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Dean raced down the halls of the bunker, skidding around corners and almost slipping every other step thanks to only being in his socks. The bunker was supposed to be safe, after all. Why would he need to wear his big, heavy boots everywhere when he could finally live in comfort? Well, Dean certainly felt like a fool, now.
Had the bunker always been this complex? It felt like a labyrinth, unrecognizable and unending, trapping him no matter what turn he took. He thought he knew the place inside and now by now, explored all the nooks and crannies during the late nights where he couldn’t sleep knowing what horrors were awaiting him behind his eyelids. Apparently, he thought wrong. Or maybe that was just the scratch of fear slithering down his neck seeping into his mind, muddling things that he knew that he knew.
Footsteps echoed around him, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Truthfully, Dean couldn’t be sure if they were even real, or just a figment of his own mind, traitorously adding to his torment. In a blind moment of panic, he threw open a door on his left, whipping around to shut it as quietly as he could.
The room was dim, but it was quiet. In fact, his own heavy breathing sounded deafening against the concrete walls. He was tempted to hold his breath to hide it, not wanting to give away his position, but if he was found, Dean knew that he would need it. He backed slowly into the room, eyes trained on the door as he shuffled his feet, moving slowly and carefully so he wouldn’t bump into anything and alert anyone, or anything , to his current location. As long as he was quiet, he would be safe here. Please , let him be safe here.
There was a quiet ruffle of feathers behind him, and Dean barely had time to register the sound as danger before backing into a solid chest, not having caught himself in time to stop moving. He did, in fact, stop breathing for a moment, though.
“Hello, Dean.”
“ Dammit , Cas, you–!”
Dean didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, not that he really knew where he was going with it in the first place. He was quickly silenced – well, not silenced , more hindered – by Cas’s arms wrapping around him in a tight embrace, using the hold to sneak fingers into all the weak points he could reach along Dean’s sides and ribs.
Dean doubled over in his laughter, trying to claw Cas’s hands off his torso with weak and trembling fingers. Even though he knew it wouldn’t work, Dean was still offended when Cas’s hands crept high onto his upper ribs, making his arms slam down in an involuntary defense. He jerked his torso back and forth, trying to loosen Cas’s grip or dislodge him somehow, but Cas followed easily with every twist and turn. Dean wasn’t gonna get out of this so easily.
“Cas– come on !”
“Sorry, Dean, I can’t quite understand you through your laughter. Would you mind repeating that for me?”
Dean did, in fact, mind. Even if he hadn’t said anything worth repeating. So instead, bicep still pressed tightly to his ribs, Dean raised up his hand showing Cas his middle finger as best as he could.
Cas tutted. “Really, Dean, you should know better to antagonize me at this point. Did you really think you could get away with this morning’s antics without recompense?”
Note to self: never play Scrabble with Cas.
“Now, do you regret it, yet?”
Dean shook his head. Hell , no. It had been hilarious. And maybe a little adorable. Not that Dean would admit that to Cas’s face. No, Dean would keep all his thoughts about Cas’s gummy smile and his bright, bubbly laughter all to himself, thank you very much. But he certainly didn’t regret it.
Cas sighed. “You will, eventually.”
And then, surprisingly, Castiel let him go. The torment stopped, his arms unwrapped from Dean’s torso, and he took a few steps back from where they had stood, pressed together from shoulders to hips. Dean wobbled and wavered for a moment, having to readjust to holding his weight up on his own again without Cas to steady him through his remaining giggles. He shot a confused look over his shoulder, but Cas stood there as impassively as ever, appraising Dean with a calculated look.
“You have a fifteen second head start,” Cas rumbled, raking his eyes over Dean’s body, “before round two begins.”
Dean’s eyes practically bugged out of his skull. “ What ?”
Castiel narrowed his own. “You heard me.”
Dean didn’t need to be prompted a third time. He turned tail and ran, damn his jellied legs and trembling knees to hell, sliding down the halls in his stupid patterned socks once more. He wondered if he had time to sneak into his room and change clothes, because he suddenly felt very bare in the t-shirt and boxers he’d been lounging around in all day with Sam being gone, or if Cas would corner him before he got the chance. Ultimately, Dean decided it wasn’t worth the risk, and he kept running, directionless. He could only hope it took Cas a little longer to find him, this time.
Dean was hardly even aware of the twists and turns he was taking, his only goal being “get as far away from Cas as possible,” so when he blindly whipped around a corner and slammed directly into Cas’s body, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d just gone around in a circle at some point. Either way, Cas let out a low, growling chuckle into his ear, this time sliding his hands up under Dean’s shirt in the embrace.
“Goddammit!” Dean spat.
“Now, now,” Cas said, his voice infuriatingly calm for how much Dean was struggling in his arms. “Let’s not bring my Father into this.”
“Asshole!”
Cas sighed. “You Winchesters never learn, do you?”
Dean let out a mortifying little yip as Cas’s fingers started spidering all over his back, jerking forward and only further encasing himself in Cas’s arms. He buried his face in Cas’s neck, not wanting Cas to have the pleasure or reward of seeing his face flush from the embarrassment of his own giggling .
“Tell me, Dean, which tickles more. This ?” Cas scribbled and spidered his fingers all along the backs of Dean’s ribs and sides. “Or this ?” He scratched his fingers ever-so-lightly up and down Dean’s back, the feel-good tingles warring with the building ticklish feeling into a dangerous combination.
“Both, you fucking– Cas !”
Apparently, answering both meant that Cas would do both, which Dean found entirely unfair. He whined through his giggles, so far past embarrassment (at least, for this round), squirming forward and back in Castiel’s grip like either direction would get him anywhere. And then, just as quickly as he swooped in, Cas vanished from his personal space, leaving Dean wobbling once more. He leaned against the wall for a second, trying to catch his breath through his giggles.
“You have ten seconds,” Cas said.
Dean’s head shot up. “ Ten ?!”
Cas raised an eyebrow. “I am being incredibly generous, giving you these head starts. Are you sure you wanted to waste your time arguing with me?”
A slew of expletives slipped out of Dean’s mouth. He pushed himself off the wall and bolted past Cas, nearly tripping over himself with how shaky his legs were. Dean had been a hunter his entire life, stalked by monster and man alike, but never before had he felt more like prey than this moment. How was Cas finding him so easily, every single time? All he needed was a moment to think .
He did not get that moment. Instead, he skidded to a stop on his stupid socks, almost falling on flat on his ass, as Castiel emerged from one of the doors ahead of him. He glanced over and walked in Dean’s direction, calm and cool and collected, and Dean felt himself get even more frazzled in return. He turned on his heel and sprinted in the opposite direction, chanting lose me, lose me in his mind all the while.
Only for Cas to emerge from a different door up ahead in this direction, once again starting a calm walk in Dean’s direction.
Dean felt a wave of indignance go through him, remembering all the things he’d read about humans being endurance hunters . How they would tire out their prey, track them calmly, letting the prey spook and race off, only to be found and repeat the process again. Eventually, the prey would tire out, be too exhausted to keep it up, and that was when the human would strike. Then again, the post Dean had read was about pet owners trying to catch their escaped cats, so who knew what the truth was to that.
Cas may not have been a human, but that just gave him a sharper advantage. As an angel, he couldn’t exactly tire , but Dean, the so-called endurance hunter, could. Cas was one of the only things above humans on the food chain, and Dean was about to become lunch. The endurance hunter becoming the endurance hunted.
God , it was fun. Not that he’d ever admit it, even under pain of death.
Dean whipped around and jogged down another hallway, taking a multitude of twists and turns to try and throw Cas off his trail. Then, because it had worked so well the first time, Dean picked a door and ran inside. He almost locked it, before remembering that it would only be a detriment to himself when he would inevitably have to run away again.
Dean tried to steady his breathing, backing slowly away from the door, before he remembered where that got him last time. He whipped around, eyes scanning the dark room and ears straining for the sounds of ruffling feathers. Don’t find me here , Dean pleaded in his mind. Don’t find me here, don’t even look here .
A quiet, rolling noise caught Dean’s attention, and he whirled around to see the doorknob turning ever-so-slowly. He spat out a quiet curse, glancing around the room for a hiding place and finding none. Ultimately, he decided to back up until his back hit the wall. At least this time, there could be no surprises from behind. The door opened with a creak, and Dean tried to wipe all the giddiness and nerves from his expression. He didn’t need to give Cas the satisfaction.
“Hello again, Dean.”
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Cas quirked an eyebrow, walking forward again at that maddeningly slow pace. Dean didn’t see the point in running – the room was too small for him to dart around Cas to escape, and he’d just make a fool of himself in the process – so instead, he pressed himself further into the wall, trying to brace for the coming attack.
But the attack didn’t come, this time. Instead, Cas leaned forward and kissed him, slow and sweet and languid. Dean tried to keep his composure, but it was only seconds before he melted into it, closing his eyes and humming in contentment. Cas guided Dean’s arms up around his shoulders and wrapped his own arms around Dean’s waist, pushing him even further into the wall as he pressed their bodies together. Just when Dean felt like he couldn’t stand it another moment, his lungs getting the better of him after all the running and the repeated tickle attacks, Cas pulled back and he gasped in a few breaths of air.
“Hi,” Dean murmured, a slow smile spreading across his face.
Cas brushed their noses together. “Hi.”
Cas slid his hands back around so that they were resting lightly on Dean’s stomach and hips. Dean kept his own arms around Cas’s neck for the time being, trying to count the hues of blue in Cas’s eyes.
“Are we done, then?”
Cas quirked both eyebrows this time. “No. I was just trying to lower your guard.”
Dean’s face dropped. “Wha–?”
He cut himself off with a gasp as a light, tingling sensation made itself known in his lower stomach and hips, radiating deep into the nerves. He grunted and shifted, trying to bring his hands down to defend himself, push Cas’s hands away, something , only to find that his arms were trapped around Cas’s neck, and he only succeeded in pulling Cas closer. Fucking angel mojo , tickling him with it and trapping him? That really wasn’t fair.
“You– asshole !”
“Just let go, Dean,” Cas mumbled, leaning forward to nuzzle his stubble into Dean’s neck. “You know you want to.”
Dean let out a choked sound with the added sensation on his neck, smushing his face down against Cas’s to try and push him out. All the while, the tingling beneath Cas’s hands only snuck deeper beneath his skin, growing and building on top of itself until it was almost unbearable, despite how light the feeling was. Against his will, strangled little snickers started bubbling up his throat and spilling from his lips.
“Damn you,” he bit out through it all. “How do you keep finding me so fast?”
Cas cocked his head to the side, the move far more innocent than Cas deserved to pretend to be, like a puppy who ate your lunch and was trying to make you forget all about it. Well Dean would not be forgetting, thank you very much, especially not while the puppy was still actively chewing on his damned sandwich right in front of him.
“Are you aware,” Cas said, “that you have been praying this entire time?”
If Dean could’ve frozen, he would have. Instead he was stuck squirming back and forth as his jaw dropped open, only widening the way for more laughter to escape as the light buzzing radiating out from his core threatened to consume him.
“ What ?!”
“Praying. Everytime you run, or try to hide, or think you hear me coming, you pray. For mercy, for guidance, for luck. And it seems I must be your default to pray to, because I heard every word, Dean. Every. Word. ”
Fucking shit , how much did Dean push into those prayers? How much did Cas hear of his internal monologue? Just how screwed was he?
“You fucking cheat –”
“I don’t recall you establishing any rules. Do you?”
“There was no time –” Dean squealed, cutting himself off, as the tingling buzz swirled down and centered itself solely on his hips.
“Well, that’s your own fault, is it not?”
Oh fucking damn him . Cas played these games too well.
“Don’t worry, Dean. We both know you wouldn’t have wanted rules in the first place.”
“ Fuck you .”
Cas retaliated with a raspberry directly in the crook of his neck. Dean’s knees went out, cackling and tearing up with the intensity of it all. Cas pushed into him, pinning him in place against the wall, not letting him have even that escape.
“Are you sorry yet?”
Sorry?? Sorry for what , crying all over his trench coat?
“For attacking me this morning?”
“Yes,” Dean cried out. “Yes! I’m sorry!”
Cas had mercy. He lifted his face out of the crook of Dean’s neck and pulled away his hands, sucking out the vibrations of his grace along with them. A moment later, the invisible bonds on Dean’s wrists and hands vanished and he was able to pull them back towards his body, rubbing away the ghostly feeling the grace tickles left behind.
“You have another ten seconds before round four begins.”
Dean blinked. “But– I said sorry!”
Cas stared at him, his gaze steady and calm. “I don’t believe you truly want this game to end.”
Dean didn’t know how to reply to that. He certainly would not be telling Cas that he was right .
“And since you seem so inclined to waste your headstarts, why don’t we make it five seconds, instead?” Cas smirked. “I suggest you run now, Dean.”
Dean wasn’t stupid enough to earn himself another penality, so he shoved Cas off him and he ran, a grin tugging at his sore cheeks all the while. He wondered what would be waiting for him at the end of the chase this round. He couldn’t wait to find out.
But that didn’t mean he was going to make it easy on Cas.