Twisted [A Destiel Highscool AU]

Chapter 16

Castiel's POV
You can do this.
It's just Dean.
I stare at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Just Dean. I can totally do this.
"I can't do this," I mutter, tugging at a handful of my hair, tears welling up in my eyes. "Fuck, I can't- he hates me. He'll kill me."
"Cassie!" Anna's voice echoes from outside the door. "Cassie, mom and dad says its time to come down. Dean and his brother are here."
"Crap," I whisper. "I-I'll be right down, Anna."
"Okay. And Castiel? I believe in you."
I small smile flutters across my lips. "Thanks, Anna. Head downstairs now."
I can hear her skipping footsteps as she descends the stairs, probably heading into the living room.
"Okay." I stare myself down in the mirror. "I have to do this. I don't want to but I have to. Dean deserves the truth and he deserves an apology. He deserves- I need to- I can so this!"
I take a deep breath and wipe swiftly at my eyes. With my pep talk in mind I unlock the bathroom door and head downstairs.
Everyone is in the living room, and I mean everyone. I freeze in the doorway, struggling against the panic rising in my chest because fuck, I can't do this. I can't tell the story in front of everyone.
Then my eyes catch on Dean and I can't look away. He looks just as beautiful as he always has, but he also looks tired. So tired. He's looking backs at me and all I can think about for a moment is how much I want to wrap his in my arms and wrap my wings around him to block out the world. How much I want to hold him close and kiss him and make everything okay. I've never felt so protective of anyone but Gabriel before this, and even though I don't know why this... this human was the one who struck me, I know for certain how I feel about him.
I am deeply, undeniably in love with Dean Winchester and I will do anything to make him happy again.
"Hello, Dean," I say quietly, projecting my voice a little so my words will reach him.
"Cas," he says cooly. His tone suggests everything his words don't say, but the fact that he still calls me by my nickname is a good sign. I hope.
I flash him what I hope is a reassuring smile and step further into the room. I glance around, looking for Gabriel- there. Sitting beside... Sam. Oh. I bite my lip and look down. He must have made friends with the kid and now he's going to he so disappointed in me.
"We're all here, Castiel," mother speaks up. "You can start now."
I give her a look that is pretty obvious asking if I have to and she arches her eyebrows at me in a yes. I sigh quietly and turn towards Dean. After all, he's the only reason I agreed to willingly do this.
He deserves the truth.
"I told you before that I'm adopted."
Dean just watches me silently, but Gabriel leaves Sam and comes to stand beside me, a show of support that I welcome and I flash him a small smile of thanks before I continue.
"I was about five when I was adopted. And Gabriel was two. See, he's my blood brother. We were both adopted together."
Sam is sitting to attention now, watching me and Gabriel, but mostly Gabriel. Dean appears just as disinterested before. I watch him for a moment longer, hoping for a reaction, but when none comes I just continue.
"Our parents... they didn't die in a car crash. They didn't get sick, and they didn't leave us." I glance over at Gabriel and he nods and gives me a reassuring smile. I look back towards Dean, then look at Sam as well. "Our parents were murdered. There's... there is this organization of people. Humans, actually, who think that angels are a blight upon the earth and that we all need to be removed. Nobody really knows anything about them except that they kill angels whenever possible, that they take out contracts against angels. None of them have ever been caught."
I swallow hard and take a moment. Reciting the facts is always the easy part, but mom and dad said I needed to tell the actual story. Sam is looking slightly horrified and Dean just looks... shocked. His beautiful green eyes are wide with horror and maybe even a little fear. I glance at Gabriel again, just to make sure he's okay, then take a deep breath and start on the hard part.
"The..." My voice comes out as a whisper and I quickly put more volume into my words. "The night it happened I was at my friend's house. They brought me home and I let myself in, like I always did. It... it was quiet in the house..."
"Mama? Papa?"
Where is everyone? And why is it so dark? Castiel creeps forward along the wall until he finds the light switch, stretching up on his toes to reach it. The light reveals nothing other than the usual bit of entryway. Castiel frowns and pokes his head into the kitchen.
Nope. No one there.
"Gabby?" His voice echoes creepily and he shivers. He doesn't like being alone. But- there! That's his baby brother's cry. He sounds scared too. Where are mama and papa?
"M comin' Gabby!" He yells before he begins climbing the stairs to their shared room where he's sure the cry is coming from. Castiel grunts with effort, his little legs straining to reach each new step. He wishes he was tall and fast like papa. Then he could get to Gabby faster.
"Comin'," he pants to himself. "Comin' Gabby, don't cry." He finally manages to reach the top of the stairs and runs into his and Gabriel's room. His brother is standing up in his crib, gripping the wooden slats and wailing loudly.
"M here, Gabby!" He announces proudly. "M gonna take care of you till we find mama and papa." But Gabriel won't stop crying. He looks funny too, like he's been painting his face again, but it's hard to tell because its so dark. So Castiel feels along the wall again until he finds the light switch. He doesn't have to stretch for this one because papa put it down lower so he could reach easily.
Castiel wishes he had never turned it on the minute he does.
Gabriel is still crying and there's definitely something on his face, something red and runny that reminds Castiel of the icky stuff that was in a scary movie he wasn't supposed to see that his parents had been watching one night.
Of course, that isn't the scary part. The scary part is that his mama and his papa are laying on the floor and the red stuff is all over them and Castiel thinks it might actually be coming from inside them because its all over their mouths. And it gets even scarier when Castiel realizes that mama and papa's beautiful wings are not where they should be. They're still there, not behind their back like they normally are, but laid out beside them, covered it yet more of the red stuff.
Castiel stares and stares for a very long time. He doesn't understand. Why aren't mama and papa moving? Why isn't mama getting up and holding Gabriel like she always does when he's sad. Finally, he gathers the courage to go over and nudge them gently with his toe.
"Mama?" He whispers. "Mama you have to get up. Gabby is sad and- and I'm hungry for dinner. You said we could have mac'n cheese, and pudding for dessert." When she doesn't respond he turns to his papa.
"Papa, make mama wake up. Aren't you hungry too? You're always hungry papa." And when his papa doesn't respond he turns to Gabriel, who has stopped crying and is watching him with big eyes.
Castiel walks over to the crib. "Gabby, I think this is a 'mergency." He says the last word very slowly, trying to remember exactly how it sounds. "Gabby the police man at school said that the 'mergency number is... is..." He frowns and runs over to his bed, avoiding stepping on his silent parents. He reaches into his drawer and pulls out a scrap of paper with '911' written on it in big red numbers. The police officer who had visited his preschool to teach them about his job had given each of them one if these numbers for "'mergencies" and now Castiel knows he can use it. He clutches it close to his chest, reassures Gabriel that he will be right back, and runs to his parents room to get the telephone.
When he comes back, Gabriel is crying again. Castiel pushes the phone and the piece of paper through the slats of his crib, then quickly climbs in beside him.
"S okay, Gabby," he whispers. "S okay. Here." He pulls a sucker his teacher gave him out of his pocket and unwraps it for Gabriel before handing it to him. He knows Gabriel isn't supposed to have candy but he guesses that it'll be okay just this one time. And anyways, the candy makes him quiet so Castiel can concentrate on making the phone call.
With careful precision, he punches in the three numbers, frowning deeply at the phone before pressing the green button. Then he holds it up to his ear just like mama does when she talks to her friends.
"Nine one one, what's your emergency?"
"My-my mama and papa won't wake up." His voice quavers and he hugs Gabriel, wrinkling his nose at the wet feeling of the red stuff. "And Gabby has icky red stuff on him and mama and papa's wings are all funny looking."
The lady is quiet for a minute. "Tell me your name, honey?"
"Cas'iel Novak," he replies dutifully. "And Gabby is my brother and he's very sad so I gave him my sucker."
"That's very nice of you. Now, you said your mommy and daddy won't wake up?"
"Uhuh," he agrees. "I poked them and mama wasn't getting up from the floor to help Gabby even though he was crying lots. So I 'acided it was a 'mergency like the police man said at school and I called the 'mergency number."
"Well that was very smart of you, dear," the woman says. "Now listen, I'm going to send some police officers out to your house to help you and your brother, okay? You just stay right where you are and they'll come find you."
"Okay. An' thank you," he says politely, just like he was taught, before he adds, "Please tell the police man to hurry and wake mama up. I'm very hungry and she said she was gonna make me mac'n cheese."
"... And the police officers came and took us away." My hands are clenched tightly by my sides and I can very clearly hear Gabriel worrying away at his sucker beside me. He's rarely been without one in his mouth since that night. "I... the officer who took me and Gabe to his car was an angel too. And then I heard him talking to another angel officer about what had happened. He said, 'another killing by that damn pro-human group. Will they never stop?' And- and I sort of fixated on that." My voice drops to a whisper and I drop my gaze to the ground. "Humans killed my parents because they were angels and I just... Sam was new. It seemed like he was avoiding angels and something in me just went, hey, he hates my kind. I should stop a future pro-human while I can."
I look up at Sam. I can't bear to look at Dean just yet, but Sam I can handle. His face is warring between horror and pity. The pity I hate. It's why I don't want to look at Dean, because I'm sure that's what will be on his face.
"I knew, on some level that it was wrong. The whole time I was hurting you, Sam, it was nagging at me. I just couldn't stop. And I'm sorry for that. I didn't even think- if it had been Gabe getting hurt I would have gone berserk. And obviously I... I have a problem. So I've agreed to try some, uh, well to try seeing a shrink about it." Gabriel gives my shoulder a quick squeeze. "Sam, I'm so sorry and I just pray that you can find it in yourself to forgive me."
Sam surprises me by immediately nodding. "I won't pretend to be able to completely understand what you've been through, but I can sympathize. Our mom died in a fire when Dean and I were about the same ages and if I found out she had been murdered instead, I would want to hurt the people who hurt her."
"Same," Dean says in a gruff voice. I turn my head to finally look at him. There's no pity on his face like I would have expected, just a quiet blankness, like it was too much for him and he just shut down emotionally. "So I... I guess I can maybe forgive you."
"Me too," Sam pipes up with a warm smile that ends up being directed entirely at Gabriel. The whole room seems to lose a major load of tension the minute they say those words.
"Well," mom says briskly, standing and dusting her hands off. "I'd better go make sure dinner is warm. You can all come to the table in ten minutes." She walks out of the room, followed closely by dad, and then by Anna who chimes that she's going to help mom in the kitchen.
That leaves me and Gabriel standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, Lucifer and Michael still cuddling in their loveseat, and Dean, Alfie, and Sam sitting on their respective couches. I glance over at Gabriel and he grins at me before tugging me over to Dean and Alfie's couch.
"Have fun, kids," he says with a smirk, pushing my shoulder hard so I stumble forward and land between my brother and Dean. Then he waltzes over to Sam and starts talking animatedly to him again.
"So," Dean says slowly, looking at his hands. "That's your blood brother? Cuz you guys are nothing alike."
"Yeah, well." I rub the back of my neck, shifting into a position that's more comfortable for my wings. "He is my brother. I'm sure of that."
"Huh. Hey... you said he was younger than you by, what, three years?" I nod and he finally glances at me. "Okay, so you're a senior. So why isn't he a freshman?"
"Oh... um..." I glance over at Gabe, my mouth drawing into a hard line. "Because of... he was really traumatized by everything that happened and he... he gets a lot of panic attacks. Needs things to be a certain way or he loses it. Mom homeschools him so he can be comfortable."
"Oh," Dean says softly. "Wow. That's... that's rough man. I'm sorry."
I peek sideways at him, unable to help the soft smile that plays over my lips. Dean just makes my heart flip inside of me every time he speaks. "He seems to be getting along with Sam. I'm really glad of that. He... doesn't have many friends outside of the family, so it's nice that he likes Sam."
"Yeah," Dean says slowly, his voice taking on the calculating one it sometimes does when he's thinking something through. "Yeah, it's... really nice."
I turn my head to smile at Dean, happy to be able to study his beautiful face once again. His eyes are, as always, enrapturing, but I decide that today's focus will be the adorable spray of freckles across his nose and cheekbones.
Dean arches an eyebrow at me. I swear, he has an entire eyebrow language worked out. "Uh, hey, while we're apologizing... I'm sorry about your wing." He gestures at my back, his cheeks growing pink, the color making his freckles pop. I smile widely and shake my head.
"It's fine. You had every right to hurt me even more than you did." He seems to wince at that so I quickly move on. "Actually, I've been wondering how you knew that there was a weak spot there. I mean, I didn't know myself, and dad says not a lot f people would know stuff like that."
Dean looks mildly panicked for a moment and I'm about to rush to reassure him that he doesn't have to tell me when he answers.
"I, uh, I had some trouble with a couple of angels at my last school. So when I finally got tired of it, I figured, hey, wings are probably sensitive, right? So I looked up pressure points on the Internet and well, they worked."
I nod slowly, a small frown on my lips. Dean was bullied? Why? Why would anyone ever bully someone as beautiful as him?
"Dean, why-"
But before I can finish I get distracted by a sudden blur of white from across the room. Dean sits up straight, staring in confusion at the huge, tangled ball of feathers, arms, and legs that is Michael and Lucifer caught up in an aggressive makeout session.
I roll my eyes and glance at Dean. "Adorable, aren't they?" I say sarcastically.
"Uh... yeah. Adorable is one word for it." He glances at Alfie who is grinning widely. "Dude, what's up with them? Like, Michael is so weirdly... un-Michaelish."
"Nice word choice," Alfie says dryly. "I love your extensive use of adjectives." Dean's cheeks turn a furious shade of pink and his freckles stand out against his skin.
"Hey man, don't make fun of me," he mutters, ducking his head. Alfie's grin widens and I can't help the soft chuckle that wells past my lips.
"It's cuz they're, like, soulmates," Alfie finally says, waving his fingers vaguely at the two on the floor.
"Soulmates," dean deadpans, arching an eyebrow.
"It's an angel thing," I supply. "Doesn't happen to all of us, but a good amount. My-my blood parents were soulmates."
Dean snorts and shakes his head. "How do you even know something like that? I mean humans- we humans say things like we have soulmates. So why is it an angel thing."
"Because angels have legitimate soulmates, Dean," Alfie says seriously. "Technically the proper word for it is Grace-mates, but humans understand the term soulmates better."
Dean glances quizzically at Lucifer and Michael, then at me, then at Alfie. "But how do you tell? I mean, there gotta be a way to tell, if its as important as you make it sound."
Alfie blinks at him like he's surprised. "Of course there's a way to tell."
"And that way would be..." He prompts.
I chuckle and shake my head. "Their wings, Dean. They match perfectly, The color, the shape. Our wings are what make us outwardly different than humans so we use them to find our soulmates. Of course, our souls are similar too, but it's much harder to see a soul." The last part I say in a teasing tone, glancing at Dean through my eyelashes.
He frozen, staring at me with wide, horrified eyes.
I frown. "Dean? What is it?"
He stared for a second longer before his face clears of all emotion and he shakes his head. "It's- it's nothing Cas. Nothing at all."
A/N
Dun dun duuunnnn.
Um. So yeah. That happened. Poor Dean.
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