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They rounded the stack of books carefully and came face to face with Cas. “Help me,” he croaked.
Dean’s eyes widened at the sight of his boyfriend coated in blood and lying on the ground. “Cas!” He was by his side in an instant, pulling his shirt back to see where the blood was coming from. “What the hell happened to you?!”
To his surprise Cas groaned, violently shook his head and pushed him back insistently. “Noo! Stay back!” He clutched his head and Dean’s worry spiked.
“Cas-“ He made another move to check on his angel, when Cas suddenly growled at him. His arm came flinging forward and for one moment Dean thought that Cas was going to hit him. But at the last second his arm changed directions and Cas pushed him backwards instead. The push was violent enough that Dean lost his balance and almost landed on his ass.
Cas groaned again. His eyes opened a little wider when they locked with the older Winchester’s and Dean could see that they were red and blood-shot. “It’s not safe around me. Dean, please.”
Dean wasn’t sure whether Cas was pleading for him to run or to help, but there was only one option for him anyway. Dean carefully approached the angel, hands raised to appear as non-threatening as possible. “Just stay calm. We’ll figure this out.” He slowly took Cas’ hands into his despite the angel trying to push him back and gripped them tightly enough to restrain them if necessary but not hurt.
“What happened, Cas?”
As far as Dean had been aware Cas was supposed to have been with Crowley and the witch for the spell. He’d said that Rowena had stolen the Book Of The Damned, but that didn’t explain the angel’s sorry state.
“Rowena…some kind of spell. Dean, I can’t control it!” Cas looked at him with desperation in his eyes as his body began to shake violently. “Please, I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t help myself.”
Suddenly, Sam was kneeling beside Dean, though he was careful not to get too close to Cas. “Dean, I think it’s a spell we’ve seen before. Remember Rowena’s Attack Dog Spell?”
Dean’s eyes widened. Shit! Of course he remembered the damn spell that killed the victims after making them attack anyone around them. The bloody eyes and Cas’ demeanor fit the MO exactly. His heart beat faster at the thought of Cas exploding like those naïve girls that had tried apprenticing with Rowena.
Before Dean could work himself into a panic, Sam continued, “It must be affecting angels differently. The other victims weren’t this coherent. And they didn’t walk around with the spell for very long. But we should probably still take precautions.”
Sam held out a pair of Enochian angel handcuffs. Dean’s head whipped around and glared at Sam. “We are not cuffing Cas!”
Sam gave him an exaggerated bitch face, but at that moment Cas’ unsteady voice caught Dean’s attention. “You have to. I can barely control what the spell is demanding for me to do. I would never forgive myself if I hurt one of you.”
Dean still wanted to refuse, but when Cas bucked again and Dean almost lost his hold on him, he gave in and nodded stiffly. He had to admit that it was the safer option. He let Sam put the cuffs on his angel and then helped his brother to guide Cas over to the table. They collected a few more warded chains and secured them around the handcuffs and to the table.
Shackling Cas up like that left Dean with a sour taste in his mouth. It felt like a betrayal of the trust that they had been working so hard to rebuild between them recently. He murmured a quiet apology and went to put a blanket around Cas shoulder to at least provide him with some comfort.
Cas gave him the exhausted shadow of a smile. “It’s okay, Dean,” he mumbled.
“Dean? Dean.”
The man in question blinked and focused his gaze on Sam, who was waving in front of his face. “Uh, yeah. What?”
Sam rolled his eyes, but repeated what he’d said. “There is nothing on the webcams near the house and none of the neighbors have seen anything.”
Dean nodded absently. The search for Amara, right. He should probably be more focused on their current end-of-the-world problem, but his focus kept drifting to Cas, who was sitting curled in his blanket and shivering from time to time. His eyes were open, but they seemed distant. Their pretty blue was overshadowed by the blood red.
Dean was worried about his angel, but despite his best efforts to locate Rowena, he had no way of finding out where she had gone. So unless that useless son of a bitch Crowley finally decided to call him back, there was nothing he could do for Cas.
Still, seeing the cuffs around Cas’ wrists and hearing the chains rustle whenever he moved felt wrong. He knew it was necessary, but he felt horrible for keeping Cas bound to the table. Guilt was swirling in his gut.
Sam was still talking and Dean blinked his focus back to his brother. He only caught the last part. “ …would think to do.” Sam sighed and rubbed a hand over his face while Dean tried to look like he’d gotten any of that. “Anyway, I’ll go get some coffee. You want some?”
Dean nodded.
As soon as Sam had left the library, Dean got up and went over to Cas’ table, who watched him approach with tired eyes. He kneeled down in front of him and settled a hand on Cas’ bound ones. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” Cas grunted and Dean had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.
“Yeah, sure. And really?”
Cas sighed. “It feels like the spell is eating further and further into my grace with every minute.”
Dean eyed his boyfriend worriedly. He looked horrible. The red in his eyes had somewhat subsided, but his face looked ashen and exhausted in a way that Cas never did. “Don’t worry, we’ll find Rowena and get her to reverse the spell. By force, if necessary.”
Cas gave him the ghost of a smile and shifted his hand until it was clasped around Dean’s. The older Winchester could feel the cold brush of metal against his wrist. He swallowed. “I’m sorry about those.” He gestured vaguely towards the chains.
“They’re a necessary precaution,” Cas mumbled.
That didn’t make it much better in Dean’s opinion. He remembered what Cas had told them had happened with the other angels. They had taken advantage of his state to capture and torture him for information. Chaining Cas up so shortly after made Dean feel like he wasn’t any better than those bastards.
“Don’t feel guilty, Dean.” Cas met his eyes sternly. “I prefer being bound to endangering you or your brother. It is necessary.”
Cas acceptance just made him feel even more crappy about it. He wanted to pull Cas in his arms and let him relax on the couch or their bed. Not on a hard library chair.
Later. Once they reversed the spell – and they would. He’d make sure Cas knew how loved he was.
Dean let out a deep sigh. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he mumbled.
He squeezed Cas’ hand one more time, before getting up and returning to his seat just in time for Sam to return with their coffee. It made his heart feel just a little lighter when Sam also set one down in front of Cas.