Move on

Him

Dean had loaded baby back up when Thomas returned.

"So I got a look at the tapes, Sam was definitely taken," Thomas held up his phone to show a screenshot of the video.

"Who the hell is that?" Dean snapped. The woman dragging an unconscious Sam out of their room was unfamiliar to him.

"I was hoping you'd know," Thomas shrugged.

Cas frowned, looking closer at the picture. "I've seen this symbol somewhere." He pointed at a necklace that hung from the woman's neck.

"How can you make that out?" Dean squinted but it was just a blur.

"He's an angel," Thomas said as if Dean had forgotten.

Dean grit his teeth to keep from snapping at the hunter. Dean had no reason to hate the guy other than the fact that he was jealous.

"The evidence," Cas said suddenly nodding.

"What evidence, Cas?" Dean was growing impatient. His brother was missing, taken out by a woman half his size and they were talking in incomplete sentences in the middle of a motel parking lot.

"Oh yeah, there was a piece of fabric in the hands of one of the victims. That symbol was on it."

"Weren't we thinking angels did this?" Dean hated to think that the person who took Sam was their monster.

"No, it was too clean. Their eyes were gouged out, not burned," Cas shook his head, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"So what are we thinking?" Dean needed answers.

"I don't know, Dean," Cas snapped back.

"Okay so we do some research, find out what this is," Dean threw his hands up. He hated research. It gave the monster time to kill his little brother.

"I'll get started," Thomas said far too enthusiastically for Dean.

-

Two hours later, and Dean couldn't take it anymore. "I've got nothing. How can this symbol be nothing?" he snapped, shoving away from the table where he was on Sam's laptop.

"It's not nothing, but it's hard to find something when we don't know what we're looking for," Thomas offered gently.

Dean only shot him a glare, which went unnoticed as the hunter had his nose in a book.

"Anything, Cas?" Dean demanded.

"If I had found something, I would have told you," Cas growled.

Dean dropped his head, "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about Sam. We don't even know if he's still alive."

"Aww man, you can't like that. Sam is a Winchester and you're nothing if not resilient. I've heard stories about you two that awe me. Sam's strong. He'll be okay. And as for us, we'll figure this out."

Dean hated how nice Thomas was. It almost made it hard to hate him.

"Isn't that right Cassie?"

Almost.

"I think we're wasting time talking about it," Cas said, turning back to his own book.

Dean took his seat when Cas jerked up. "Sam."

"What?" Dean frowned at the alert angel.

"He's praying to me. He's in a warehouse. He doesn't know where. He's tied to a bed, but he can't get himself free. He's alone."

Dean was back on his feet in an instant. "Can you like trace his prayer or something?" Dean demanded.

Cas only gave Dean an incredulous glare. "He said he hears a train."

"Oh there was that train track that lead just outside of town," Thomas nodded, as if remembering.

"So we find and follow it. They couldn't have gone terribly far in such a short amount of time," Dean slammed the laptop shut and grabbed the keys to the impala.

"Dean, we don't know what we're up against. We should wait and find out-"

"Wait? It's Sam, Cas. I'm not gonna wait," Dean interrupted.

Cas took a deep breath in through his nose and held it for a moment before standing up and letting it out through his mouth.

"You can go, but Tommy and I are going to stay here and find out what we're dealing with... so that we can deal with it... appropriately," Cas spoke sternly, trying to remain patient.

"If you want to go with him, Cassie, I can-"

"No, I don't," Cas cut Thomas off without looking away from Dean.

"Fine," Dean tried to ignore the hurt he felt at that. He had more important things to worry about, like Sam for one.

"Well I don't like the idea of you going in alone, so I'll go with him. Cassie, you can stay here and figure this out."

Dean was about to object, but Cas spoke up first.

"Call me if you need anything Tommy. I'll let you know as soon as I find something," Cas turned to the other hunter, his tone softer now.

"I don't need backup," Dean growled.

"Sam was easily overthrown by whatever we're dealing with. Accept the help and shut up," Cas snapped, turning back to Dean harshly.

Dean raised a brow in surprise at Cas but didn't respond.

"Come on, we should get going," Thomas stepped in then.

Dean turned and walked out the door without another word. He was supposed to be mending things between him and Cas, not making it worse.

"He's a little on edge. Don't let it get to ya," Thomas offered as they made their way to the impala.

Dean hated that Thomas talked to him about Cas like he didn't know him. Like he hadn't known him for years. Like he hadn't been pulled from hell by him. Like he hadn't defied all of heaven and hell with him. Like he hadn't fought through purgatory alongside him. Like hadn't experienced his loss. Like he wasn't an important part of him. Like he was a stranger. He wasn't. No matter how much Cas wanted to pretend they were. He could 'move on' all he wanted. But Dean knew him and he always would.

*AN*
Hope you like it!😊