Chapter Text
(4,385 words)
The next time he opens his eyes, it's to someone shaking his shoulders. Castiel tries to shift away from it, but can't quite manage, and the shaking continues. He finally peels his eyes open to glare at whoever dares try to rouse him, only to find a very blurry yet frantic Gabriel hovering over him, gills flared out in his apparent panic. Castiel's own gills flutter in response, but he can't manage much more than that.
"Yeah, that's good, just stay awake." Gabriel then wraps an arm under Castiel's arms and starts swimming upwards, quickly bringing them both to the surface. The sudden rush of cold air that hits them when they surface makes Castiel shiver, shifting closer to his brother. "Juuust relax, Cassie, I'll take care of everything, just like I always do. Just hang tight, Cas, I've gotcha." He's rambling, though Castiel can tell he has no idea where they even are. "You just focus on staying awake, I got the rest."
Gabriel swims closer to the unfamiliar shoreline and hauls him up onto the ground that's more gravel than sand. Castiel can't help but groan and try to curl in on himself as the cold air bites at his wet skin, which makes Gabriel curse and pull him back into the water, only to set him down on the edge where the water is shallow, if still a little rocky. Personally, he'd rather be at the bottom where the water is warmer, if only marginally so.
"I'll be right back. Just hang in there, Cas," Gabriel tells him, sounding far away. "Don't fall asleep!"
Castiel tries to stay awake, if only to appease his brother, but within five minutes, he throws up the human breakfast he had that morning, curls into a ball, and passes out again.
-
The next time he wakes up, it's to something cold pressing against his chest. His eyes fly open, and he finds himself staring into the eyes of a female with dark hair and a white coat. Startled, Castiel hurriedly sits up, only to bump heads with the female leaning over him.
She rubs at her forehead, but also presses a hand to his chest and pushes him back down. "Hey, easy." Castiel shifts against her hold, though he realizes quickly that he's too weak to properly fight her. "Easy, easy. Just relax, there." He reluctantly sinks back against the cool metal table he'd laid across, though he keeps his wary gaze fixated on the female as she brings the cold circle back to his chest. "Yeah, that's it… Take some deep breaths for me."
Suspicious of her intentions (along with the fact that he has no idea who this is), Castiel holds his breath entirely while looking her right in the eye. She just raises an unimpressed eyebrow up until Castiel is forced to take in air again, only to start choking, in which she looks concerned and rolls him onto his side. He tries to fight that, too, but it ends up being a useful position as he throws up again.
"Not feeling too great, huh?" the female asks, rubbing a hand up and down his back. Exhausted, he just shakes his head, momentarily forgetting that he has no idea who this is or what she wants with him. "I'm here to try to make you feel better, but you gotta cooperate, all right?" He reluctantly nods as he's pulled so that he's partially upright, his upper body braced against the female's shoulder as the cold circle is pressed onto his back. "Okay, take some deep breaths for me."
This time, he complies, allowing his tired body to slump over further into the shoulder, as much as he wishes it were Dean's. It doesn't really matter, as a few seconds later, he's shifted so that his back is resting against the wall instead. It's not as warm or comfortable, but he's able to slump into it more than when he was being held upright.
He endures a light being shone into his eyes, following the female's finger as she brings it out of his view while also keeping his head still (which is very confusing), a series of seemingly simple questions that he doesn't know the answer to (what year is it? What's a year??), whatever an 'x-ray' is (he just remembers lying there for a few peaceful minutes before being pestered again), and the female looking into his mouth and poking at his throat for several minutes.
"Well, I'm not sure how to check your memory or anything if you can't talk—which your friends informed me of—so I guess that's it. You've got a concussion, my friend," she announces as she finishes writing something on a clipboard and sets the pen down.
While Castiel tries to figure out what that means, she presses her cold hands against his chest, pushing down to apply pressure that makes him try to flinch away. When he looks down, he notices dark purple marks wrapping around his entire torso, the area pulsing with pain when the female touches it. He wonders if this is like the 'plum' Dean said he has on his forehead, as the areas feel similar pain-wise.
"You've also got some pretty nasty bruises on your neck and chest. Were you…strangled?" Castiel tilts his head curiously at the term, but doesn't respond, though he feels his gills flare out without his input. "Right. I'm not gonna ask. Just be more careful. I'm gonna prescribe plenty of rest and relaxation. That sounds all right, doesn't it? Almost wish I had a prescription." He doesn't respond, and she goes to the door. "I'm gonna go alert your friends now, okay?"
Castiel has no idea what's even happening anymore, but he nods anyway, and she leaves the small room. He takes the opportunity to look around (at least, as much as he can with his limited mobility thanks to his tail), noting that everything is white and oddly squared off—all sharp edges and pointed objects for no apparent reason. He picks up the nearest object, turning it over in his hands until it emits a light that has him scrambling to cover and rub at his eyes.
He hears a chuckle from the doorway, and lowers his hands to find the spotty image of Gabriel peering in for all of five seconds before running in to sweep him into a hug; Castiel's not complaining. Gabriel pulls away after a moment to fix him with a firm look. "Never do that again. You could've gotten yourself killed, y'know. You're just lucky your old guy friend with the hat knows a fish doctor."
"Yeah, thanks, Pam," a voice he recognizes as Dean says as he squeezes into the room. His face immediately softens when he sees Castiel, as does his voice. "Hey, Cas. How're ya feelin'?"
"That's Dr. Barnes to you two, and it's called an ichthyologist," the female from before says, also somehow pushing into the room. "I didn't go and get a PhD just to be called a fish doctor."
Dean rolls his eyes. "Geez, touchy."
Dr. Barnes rolls her eyes in response. "Anyway, after the strangest examination ever, I can conclude that your friend here has a pretty bad concussion from those 'extenuating circumstances' you keep mentioning without any clarification and multiple contusions on his neck and chest."
Dean's eyes trace his chest, and Castiel wonders if he's going to be the one to yell at him first for being an idiot, or if Gabriel's planning on taking that role. "What do we do?" he eventually asks.
"Make sure he gets some rest and doesn't do anything to make it worse." Dr. Barnes' eyes linger on his neck for a moment before she adds, "Maybe put some ice on that later, as well. It's gotta be hurting by now."
"All right, got it," Dean says, quickly reaching out to scoop Castiel up to carry him. It's more familiar and comfortable this time, even if feeling Dean's body pressing against his makes his bruised chest ache. "Thanks for not trapping Cas in a cage or anything, Pam."
"Although if you need some test subjects, I know a few candidates that nobody'll miss," Gabriel adds, eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Thanks, Moby, but I'll pass. Not too into the idea of doing experiments on something with nearly human-level intelligence, thanks," Dr. Barnes replies, sitting at the small desk, only to push a few papers around in an effort to look busy. "Anyway, come check in again in about a week and I can see how you're recovering."
"What happened to not wanting to experiment on him?" Gabriel quips, getting the door for Dean so that Dean can carry him out. Dr. Barnes doesn't audibly reply before Castiel is brought around the corner and into a larger room that holds Bobby, Sam, Jo, and Charlie. "Great news—he's gonna live!"
"That's great," Sam says with a smile. "Dean was really worried about you."
"Shut up, bitch, so were you," Dean snaps back with no real heat.
"We were all worried," Charlie cuts in before Sam can reply. "Pretty hard not to be when Gabe runs up to the house talking about you dying or something. We had to go and get a surfboard to use as a stretcher and everything!"
"We're just lucky Bobby knew a fish doctor," Jo adds with an unusual look on her face.
"Yeah, yeah, we're all so lucky," Bobby says, uncrossing his arms long enough to fling a towel over Castiel. "Now let's get home before Ariel here dries out."
On the way home, Gabriel trails behind Dean and sings quietly, "My, oh my, look at the boy too shy, he ain't gonna…kiss the guy…"
After the fourth time he repeats this (and other parts of whatever song this might be), Dean finally kicks him in the shin, which sends Gabriel off to go complain to Sam about his mean brother, giving Dean the opportunity to stop in the middle of the pathway and give him a kiss. The rest of the walk home passes quickly.
-
Following…whatever happened in the lake, Bobby made the executive decision that the lake is unsafe for the general public and, therefore, closed it down as a public attraction. That just means that 'swim at your own risk' signs are placed in multiple different places and there are no longer paid lifeguards posted anywhere. That doesn't mean no one swims there, however, though it's mostly just his four human friends now.
Regarding the sea angels vs. sea demons situation, Castiel isn't quite sure what had happened. From what he can gather, all the merpeople left with Raphael as their new leader, though some defected to either Lucifer or Michael. Either way, they've all left the area for obvious reasons, leaving Gabriel and himself as the only two left in the entire lake. For all intents and purposes, the war between the two species seems to have been finally resolved, though Gabriel doesn't really talk about it too much.
He has no idea what happened to the Cecaelia. He hasn't seen Ruby since she tossed him around on the beach, and no one else has even mentioned her. She's likely gone back to the Lake of Fire with Lucifer like some of the merpeople had. If not, she might have decided to live as a human, as she seems quite adept at pretending to be one, Castiel is unashamed to admit. Honestly, he'd like to ask her advice, as he so clearly doesn't fit in with his own people or the humans whereas Ruby effortlessly fits in with both.
Meanwhile, he and Gabriel still live in the lake most of the time, though they occasionally go to Sam and Dean's house for a sleepover (in the bathtub, usually, which is far more difficult to share than Castiel would've expected or would've preferred, but he simply dries out too much when in Dean's bed overnight) and travel around the town with their human legs.
Bobby seems to grow to like him well enough to greet him when he sees him, though Gabriel apparently 'rubs him the wrong way,' a phrase that always makes Gabriel smirk in satisfaction like he's won some sort of award. Gabriel's very confusing like that.
Right now, Castiel is resting his head on his arms as he waits for Dean to return from his new job at the local grocery store, his tail swaying lightly in the water around him. Though he loves having human legs, he still likes his tail; besides, he kind of feels like he isn't himself when he doesn't have a tail. He's still very thankful that Gabriel was able to fix his necklace, though.
Beside him, Gabriel's head pops out of the water, his golden tail catching the sunlight and shimmering beneath the surface. "Hey, Cassie. Waiting for Dean-o again?" Castiel shoots him a withering look that melts off his face when he sees Dean coming down the incline, a large box and a long pole in his arms. "Want me to leave you two alone?" Gabriel hums with a grin as wide as the entire lower part of his face, so Castiel splashes water at him with his tail until he leaves.
"Hey, Cas. Hungry?" Dean asks as he starts setting up the fishing pole. Castiel nods quickly, which makes Dean smile.
They've settled into a routine now where Dean fishes up something for him to eat. It makes no real difference to Castiel, but he's happy to spend time with Dean without having to eat human salads or the strange frozen, scaleless human-brand fish Dean keeps in the coldbox of his home. Gabriel joins them occasionally, though Dean sometimes tries to shoo him away like he's nothing but a seagull waiting to swipe whatever morsel of food he can get his hands on. At least Gabriel doesn't bite…
"All right. Just sit tight—I'll catch ya something." The human casts the line into the water and moves to sit in the chair that was never taken off the beach. "So, do anything fun today?"
Dean always attempts conversation with him for some reason, even though he knows Castiel can't actually reply. Still, this leads to him telling Castiel about his day and talking about other things until he either catches a fish or decides they aren't biting that day. Today, it seems like the former, as just as Dean's telling him about something Jo supposedly spilled in one of the aisles, there's a sharp tug at the line and Dean jumps up to reel in his catch.
This could either mean that Gabriel's pulling the line again, or that there's an actual fish today. Thankfully, it's the latter this time, and Castiel goes to pull himself up onto the shoreline to eat beside Dean. The fish is too big to swallow whole, so Dean cuts it up for him, even if he makes strange faces and sounds the entire time. He'd once compared it to 'sushi' and said he had to get some for Castiel to try sometime, though Castiel's not sure when that might happen.
He smiles at Dean gratefully and accepts the pre-meal kisses (Dean kissed him once after he ate and swore to never do it again, looking more than a little green in the face) before he begins eating the pieces of fish in front of him. Partway through, Gabriel walks onto shore and sits down beside him, a handful of oysters accompanying him. He then proceeds to tear them open with his teeth and slurp out the insides with far more noise than necessary, and both Dean and Castiel make a face.
"So, Charlie's birthday is in a coupla days," Dean begins as he starts eating a sandwich wrapped in a shiny bag; Castiel had tried a bite once, but it tasted terrible. "Might wanna start coming up with gift ideas so you have something in time."
"Should I keep my schedule clear, too?" Gabriel asks innocently as he swipes a piece of Castiel's cut-up fish, earning him a glare.
"Depends. We're still not sure if we're having the party here or somewhere in town," Dean replies. "You guys are invited either way, though. You might not even have to bring a gift at all—claim ignorance or something." Dean looks up at the sky wistfully. "Wish I could pull that…"
"Is gift-giving really that impossible?" Gabriel reaches over to grab the last piece of Castiel's fish, only for Castiel to quickly stuff it into his mouth before his brother can still it. The older merperson sticks his tongue out, and he'd return the favor if he could.
"Oh, definitely. Just wait until Christmas."
He and Gabriel share a startled look. Christmas? He has no idea what that even is. But…looking over to Dean, Castiel thinks it'd be all right, anyway. If he'll protect Castiel from surly seagulls and Dr. Barnes' more intrusive tests with the sharp pointed things filled with fluids she wants to inject, he'll surely protect him from the dangers of giving people the wrong gifts, right?
And even if that's not something he can protect him from, Castiel doesn't think it'd be that bad. He's felt more like himself than ever after befriending the four humans that came here as lifeguards, so long ago. Whereas he always had to more or less hide who he was on the rare occasions that any merpeople (read: Michael) came into their part of the lake, Castiel now feels free to express himself in whatever way that he wants—especially since he knows all his new friends will accept him; how could they not if they still remain close to him even after learning what he is?
As such, there's really nothing stopping him, is there?
Putting forth his greatest effort, he turns to Dean and looks him straight in the eyes, swallowing nervously. The fish churns in his stomach, but he still attempts, "Hnnm…" Frowning, he tries again. "Hnng…"
"Cas? You okay there?" Dean asks slowly, looking a mixture of bemused and worried. He supposes he does sound like he's choking…
"Hnmg…"
"Is there something stuck in your throat? Can't you breathe?" Dean puts a hand on either side of his face, as if that will help him breathe again. Castiel shakes his head slightly and tries again, only to croak out some unintelligible sound. "Buddy? Are you all right?"
Castiel sighs softly and tilts his face into Dean's hand, closing his eyes. After a moment, Gabriel says, "I think he's…trying to talk."
He manages a small nod and decidedly doesn't try to talk again. It doesn't even make sense. Lucifer hadn't even died when Michael pushed him into the motor as he'd assumed for years. Lucifer was okay. So why isn't he? Why can he still not talk? Sure, it was the scariest thing he's ever seen, but it…it doesn't make any sense…
Before he knows what's happening, tears of frustration are bubbling in the corners of his eyes. He pulls away from Dean before he can see it, rubbing at his eyes in hopes he can play it off as 'al er geez' like Dean had that one time after a cat found its way down to the beach. But it's no use. Turning away from Dean means he turns towards Gabriel, who puts an arm around his shoulders and pulls him closer.
"Hey, it's all right, Cassie. You know we don't mind that you can't talk." Castiel just frowns into Gabriel's shoulder. Just because they never said anything to his face doesn't mean they don't mind… "Besides, you know how much I like to talk. How would I single-handedly fill a room with my words if you were competing for top spot, huh?"
Castiel knows he means it as a joke—he does, really—but he can't help the way his eyes water anyway. It makes no sense. What's wrong with him? There's no reason to be afraid anymore, since Lucifer turned out to be okay. So why can't he talk? Why is he still so—so useless? So much of a burden that he can't even thank Gabriel or greet Dean or-or anything!
Actual tears are fully running down his face before he can stop them. Gabriel and Dean share a worried glance he tries to ignore before Gabriel pulls him into a hug, a hand settling on his back. "I never did know what caused you to stop talking, Castiel," Gabriel says softly, for only him to hear. "You weren't even under my care at the time and I still wanted to help you, but I didn't know how. You just…stopped one day. No one knew why. Pam said there's nothing physically wrong with you. She said it was probably childhood trauma."
Castiel tries to swallow past the lump in his throat, hiccuping quietly. Michael knew. He had to have realized, since it happened right after the incident. Michael was also one of the first ones to dismiss his muteness when it first came up, saying it was nothing more than a childish game to get attention. After a while, he blamed it on the move to a different lake, saying something in the new water must've hurt his vocal cords or something, even though he'd stopped talking before that. Still, no one questioned it.
"But you know what? I never minded it, Cas. I mean, sure, there were a few times where it was a little frustrating. But it's still you, y'know?" Gabriel brings Castiel's face from his chest and smiles down crookedly. "I can't really imagine you any other way. Words or no words, I'll take you either way. You're my baby brother, after all."
"I'll take you, too, Cas," Dean adds, and when Castiel turns slightly to face him, Dean kisses his forehead. "Whatever you got to offer, I'll take it. Even if you, like, grew another head overnight or had three arms. It'd still be Cas in there, extra limbs aside. And that's the Cas I know and fell for." Dean's face goes pink as he amends, "The Cas I know and, uh, l-love."
"Same here, kiddo," Gabriel says, ruffling his hair. "You don't have to change 'cause we already love this Cas—don't change for us. We happen to like this Cas, thank you very much."
Castiel manages a watery smile, nodding a little and glancing down. He wants to tell them that he loves them too, that he appreciates all that they've done for him and all the patience they have. He settles for wrapping an arm around each of their necks and hugging them, letting the little gurgling sound that's been bubbling up in the back of his throat finally escape.
He doesn't try to talk. He doesn't need to, when they can understand him just fine. Maybe not his every thought, of course, but enough to get the message and enough to respond in turn. And that's really all he can ask for.
They both hug him back, and Dean presses a kiss into his hair. The hug does eventually end, and Gabriel goes back to the water under the guise of getting more oysters, leaving him and Dean alone. Dean keeps one arm around his shoulders while the other one holds onto the fishing pole he still has out. After a moment, the human leans over and kisses him, slow and deep.
Dean pulls away eventually, pressing his lips to his forehead instead. "You taste like fish, sweetheart," he murmurs into Castiel's hair, a smile evident in his voice. "Freakin' disgusting." Despite his words, he kisses him again, and when they pull away, Dean smiles at him and says a little breathlessly after a moment, "Hey, Cas. If you want, you can try to learn something called sign language. It's like…talking with your hands instead of your mouth."
Castiel tilts his head curiously and looks down at his hands. He…he has those. And though he can't speak, he does know how to communicate in…whatever language Dean speaks. Still, to make sure he understands, he waves, making Dean smile.
"Yeah, it's kinda like that. I, uh, I don't know too much about it, honestly. But if you wanna learn it—well, I'll be right there with you." Dean looks down for a second, and his ears are pink but he's still smiling. "Sound like something you wanna try? We could probably rope Gabe and Sam into it too, at least."
Castiel stares at his hands a moment longer, considering. He realizes quickly that this could be his way of talking. Sure, he may not be able to use his voice like everyone else, but none of his friends seem to mind. So maybe he doesn't have to, but…he wants to. So he nods.
Dean beams at him, and it's like the whole world gets a little brighter. "Awesome. Maybe you could learn how to sign happy birthday to Charlie in a couple days, if you really work at it. Hey, maybe we could all do it at once. That'd be some surprise, huh?"
Castiel nods, though what he's really looking forward to is being able to thank everyone in his new human pod for all that they've done for him. He knows it hasn't been easy, especially after the revelation that he's not human like they thought, and he wants to let them know how much he appreciates it.
Gabriel in particular deserves the best thank you he can offer for taking him in when it was clear no one wanted him, for taking him in even when it got him banished and shunned by their people, and for helping him live out his dreams of being able to look into the human world and enjoy what it has to offer, even if the rest of his old pod detested the very idea. Gabriel's been nothing but good to him and he deserves some recognition for that.
At that moment, Gabriel's head pops up to the surface, holding up a rope of seaweed and a half-dozen oysters. "Hey, Cassie, look! I found some more seaweed you can try to feed Dean!"
Dean laughs like it's the funniest thing he's ever heard. Castiel grimaces and buries his red face in his hands. On second thought, maybe 'thank you' isn't the first thing his brother will be hearing from him…