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The old abandoned apartment caught fire quicker than Castiel could anticipate. All around him were flames and parts of the the building coming down. He coughs, squinting through the smoke and flames licking at him as he tries to maneuver through the falling debris.
“Dean!” He calls, immediately coughing and gasping as the hot air entered his lungs.
Burying his nose in the crook of his elbow Castiel presses on through the third floor. Every room he passes billows out smoke. The floorboards creak underneath his weight and Castiel sends up a prayer to whoever might be listening that he is able to find Dean and get them out without falling through.
Lowering his arm again Castiel yells out, “Dean!” But the roar of the fire drowns out his raspy voice.
He’s almost at the end of the hallway when he thinks he hears a voice. Castiel hurries forward, calling out Dean’s name again, ignoring the burn in his lungs and stinging in his eyes. Wheezing by the time he reaches the end of the hallway he looks inside the room on his right. It’s nothing but fire and black smoke. To his left there’s a closed door with smoke creeping out from the crack underneath.
His only thought is finding Dean as he kicks open the door. Almost a blast like wave knocks him back against the hallway wall. What little oxygen Castiel has inside him is knocked out and he wheezes, coughing and gaging on smoke. His stinging eyes pour out tears as he fumbles, grabbing for the collar of his shirt, shaking fingers gripping it tightly, bringing it up to cover his nose. He looks up to see fire that is inside the room creeping and spreading across the ceiling closer to the doorframe.
“Cas!”
There! He hears his name clear as a bell, and rushes forward, flinching as his arm gets a little to close to the flames as he runs through the doorway.
“Dean!” He calls looking around the room frantically but seeing nothing.
“In here!” He hears and follows to where Castiel thinks Dean’s voice is coming from.
Castiel turns the corner of the room and finds himself in a bedroom that, thankfully, is fire free for the moment. A thick fog of smoke hangs heavy in the air, and automatically Castiel crouches down gasping in less hazy air. It’s clearer down here and Castiel can just make out a boot sticking out from the other side of the bed, closest to the window.
Crawling forward as quickly as he can while keeping his nose covered, reaches the boot and breathes a sigh of momentary relief that Dean is attached to said boot. His relief is short lived when he sees that Dean is sitting up against a dresser, head lolled forward and not moving.
“Dean!” He exclaims crawling forward and sitting up beside him.
Just sitting at this level the smoke is thick and hard to see through. Castiel realizes his shirt has fallen down and fumbles to pull it up again. He shakes Dean, but gets no response. He needs to get them out, but if he’s going to carry him Castiel isn’t sure the floor will carry both their weight.
Looking around the room he sees a window on the wall beside him. Opening it will probably create some type of backdraft, but he’s fairly certain there is a fire escape outside one side of the building. Hoping that they’re on the lucky side of the building Castiel moves forward on his knees and grips the window with both hands, pushing up.
The window doesn’t move.
Grunting in frustration he tries again, but nothing happens. His shirt slips off his nose and his sweaty, sooty hands slip over the old wood. The edges of Castiel’s darken as he leans forward as deep, painful coughs steal his oxygen and he’s left to gulp the smokey air.
His vision is fuzzy and his coordination must be off because Castiel can’t seem to grab onto the top of the window to try and open it. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Dean’s body fall to it’s side.
No! He screams to himself. Not like this! Not here!
Refusing to let the fire take Dean just like it took his mother, Castiel pulls back his fist and puts all his weight into slamming it against the windowpane. He barely registers the pain as a gust of air hits his face making another series of coughs rack his body. Through his watery eyes the black glint of metal outside the window confirms the fire escape is there. Half falling, half crawling back to Dean, Castiel stands up on wobbly legs. Grabbing Dean’s dead heavy arms he pulls the man so he’s slumped back into his sitting position. An orange flickering catches his eye and he turns his head just to see fire spreading inside the room. The floor and ceiling creaks and groans as Castiel hears something crash from somewhere in the other room.
Bending down, Castiel lets out a scream of frustration as he juggles Dean’s dead weight onto his shoulder into a fireman’s carry and stands upright again. Castiel adjusts the weight of him enough to where he’s mostly positive he wont drop Dean, and takes the few steps to the window.
His first only took a bit of the glass. Castiel grabs ahold of Dean’s dangling legs in front of him trying to balance himself, and kicks out at the glass. He barely hears the glass fall before the groaning from the ceiling grows louder and something that sounds like metal on metal, almost like a car crash, sounds from behind him. He doesn’t bother looking, but bends down shoving Dean out the window, praying to whatever deity is out there that the fire escape holds. Just as he pushes Dean’s legs out the window, he throws himself after, landing half on Dean, half on the cool metal.
As much as Castiel wants to just lay here, gasping in amazing mouthfuls of clean, smoke free air, they have to get off this fire escape and away from the building before it comes down. Coughing and wheezing, he gets back to his feet, once again somehow managing to throw Dean up over his shoulder. Slowly he begins to climb down the metal stairs.
He’s halfway down, just a little past the second floor, trying to ignore the sweat dripping into his eyes as he gasps and tries to stay upright underneath Dean’s weight when he hears it. The sound of something metal snapping and then a long groan that turns into a screech. The metal begins to vibrate and rumble underneath his hand not gripping tightly around Dean’s legs and Castiel looks up just in time to see the top of the fire escape coming away from the building, swaying in the air as random bits of it start to fall around him.
Gritting his teeth, Castiel tightens his grip around Dean’s legs and starts rushing down the steps. He’s just around the last corner, heading down the last steps, managing to avoid any of the falling metal, when the whole thing starts to collapse.
Castiel throws himself down the last of the stairs, the air getting punched from his lungs as Dean’s heavy body falls on top of his as he hits the ground. Castiel barely notices the pain in his head from hitting the pavement because he rolls Dean underneath him, shielding him with his body as the fire escape crashes around them with a sound Castiel cannot possibly describe, but decides if he makes it through this it will haunt his dreams for the rest of his times.
Maybe he passed out, or maybe he’s dead. He’s not quite sure. Castiel’s ears ring so loudly he can’t hear anything else. Underneath him is a soft, solid body and for a moment he forgets who it is. Then everything comes rushing back to him, and his breath catches in his throat. Is Dean even alive? Are they alive? How the fuck weren’t they hit by something?
Slowly Castiel pushes himself up, looking down at Dean trying see if there’s anything seriously wrong with him. Visually, Dean seems fine, although the smoke on his skin gives him a dirty look. Castiel pushes himself back and places two fingers on Dean’s throat trying to find a pulse. He waits a moment. Then another. Ah! There it is!
Castiel wants to cry in relief, but there isn’t time. Dean needs a hospital, but he’s not exactly where the closest one is. Pushing himself up to his feet, wincing against his sore muscles and whatever other scrapes he must have, Castiel once against grabs ahold of Dean, hoisting him over his shoulder. He takes a moment to look over at the building now brightly ablaze from every possible spot it could be. He thinks he hears sirens, but the ringing in his ears is still loud and making everything a bit difficult to wade through. Castiel focuses his sights to the end of the alley, and takes a step, grunting at the pain shooting up his leg. The only thought in his head is saving Dean.