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Dean was trying to do research. He really was, but every time he tried to read the passage on Sumerian creation myths, his eyes crossed. He looked over at Sam who was completely engrossed in his lore book. They knew they were hunting for an ancient Sumerian cursed object. They just needed to figure out what exactly what the object was.
Dean sighed. Sam said without looking up from his book, "You could call Cas. He would know this off the top of his head."
Dean said irritated, "We don't need to call Cas for every single case. The dude's busy. He's not our babysitter." Actually, Dean would love to call Castiel. He wanted to spend every moment he could with him, and the thought scared the hell out of him. Having Castiel around the bunker so much more had made it harder and harder for Dean to ignore his feelings, especially after the random trips to alternate realities he and Sam had been undergoing. They didn't know why they were going on these adventures, but it kept making him look at Castiel in new, unnerving ways. If Gabriel wasn't dead, Dean would suspect him.
Dean stifled a yawn and restarted the passage for the fifth time. Sam sighed, "Just give it up for the night, Dean. You're so noisy, I can't concentrate. If you go to sleep, at least one of us will be useful."
Dean glared at Sam, "I can be useful." He tried to concentrate on the passage again, but his eyes drifted closed and he let out a soft snore.
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Dean startled awake when he heard the clanging of swords. He felt lightheaded and dizzy, and he became increasingly aware that he was dressed in some sort of chain armor.
He looked over to where Sam was sitting in purple robes looking doubtfully at a wand in his hand.
Sam looked at Dean with a frown, "We are in that video game I played back at Stanford, Dean. AlwaysQuest. I haven't decided if this is a weird dream or we did a reality skip again. This is getting kind of annoying. But don’t worry, I'm sure we'll find Castiel and you'll save his life, so we get sent back home again."
Dean looked at Sam grumpily, "Are you some sort of wizard or something? What the hell am I?" He pulled out the sword from the sheath attached to his side and examined it carefully.
"I'm a wizard, and you're a warrior. All you have to do is hit things with your sword. I have all these freaking spells roaming about in my head. I wonder if this is what Rowena feels like."
"Well, there's some fighting going on over this hill. We could check it out."
Sam stood up. "Just be careful. We don't have a cleric, so if you take damage, you'll wait forever for it to heal."
"At least I have armor. You're wearing a dress," Dean snorted.
Sam gave off a long-suffering sigh before gingerly going up the hill. As they reached the top of the hill, a dog-looking creature ran up to them and shouted, "I'm Bippy Lightpaw. You ruined your homeland. I won't let you ruin ours."
He took a swipe at Dean, who tried to block the swipe with his sword. Two guards came running from a nearby tower and killed Bippy before Dean could launch a counterstrike. Dean looked at Sam and said dryly, "Well, that was anticlimactic."
Sam snorted, "Bippy runs up to the city about every ten minutes. The guards kill him, and in a few minutes, he'll respawn, and it will start over again."
Dean blinked at Sam, "And that is fun, why? What should we do in this bizarro world?"
They turned around startled as a familiar voice sounded behind them, "Well, you could come to me on a great adventure and slaughter some orcs or bandits." Charlie stood there in leather armor with a staff in her hand, her red hair flowing in the wind which had until that moment been nonexistent.
Dean said cautiously, "Charlie?"
She responded, "I see that my fame has spread before my arrival. And you are?"
Sam answered, "I'm Sam and this is my brother, Dean."
Charlie nodded. "So, how about it, bitches? Want to come to Northern Commonlands with me? I got a couple of others waiting there for me. We are going to take on some orcs, bandits, and maybe a giant if we think we can handle it."
Dean and Sam exchanged looks. Sam said tentatively, "Ok?"
"Awesome. Come on, noobs. We're going to have a blast."
Sam and Dean watched in fascination as she chanted a spell with mystical energy slowly enveloping her. The strange energy crackled around them, obscuring their vision. After the energy faded away, they realized they were standing in a stone circle. Where before, they were in a lush green valley, they were now surrounded in an almost savannah-type environment. Dean thought he could see a lion in the distance.
Dean said to Sam under his breath, "I think that was even worse than angel express. My hair on my arms is standing up. I hope it doesn't affect pooping."
Sam grunted, "Stop being a wuss."
"Come along," Charlie said lightly. "We're meeting the others at the inn."
Sam whispered to Dean, "Okay, she's a druid. She can heal a little bit so stay close to her during a fight."
Charlie led them on a dirt path across the arid plain; Dean and Sam trotted quietly behind her. When they arrived at a small inn next to the path, she paused at the door and said, "Ok, my friend Kevin and Castiel are here. Kevin is a bit of a hyperactive rogue. He only likes to stab things from behind. He's good at that, so don't expect him to tank anything. Castiel is a paladin, a holy warrior type. He likes to use heavenly energy to smite things, so don't do anything too naughty around him so he doesn't want to smite you. Ok?"
Dean nodded, while Sam whispered in his ear, "Now I guess our job is to protect Cas. He's the damsel in distress?" Dean sighed and glared at him.
Charlie pushed the door of the inn open and led them to a table. Kevin looked just like their former prophet, except he was dressed in leather armor with a hood shadowing his face. Castiel stood rigidly next to the table in shiny plate armor, a glowing sword in his hand.
Dean stared at him in amazement. Castiel gave him an appraising look and turned to Charlie, "The warrior will be a weak link."
Dean said indignantly, "I am not. You're…you're the weak link."
Castiel rolled his eyes, "I mean that you can't heal yourself, and you fight melee face-to-face. Either Charlie or I will need to keep you healed. Your friend will fight from a distance so as long as I do my job right, he will stay unharmed."
Charlie said, "Way to be tactful, Cas. Sam is the wizard, Dean is the warrior, Kevin is the rogue, and Castiel is the paladin. Can we get this show on the road now? Adventure awaits!"
As Charlie led the way to a bandit camp, Dean followed quietly with one eye constantly on Castiel. He stood tall and moved confidently in his plate armor. He reminded Dean of the Castiel who had walked into the barn all those years ago. Castiel caught him staring and said quietly, "Are you concerned about something? I met no disrespect with my comment about you being a weak link. Because you are a warrior, I know you're not weak. I merely meant that I'll need to keep an eye on you so that I can help you if you become too injured."
Dean cracked a smile, "Just like old times."
Castiel looked at him with a perplexed look, "I don't recall meeting you before. I am sure I would remember someone who looked like you."
Sam grinned, "I'm sure he definitely would remember someone who looked like you, Cas."
Dean muttered under his breath, "Shut up."
Charlie stopped them on the rise of a hill, "There's the bandit encampment." The camp was rustic with a dilapidated cabin. A few crates were leaning against the wall of the cabin, and a pit fire was cheerfully burning. Five men were moving about the camp. Two of them were cooking at the fire pit, while three others were keeping a lookout.
Castiel looked at it with a frown. "Charlie, we do not know how many bandits might add to the fight from the dwelling."
Charlie nodded. "You and Dean take the three in the middle. Sam can take the one on the left and I will handle the one on the right. Kevin, hide in the shadows and surprise any that join in. Is everyone ready?"
After everyone confirmed the plan, Castiel turned to Dean and said, "Come with me." He charged down the hill yelling, brandishing his sword. Dean frowned as he followed him; they could have approached this a lot more stealthily. The bandits ran towards them, but one was cut down with a lightning bolt that whizzed past Dean.
Dean yelped, "Holy shit." He glanced back at his brother in amazement.
Castiel peered at him questioningly before pulling back his sword to slice the closest bandit. Dean stood shoulder to shoulder with him and engaged the one next to him. The first bandit fell to the ground as the cabin's door opened and six additional bandits emerged. Castiel yelled at Dean, "This is what I was afraid of."
Dean continued to swing and attack bandits. He was aware to his left that Sam was flinging some sort of magic missiles towards the bandits, while some of the bandits on the right were rooted in place, covered in thorns. He figured that was Charlie's doing. He was taking a swing at one bandit when it suddenly keeled over in front of him. From behind the bandit, Kevin shot Dean a triumphant smile before melding into the shadows again. Castiel's plate armor was covered in blood as he continued to methodically work his way through bandits. Flashes of light burst towards the bandits as his sword cleaved into them.
Dean stumbled over one of the bodies and fell forward toward one of the remaining bandits. The bandit's well-aimed sword slipped between the rings in his chainmail armor, and Dean felt the sword slice deep within him. As the bandit pulled the sword out, Dean collapsed to his knees with a groan.
Castiel yelled, "Dean." He pivoted towards Dean and extended his hand towards him.
Sam shouted, "Get down."
Castiel threw himself on top of Dean as a fireball went over his head, sizzling the remaining bandits in a fiery ball. Castiel pulled Dean into his lap. He lifted Dean's chain shirt and laid his hand on the wound on Dean's stomach. A warm glow, similar, but not quite like grace knitted Dean's wounds back together. Castiel whispered, "Are you okay?" He looked into Dean's eyes intently. "I'm sorry you got hurt."
Dean said, "Not your fault. It's on me." Castiel continued to cradle Dean within his arms.
Sam, Charlie, and Kevin looked through the bandit bodies for whatever items of value they could find, while Dean remained lying in Castiel's lap. Sam gave Dean a strange look as he entered the cabin to see what they could ransack from there.
When they finished clearing out anything of value from the cabin, Sam stood next to Castiel watching Dean with a knowing look. He smirked as he said, "You know, Dean, you're healed now. You can stand up."
Dean's eyes widened, and he looked at Castiel sheepishly, "Oh. Yeah. Sorry, man." He stood up and offered a hand to Castiel.
As Dean pulled him to his feet, Castiel said quietly, "I didn't mind at all."
Charlie proclaimed happily, "We rid the road of bandits who preyed on innocent travelers and we are 20 gold coins richer. A good afternoon's work. The first round of drinks is on me."
The group made their way back to the inn, stopping at a creek to clean off the after-effects of the battle from their armor. Once at the inn, the beer and ale flowed freely as the group celebrated their win. Castiel and Dean sat off to one side a bit, just quietly enjoying each other's company. Of all the alternate Castiel's Dean had met so far, this one was the closest to his angel. He couldn't help but think that if his Castiel hadn't been dragged through all the angel crap that he had been, he'd be much like this one -- confident, compassionate, and proud. Looking at this Castiel, Dean could see clearly see how much it had cost Castiel to repeatedly chose Dean over Heaven. Yet, he didn't think that Castiel would change a thing. Dean wasn't sure he would either. Through all the ups and downs, through Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, through lies and betrayals, through unconditional love and devotion, he and his Castiel had forged a bond that he would never have with the one here in the shiny, untarnished armor. Dean glanced over at Sam who was watching him with a raised eyebrow. Dean looked back at the all-to-perfect Castiel. He preferred the one with the broken halo and the shattered wings.
As the night wore on, he got sleepier until he drifted off to sleep with his head on Castiel's shoulder.
He awoke with a thump as the book he was reading in the hotel room fell out of his hands onto the floor. Sam looked at him blearily with a wry smile, "At least, you didn't have to save his life this time."
Dean yawned and stretched as he said, "I think I'll call Cas to come help us figure out this Sumerian thingamabob now."