Chapter Text
The room they all stood in was a disheveled mess with turned over furniture and peeling, worn wallpaper. The fact that the lights still worked was a questionable stroke of luck...but Dean wasn't feeling particularly lucky in the moment.
"I'm not leaving you, Cas, come on damn it!" Dean growled out, trying to get Castiel to stand.The Angel lay propped against the wall, his legs splayed out in front of his as his chest rose and fell in distress. They'd been going around and around for more minutes than they had and Cas was wearing out.
"Dean, I can't! Just run! Get your family out and go!" Cas panted out as the black veins spread across his skin. Ketch’s irradiation gun had done its job, and done it well. As they spread, they caused a dizzying pain to race through his blood. He lay out on the floor, his body arching in pain with every pulse of the black veined intruder. He had no control over his body and weakness made his arms and legs useless at his side.
Dean stood, looking back at Mary and Sam standing near the door anxiously. Sam looked devastated as he gripped his gun like a lifeline, his hands trembling as he looked down at Castiel. Mary looked guilty, as well she should. It was her lies about working with the Men of Letters that had led them all into this trap. Her remorse was no comfort to Dean at this moment, however. "Mom, Sam, go. I'll catch up."
Sam's eyes widened and he began to protest but Dean barked out, "Go!" And Sam obeyed, knowing there was no winning this fight. He let his eyes linger on Cas another moment before they ran.
"Dean, damn it, go! You can't help me," Cas growled through clenched teeth, sweat dewing on his forehead in a sickening sheen. Every word was a struggle as he fought his own body.
An idea struck Dean and he nodded to himself, his eyes tightening, knowing this would not go over well but seeing no other way. The thought of it made him swallow nervously...but this was Cas. "Yes, I can. Are you still able to leave your body?"
Castiel looked up at Dean, his eyes barely able to focus through the pain."Yes, I believe I can, but I would rather die than return to Heaven. If you're suggesting that I..."
Dean interrupted, knowing time was of the essence. "I'm not telling you to go back to Heaven," Dean said as he peered over his shoulder, watching for Ketch, knowing they would both be dead if he walked in now. "I'm inviting you in..." Dean locked eyes with Cas, seeing his eyes widen as he understood his words. "So, you know, get with the possessing. We'll come back for your body and we'll get Rowena and Crowley to figure out a way to undo this and get you back in..."
"Dean I won't..." Cas began, shaking his head weakly, his hands gripped into tight fists at his side. Dean crouched over him, watching the black veins grow before his very eyes and he wondered if it would be Ketch or his affliction that would do him in in the end...He had to convince him.
"Then we both die, cause I'm not leaving you here. Not leaving you again." They held one another's gaze, letting far too many seconds pass, until Cas nodded once, knowing he had to save Dean, had to get him away from Ketch. Dean knelt closer, impatience making him bark out his words. "Come on! We're out of time! Make with the Celestial intent!"
Castiel’s head threw back quickly and Dean watched the blue hazy glow he had seen escape from an Angel vessel slither out of Cas. Dean was willing but had a moment of panic as the first tendril touched his lips. He instinctively wanted to resist...but it was Castiel. He could sense him and his good intentions. Dean could even feel Cas’ own hesitation. He had seen other Angel’s take their vessels. There had been no hesitation, just take. Come on Cas…please. Let me help you for once you damn martyr. I’m not leaving without you. Dean prayed for Castiel’s haste and he felt his form absorb into his body. He felt a warmth radiate from his core but as soon as the glow dissipated, he blinked in surprise. He didn’t expect to be coherent. Why wasn’t Cas taking the wheel? He felt a buzzing in the back of his head and he could hear Cas. It wasn’t fully the voice he knew, but he felt Cas in the words.
This is your body. You control it. Now get out of here, Dean. Ketch will kill you without a second thought.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Dean spoke out loud, unwilling to answer in his head as he oriented himself, feeling a bit like he had double vision for a moment.
Apparently I have to tell you numerous times... Cas bit back, frustration and worry still evident in his tone.
Dean ran out the door, sparing a moment's glance for Cas' body, lying lifeless on the cheap, carpeted floor with the black veins obscuring his features. He turned to leave, feeling Cas' own hesitation at leaving his vessel behind as well. “We’ll get your body back, Cas.” Dean ran out the door, feeling stronger and faster than he had since his prime. He moved without pain, without burn in his lungs, without fear of a misstep. Castiel’s grace he assumed. He ran until he found Sam and Mary, waiting impatiently by the Impala at the edge of the property. He wasn’t even winded as he met up with them. A moment of guilt wrenched his stomach as he saw tears in Sam and Mary’s eyes.
Why are they crying? Dean felt Cas' confusion and he shook his head in disbelief.
“Because they think you’re dead you moron,” Dean growled softly as he came up to them both.
Mary began apologizing immediately. “Dean, I’m so sorry. I never meant…”
Sam interrupted, “Are you okay? We’ll come back for his body. He'll get a hunter’s funeral…” as he raked his hands under his eyes, brushing away tears before they could roll down his face.
“Hey guys! Cas is okay…Calm down,” Dean said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
“Dean…no. He’s not. He’s…” Sam said quietly, despair for the loss of Cas now changing to concern for his delusional brother.
“Here,” Dean tapped his head and Sam quirked his head to the side, not understanding Dean's intent.
“Yes, Dean, we’ll always remember him…” Sam said slowly, his eyes narrowed.
Sam is not very quick right now… Cas said with slight amusement.
Yeah, no kidding, buddy…” Dean mumbled out loud. “Sam! Damn it…Cas is using me as a vessel…He's safe, literally in here.” Dean tapped his head again.
And we don’t have time for this conversation now.
“Yeah, I’m trying to tell them that Cas..” Dean mumbled again softly as understanding mixed with disbelief dawned upon Sam and Mary and they both looked warily at Dean.
Get in the damn car, or I will take the reins Dean. Cas was impatient and Dean could understand why. Ketch was no one to trifle with.
“You’re not driving Baby,” Dean laughed softly as Sam tossed him the keys with a look of bewilderment trying to decide if he was talking to him..or to Cas..or he had lost his mind entirely.
But you’d willingly give me your body to wear…
Dean didn’t answer out loud this time. Castiel knew Dean had been willing to give up control of his body so that he could live. That spoke more than any words either of them could share.
“He’s like, talking in your head?” Sam said as he slid into the passenger seat and Mary got into the back. They sped out, Ketch out of sight, for now. The tires slung gravel behind them as they speed away, hopefully leaving Ketch and his sadistic toys far behind.
“Yeah, same snarky, grouchy guy...except different. I can’t explain it…” Dean said, his eyes glued to the road as he felt Sam and Mary staring at him from their seats.
I'm only grouchy when you take unnecessary risks...
“I can’t believe you’d let anything possess you, ever…” Sam said with confusion in his tone, his eyes looking at Dean as if he expected him to sprout a second head.
“He’s not an anything, he’s Cas. It was the only thing I could think of,” Dean said quietly, discomfort clouding his tone now.
“Dean, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for Cas to get hurt,” Mary said timidly from the backseat. She was curled in on herself, remorse and regret oozing from her body language.
Dean’s grip on the wheel tightened, his knuckles turning white with the strength of his grip. “No, you didn’t. You also didn’t tell us you were working with the British dicks, putting Cas in danger in the first place. You haven’t noticed how they look at him? Cause I have…”
Sam’s forehead scrunched as his eyes darted from Mary to Dean. “How are you even in control right now, Dean? Shouldn’t Castiel be, you know, truly possessing you?”
“Because he won’t do that to me, but I can feel him. His power. The amount of control he's using. I can’t really describe it...” Dean hesitantly answered. He didn’t like remembering Gadreel possessing Sam due to his own lies, and this drug up many of those old feelings.
Dean…You have to let it go. You didn’t know.
“Stop being my Jiminy Cricket…” Dean whispered softly under his breath.
“What?” Sam said, turning to Dean in alarm. His emotions were masked but Dean could see the concern behind his eyes.
Dean huffed and rolled his eyes. “I’m talking to Cas, damn it.”
“Why don’t you talk to him, you know, in your head? To negate confusion...” Sam said, a light laugh finally entering his tone.
Dean rolled his eyes at his brother as he ran one hand through his hair. “Oh, yeah, cause that’s not crazy?”
“And talking to yourself out loud doesn’t make you look crazy?” Sam added unhelpfully, compressing his lips to fight back the smile forming.
He has a point.
Dean sighed, exasperated already with his brother and Cas. “You’re literally riding shotgun in my brain and you still side with Sam?”
Sam laughed out loud, his teeth flashing in the dark. His worry being overshadowed by amusement. “He agrees with me? Of course he does.”
“Both of you shut up,” Dean said with a hint of a smile on his face, hidden by the dark outside.
“Dean…umm, not to bring up a sore subject, but is this a permanent arrangement or…” Mary said with uneasiness creeping into her tone as she watched him from the backseat.
“Until we get his body back, this is what we’re doing. Got a problem with that?” Dean’s eyebrow quirked as he spared a glance back at his mother over his shoulder defensiveness evident in his tone.
“No…no…” Mary said as she leaned back in her seat, the upholstery squeaking underneath her.
Dean glanced at her in the rear-view now, a look of guilt and unhappiness clouding her features. “Good. Cas is family. Family means no one gets left behind.”
You just quoted Lilo and Stitch…I knew you liked it when we watched it. Liar.
“Shut up, Cas,” Dean said, another grin flitting across his face as they found a place to park and hide out until Ketch cleared out and they could retrieve Castiel’s body.