. For the first time in a long time, years even, he felt protected.

Castiel felt safe with Dean.

Dean:

          Dean would be the first to admit, Cas wasn’t exactly looking his best at the moment. By the time that the three of them had made it to Bobby’s house, the guy had pretty much destroyed the impala’s upholstery. At the moment, though, the stained leather had hardly been his top priority, which was saying a lot, he loved his car like one would love their own child.

          Bobby was at the door only seconds after they knocked almost as if he had been waiting for them to come back all along. It would have been a comforting thought had circumstances been different. The second he saw Cas, his face drained of all color. Sam explained that it wasn’t a homicide, and once he had, Bobby made a beeline for his old medical kit.

          It took a good solid forty five minutes for them to get Cas all patched up, and half way through, Sam had gone to get Gabriel. The brothers had expected for Gabe to be a bit more alarmed to see Cas looking like he’d been tossed in a wood chipper, but he mostly just looked sad. Thank god for Bobby, though. Dean knew that he was the right person to call; he just wished he’d done it sooner.

“How’d this happen anyhow, boys?” Bobby asked      once Cas seemed to be all in one piece again.

“Some kids at school have a bone to pick with Sammy and me, Cas stuck up for Sam and got his face punched in.” Dean said.

Sam opened his mouth to speak and Dean cut him off, “This isn’t about him, he shouldn’t have gotten involved.”

“Looks like that’s how it ended up, though.” Gabriel said, “Hate to say it isn’t the first time.”

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“He didn’t transfer schools for fun, Samsquatch.”Gabriel said.

“Oh.” Sam said quietly.

“Assholes are as commonplace as table salt.” He continued, “Some kid started spreading rumors and Cas got caught in the crossfire. After a while, Dad kicked him out, and that’s how he ended up here.”