Chapter Text
Dean cradled Castiel’s head in his lap as Sam tended to the gaping wound in the angel’s stomach.
It had been two days. Two long days of cleaning the wound and re-dressing it every few hours. The bleeding had begun to slow, but that was only because there was hardly any blood left in Castiel’s body. The only reason he wasn’t dead was because of the little grace he had left.
They’d walked into a trap; a trap specifically designed for Castiel. The demons or angels or whoever had set it up had wanted to incapacitate him so that they could come and collect – he’d had a bounty on his head ever since the apocalypse was over, as had they all. And incapacitate – as much of an understatement as it was - is exactly what they had managed to do.
After Castiel had stopped screaming, he and Sam had piled him into the back of the impala and headed straight to Bobby’s. The older man hadn’t really known what to do anymore than Dean and Sam had, but he’d helped anyway, hitting the books as soon as they managed to get Castiel comfortable enough.
After a lot of research on Sam and Bobby’s part – Dean had barely left Castiel’s side, terrified that if he did the angel wouldn’t be there anymore when he came back – they had deduced that it was some kind of poison that Castiel had been stabbed with. It was the only explanation as to why they couldn’t get the wound to remain closed and stop bleeding.
“Dean?”
Dean looked down into Castiel’s eyes - still perfectly blue even though the light behind them was fading – while doing his best not to pay attention to the grey pallor of his skin, “Yeah Cas?”
“This body is dying,” Castiel croaked.
Dean shook his head and gently stroked Castiel’s sweat soaked hair, “No. No you’re gonna be fine.”
Castiel gave him a soft smile, “It’s going to be alright Dean,” he said softly as he brought a shaky hand up. Dean reached down and let Castiel take a hold of it in a loose grip. “I need to leave.”
Dean shook his head again, “We’ll figure it out Cas. I promise.”
“There’s not enough time,” Castiel said with a slight shake of his head. “I have to find another vessel.”
Dean stared down at Castiel in confusion, aware that Sam was doing the same, frozen in his task to clean up the wound.
“Another vessel?”
“Yes. But I have to go now or I’ll be too late.”
“Cas…”
“Close your eyes,” Castiel interrupted, letting go of Dean’s hand.
Still not sure what exactly was going on, Dean was a bit too slow off the mark, only closing his eyes once the bright light started to flare out of Castiel’s eyes and mouth and he realised he was about to come face to face with his true form.
He threw himself to the floor, covering up his eyes and ears while shouting for Sam to do the same. Bobby, who was in his room sleeping, would be safe – hopefully. He could feel the light of Castiel burning his skin as he rose from his vessel, and then as if someone had just flipped the switch, the light was gone.
“Dean?”
Dean slowly raised his head to look at Sam who was kneeling, staring at the couch where Castiel had lain, only now there was no Castiel. Dean turned to look and almost gasped at the sight of Jimmy’s dead body.
“What do we do?” Sam asked as they both scrabbled to their feet and made their way over to it.
Dean dragged a hand over his face, not sure what to do. They had known for a while now that Jimmy’s soul had gone so it really was just an empty shell.
“Sew him up,” Dean said as he moved over and closed the now dull grey eyes, “If Cas can’t find another vessel then he’ll need something to come back to.”
Sam moved to do as he was told but frowned as he did so, “Doesn’t he need a living body to come back to?”
“I don’t know, but we can’t burn him yet can we?” Dean snapped. “Look, just go let Bobby know what happened so he doesn’t think Cas up and died on us or something. I’ll sew him up.”
“Dean you don’t have to…”
But it was too late, Dean had already knelt down beside Jimmy’s body, Castiel’s body, and had grabbed the needle and thread from their first aid kit. This was something he had to do. He owed it to both Castiel and Jimmy to take care of their body while they were gone. He just hoped that Castiel managed to find himself a vessel soon. The angel was weaker than he had ever been and if he didn’t find one… well then, he dreaded to think what might happen to him otherwise.
Dean was sitting in the kitchen, nursing a beer and staring down at the tabletop while he listened to Sam and Bobby talk in hushed tones together. He knew they were talking about him, and how he was taking Castiel’s sudden disappearance. It was kind of stupid of him to get so worried, to act like Castiel really had died and wasn’t ever coming back, he was well aware of that. But Castiel was his friend; well he was the closest thing he’d ever had to a friend. The guy had done so much for him and he’d never once said thank you.
He depended on Castiel more than he was comfortable with admitting. He enjoyed being around the guy, guiding him through his first human experiences, getting to know the angel underneath the coat; what made him laugh, what made him sad. He knew him better than he knew Sam now, cared about him just as much, so yeah – he was worried.
“Hey,” Sam said as he came into the kitchen. “We’re gonna order some pizza, you want some?”
“Sure,” Dean said with a shrug as he downed the last of his beer and stood up. “We should probably get one for Cas too in case he comes back and is hungry.”
Sam halted a little as he turned to walk back out, but nodded anyway, knowing it would be better to just go along with Dean rather than to try and argue. Dean followed him back into the living room where Bobby was sat watching one of the news channels, looking for omens and other signs of demon behaviour. However, as Dean sat down and turned to the screen himself, it wasn’t the reporting of demon behaviour that caught his attention, but the report of a ten-car pile up on a freeway in Ohio.
Apparently, most of those involved in the crash had survived. All but those who had been in what was believed to be a prisoner transport van, and the vehicle that had caused the crash. It was on fire at the moment, being doused by fire fighters who hadn’t long been on the scene. It looked pretty horrific from the images they were getting from the helicopter in the air, and while pile ups weren’t that unusual on freeways, there was just something about this one that seemed a little off with Dean.
Then someone knocked on Bobby’s front door.
“Is that the pizza?” Dean asked as he stood up.
“I haven’t called yet,” Sam said with a shake of his head.
“Wait here,” Bobby told them as he grabbed his shotgun and wheeled over to the door.
Both Dean and Sam grabbed weapons too, however when Bobby opened the door, wide enough for them both to see who was there, Dean quickly realised that they probably didn’t need them.
Leaning against the doorframe, looking absolutely exhausted was a girl. Well, not a girl per se, but a young woman in her early twenties with pale skin, long dark hair pulled back into a tight pony tail to show a small tattoo of a flower on her neck. She was slim with sharp features, but not unattractive, if anything, they suited her frame. However, they couldn’t exactly see much of her frame as it was hidden underneath an orange jump suit.
“Who the hell are you?!” Bobby demanded to know, his eyes going from the cuffed hands down to the cuffed feet and back up again.
The girl looked up then, looked at Bobby first and then straight past him to Dean, staring at him with eyes so blue that it was unmistakable.
“Cas?”
The girl smiled, “Hello Dean.”
Dean stood and stared at Castiel as Sam made quick work of picking the locks on her cuffs. “Her” - that should sound weird, but for some reason it just didn’t. It suited Castiel, just as much as “his” had.
“So that got anything to do with you?” Bobby asked as he pointed to the TV.
Castiel looked over Bobby’s shoulder and frowned, “I didn’t think it would cause as much devastation,” she said in a voice that while feminine, still held the deep, gravely tone of the Castiel from before.
“The only people who died were the ones in the prison van,” Sam reassured her as it looked like she might be getting upset.
“Oh. That’s not as upsetting then,” Castiel then said. “The men in the vehicle weren’t nice people and were planning on doing… things to Molly. They will suffer for their sins in Hell.”
“Molly?” Dean asked. “That the girl you’re wearing?”
“It was. Molly Thomson. She was being transported to a maximum security facility where she would be spending the rest of her life on death row and I could hear her praying for help,” Castiel explained. “Giving one’s body over to the Host of Heaven is one way to ensure that when your soul moves on, it will be saved.”
Dean stared at her for a moment as silence fell amongst the four of them, “Death row?”
“She killed her abusive boyfriend while he slept,” she told him as she flexed her now free hands and feet.
“And she got sentenced to death?” Sam asked, a look of horror on his face.
Castiel shrugged, “She has moved on now and is no longer suffering. That’s the most important thing here.”
“Moved on?” Bobby asked.
“As I entered her,” Castiel began, glaring at Dean when he snorted in amusement, “the brightness of my true form caused panic amongst the other occupants of the vehicle and for it to crash. Molly became injured and was dying. I waited until her soul left her body before entering as I know that should I continue to be exiled, I will eventually become human and take complete ownership of her body.”
“So Molly’s left the building?” Dean asked. “That’s all you now?”
“Yes,” Castiel nodded before looking about the room. “What happened to my other vessel?”
“Jimmy?” Dean asked, “we put him downstairs for now.”
Castiel nodded, “Good. We should burn it tonight before people come looking for it.”
“Who would be looking for uh, ‘it’?” Sam asked.
“Whoever set that trap,” Dean answered for her. “They had to know that it would kill Cas or that body at least…”
“And they will want confirmation of the fact,” Castiel finished, frown in place and looking so much like his old self that it kind of freaked Dean out a little.
“Hey Cas?” he asked. “A word?”
Castiel nodded at Dean and followed him into the kitchen, heavy prison boots stomping hard against the wooden floors. Dean stood at the door and watched her walk over to the fridge and pull out a bottle of soda and tried his best not to stare at the sway of her hips or the swell of her ass as she bent over.
“You’re staring,” Castiel told him, breaking him out of his reverie.
“Sorry,” he said as he turned and closed the door over, “just not used to seeing you like that.”
“The novelty should wear off soon,” Castiel told him with a small smile.
Dean gave her a smile back before grabbing his own soda, forgoing the beer for the moment, “So, she’s related to Jimmy right?” Dean asked.
Castiel stared at him in surprise.
“Come on, Michael explained about the blood lines, and I’ve seen you inside Claire Novak, so it stands to reason that this girl has to have some Novak blood in her.”
Castiel sighed, “She was Jimmy’s first daughter.”
Dean had just taken a sip of his soda and so naturally and ended up spitting it all over himself as he tried not to choke.
“What? Are you kidding me? Jimmy had to have been like… twelve!”
“Fourteen actually,” Castiel said. “He met Molly’s mother while on vacation in Ohio. She was a year older. He never knew he had another daughter.”
“Shit,” Dean muttered to himself as he absorbed that information. “So I take it she didn’t exactly have the best childhood.”
“It was troubled yes,” Castiel nodded, “but she was loved dearly by her mother and had a good soul that shone brightly even while faced with death.”
Dean sipped at his soda, “So how come you never used her as a vessel before?” He asked before pointing to the necklace around Castiel’s neck that held a small crucifix. “I mean, looks like she was a believer.”
“You would never have trusted me had I shown up in a female vessel to our first meeting. You are notoriously wary of strange women,” Castiel explained, smiling at Dean’s ‘damn right’ before continuing. “Besides, she wasn’t ready,” she added through a yawn.
“You tired?” Dean asked in surprise.
“The past few days have been exhausting. I need to rest.”
“Well, you’re kinda covered in dirt from the crash,” Dean began, “why don’t you go grab a shower, it’ll help. Sam’s ordering pizza, so it should be here by the time you’re done.”
“A shower sounds like a good idea,” Castiel nodded, passing her soda to Dean before she made her way out into the hall and headed up the stairs to the bathroom.
Once more, Dean found himself staring at her as she walked away from him. He had no idea if she was doing it deliberately or not, or if she’d always had that hip sway and it’d been hidden by the coat, but it was damn right hypnotic and he knew, just knew, that it was going to get him into a whole world of trouble.
As the pizza had been delivered mere moments ago, Dean was in the kitchen with Sam and Bobby as they fought over who was having what. They had only ordered three pizzas and would give a slice each to Castiel, as she didn’t eat much. Trouble was, Sam had ordered the pizzas forgetting that she didn’t like spicy things or mushrooms and both Bobby and Sam had a spicy meat feast and extra mushrooms respectively. So Dean, while happy to split with Castiel, was trying to get Bobby and Sam to give him a slice of their pizza – they weren’t exactly enthusiastic about it.
Finally managing to extract a slice from Sam, Dean was just putting it onto his half of the pizza box – who needed plates? – when they heard the soft padding of footsteps walking down the hall, signalling Castiel’s approach.
“Dean.”
As one, the three men turned to look at Castiel, then faster than a speeding bullet they all turned away again.
“Dude!” Dean shouted. “You’re naked!”
“I have no clean clothing,” Castiel explained. “That’s what I came to tell you.”
“Right, well just go wrap a towel round yourself or something and we’ll find you something okay?”
“Yes. Okay,” Castiel said before the sound of her footsteps made their way up the stairs again.
“Dude, you got to talk to her about what she can and can’t do now she’s a girl,” Sam said.
“Why do I gotta talk to her?”
“’Cause, she’s your angel!” Bobby proclaimed.
Dean didn’t even try to argue or ask Bobby to not call her ‘his angel’ like he usually did, but instead just sighed and rubbed a tired hand over his eyes.
“She just doesn’t understand the differences between guys and girls,” he explained. “I mean, I’ve been trying so damn hard to get her to fit in as a guy, how the Hell am I gonna teach her to be a girl? Surely Samantha would be better suited for this job?”
“Nuh uh,” Sam said with a shake of his head, “you heard Bobby, she’s your angel. You deal with it.”
Dean scowled at his brother, then at Bobby whose eyes were twinkling with mischief.
“Fine. But don’t touch my pizza,” he yelled before making his way up the stairs.
He found Castiel in the hallway, towel wrapped haphazardly around her waist, covering her bottom half only.
“Okay, first off,” Dean said as he looked pointedly at the ceiling, “when I said wrap a towel around yourself, I meant from the chest down. Not just your waist.”
“You only cover yourself from your waist down,” Castiel argued.
“Yeah, well. I’m a guy. I don’t have boobs like you.”
“Boobs?”
“Yes Cas. You’re a girl now and so you should cover all your girl parts, boobs included – they’re what we humans call women’s breasts.”
“Oh. Of course.”
Dean could hear the rustling of fabric and made the mistake of looking down. There was a flash of pale flesh and what looked like another tattoo before all the important bits were covered up.
“Like this?” Castiel asked.
“Yeah that’s better,” Dean nodded as he stepped forward. “Just pull it a bit tighter so you don’t have to hold it up with your hands.”
Castiel pulled the towel tighter, making her smallish – who was Dean kidding? They were perfectly sized – breasts push up to create one helluva cleavage, but she was still holding on.
“Like this?”
“Kinda,” Dean said. However, he found himself stepping forward and fixing the towel properly tucking the tail end of it inside the rest so that it stayed up on its own.
He did his best to concentrate on the towel, to not think about what it was covering, what that other tattoo was of or how smooth that skin looked, or indeed the way the water dripped from her hair down onto her naked shoulder before trailing over the curve of her breasts….
“Grab a towel for your hair and follow me,” he said as he shook himself out of his stupor.
Castiel nodded and went to do as she was told, allowing Dean the opportunity to take a deep breath and just calm himself. This was Castiel for Christ’s sake! It wasn’t right to be having all kinds of dirty thoughts about her. Sure, she was hot, but she was his friend first and foremost, so yeah, bad thoughts were bad.
Giving himself another shake to get him to think straight, he made his way towards the room Sam had dumped his gear in for him, the room he hadn’t slept in since they arrived there as he’d been too busy holding a vigil by Castiel’s side.
He stepped into the room and immediately noticed a pile of orange on the floor. Apparently Castiel had stripped off in here – bad thoughts, bad thoughts – so he stepped over the pile and went to his bag, searching for the smallest pair of pj’s or sweatpants that he owned.
He was just pulling out a pair of grey flannel pj pants when Castiel joined him, loosely towelling at her hair. Dean just signalled for her to sit on the bed while he continued rummaging. He quickly found an old Black Sabbath t-shirt that he’d had since he was a teenager and was so small he couldn’t even get an arm through the sleeves. He only kept it for sentimental reasons, but it would no doubt fit Castiel perfectly.
Then he grabbed a thick pair of socks and his old ‘I’m not well so I need to feel comfy and warm’ hoody.
“It can get cold here sometimes, so you might want to put the socks and sweatshirt on too.”
“Thank you,” Castiel said, dropping the towel from her head as she smiled up at him.
“Wow. Your hair is really kind long,” Dean pointed out. “I have no idea what you should do with it. Sam should though.”
Castiel smiled and lifted up a hair band that had been lying on the bed to tie her hair up with in the same style it had been when she first arrived, “I’d rather not risk my life by asking him for styling advice. But thank you for the suggestion,” she said.
Dean smiled in return, “Just put that stuff on and come down for your pizza,” he told her before turning to the pile of clothing on the floor. “I’ll sort through this and wash it so it’s clean and dry for the morning.”
“Thank you Dean,” Castiel said, a small look of appreciation on her face.
“Yeah well, don’t say I never did nothing for you,” Dean grumbled as he scooped up the clothes and headed down the stairs.
When he got to the kitchen, Bobby and Sam had vacated it in favour of the living room, which in retrospect, he was very thankful for, as when he started to sort through Castiel’s laundry, he realised she had left her underwear amongst it all; her small, black, lacey underwear. As he stared at it, trying his best not to imagine Castiel wearing them – or not wearing them while currently wearing his pj’s - he quickly put them to the side with the pile of ‘to keep’ items along with the cargo pants, grey tee and socks. The jumpsuit being the only item to get tossed.
As fast as he could, before Sam came in and saw, he shoved the laundry into the washer and pressed start. He knew that some girls liked to hand wash their delicates, but there was no in Hell he was going to stand at the kitchen sink and scrub Castiel’s panties.
“Is this appropriate?” Castiel asked as she entered the kitchen.
Dean turned and could feel his jaw dropping a little. She was wearing everything but the hoody, but my God! The pj pants, while rolled up around the ankles so she wouldn’t trip, were also sitting very low on her hips. One tug and they would fall right down – there goes those bad thoughts again – and the t-shirt… fuck! It hugged her in all the right places and was just a little bit too short, allowing the jut of her hips and the tip of that second tattoo to be visible to anyone who looked. Fuck only knew how much would be on view if she reached above her head.
“Yeah,” Dean finally said. “Fine.”
Castiel nodded, seemingly happy before pointing to the table, “Pizza?”
“Oh yeah,” Dean said as he jumped into action.
He handed Castiel her pizza then lifted his own. Grabbing a couple of sodas, he then led the way into the living room to join the other two.
Both men did a double take at the sight of Castiel in Dean’s clothes, but neither said anything, instead turning back to the TV. They were watching the update on the pile up and the reporter was talking about Molly Thomson and how it was believed that she had died in the crash, but the damage from the fire made it extremely difficult to identify all of the separate body parts, especially since half of them had been completely destroyed.
Dean settled himself down on the couch and as Castiel sat down next to him, placing her hand on his thigh as she adjusted herself to get comfortable, Dean was so unbelievably thankful that Sam and Bobby were looking the other way as he was positive that the heat from Castiel’s hand had travelled up his thigh, across his groin and than right up to his neck and face, where he knew he’d be blushing like a big girl.
He was so fucking screwed.
TBC