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“I’m telling you, Dean, this definitely seems to be good enough for us to investigate. We haven’t had a case in almost a week!” Sam sighed, his irritation growing by the minute. The longer they argued, the more he appeared to be seriously considering jumping out of the car.
“Yeah, okay, I’m hearing you out.. but what if the mother is just cuckoo? It could be that she wasn’t seeing things right ‘cause of grief, or whatever.” Dean shrugged and gave him a quick glance.
In disbelief, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. “And how would you explain the reported cold spots? Or the ‘smokey figures of a small child’?? If you would even just look at what I’ve found, maybe you would be on the same page by now. It’s definitely worth a look, dude.”
“Fine, you’re right. Where is this at? I guess we don’t have anything else to….” Castiel stared at the car door right next to him as their voices faded into background noise.
He noticed the numerous scuff marks on the leather of the car, the dulled but once-shiny metal, and the slightly fuzzy ground. He should have just teleported them to the place. Cars are quite an odd mode of transportation. Why do people use cars in particular? He grazed his fingers against the leather, noting how strangely smooth it felt against them.
Castiel is fascinated by human emotion and wishes to one day fully comprehend it. It sounds like such a horrible thing to go through, but many people would rather be consumed by all of these horrible emotions than have none at all, a worthwhile sacrifice. What was he feeling right now? It'd be best described as 'curiosity'. Despite his best efforts, he found it difficult to visually translate his emotions into the real world, as Dean's teasing has made clear.
He was suddenly acutely aware of how enclosed the car was, and he felt an unfamiliar suffocating sensation in his throat. The car was closing in on him, getting smaller and smaller as he began to feel apprehensive at how uncomfortably aware he was of everything going on around him. His clothes were too tight, his heart was thudding in his chest at an alarming rate, and Sam and Dean’s arguing was overloading him with too many sensations all at once. As he was trying to figure out what exactly was going on, his brows progressively became more furrowed.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to simply just focus on any single thing and he needed to ask for help, but no words would come out of his throat. He covered his face in a feeble attempt to get rid of this horrible thing that he was currently going through, taking short gasps of breath like a fish pulled out of water.
“Took you long enough to finally listen.” Sam mumbled and looked in the rearview mirror, his eyes widening slightly at the unexpected sight. “Castiel..?” He turned to face him, his hands hovering, unsure how to act.
“I need-“ His voice sounded more pathetic than he had intended, but he didn’t care too much at the moment due to him wanting to just stop this stupid feeling first and foremost. “Stop the car, please.”
“Dean! Stop the car! There's something wrong with Cas.” He urged his brother, becoming increasingly concerned as he considered all of the possibilities of what was currently happening to Castiel.
He checked the mirror, his eyebrows raising slightly. “What the fuck?” Dean pulled over, quickly exiting the car to open the door for him. Castiel stepped out, dropping to the ground and leaning against the car for support. “Hey, hey, hey, Cas. Look at me. What’s going on?” His voice was softer than usual, but he was still worried. He knelt down to his level, keeping his distance. Sam soon followed suit, crouching right next to Dean, his face contorting like a puppy whose toy had been taken away.
His racing heart hadn't calmed down, and his erratic breathing was certainly not making matters any better. "I'm.. not sure." He reached for one of them, falling into Sam as his coordination practically disappeared due to how much his head was spinning.
“I’ve got you- Are you in any pain?” He propped him up, supporting him by having his hands on his back. He looked to Dean for help, who only shrugged slightly with a perplexed expression, knowing as little as Sam.
Castiel shook his head, trying in vain to regulate his irregular breathing. What caused this is as much of a mystery as the popularity of fictional vampire romances among teenagers.
He opened and closed his mouth several times, lost for words. “Um, okay.. just breathe?” Dean glared at Sam, as if he'd just given the worst advice he'd ever heard in his life.
“Are you kidding me, Sammy? He’s breathing too MUCH!” He lightly touched his shoulder, carefully inching closer to him while still giving him space. “Don’t listen to Sam; just focus on me for now. Copy what I’m doing.” Dean began to breathe exaggeratedly and slowly, inhaling through his nose and holding it for a few seconds before exhaling through his mouth. Despite not seeing how it would help his situation, Castiel imitated what he was doing, albeit quite poorly.
Surprisingly, after a solid minute of copying him, it was actually starting to work. Dean eventually stopped his exaggerated breathing and let Castiel do all the work. It was causing his heartbeat to regulate as well, and he was gradually calming down from his... whatever it was.
“See? You’re fine, Cas!” He gave him an encouraging smile, slapped his chest twice, and then stood up while staring expectantly at Sam.
Dean caught his attention before he turned to look back at the angel. “What happened?” His eyebrows, which were already sloping outward, somehow managed to tilt even more as he questioned.
“I have no idea. It.. I'm not sure how to describe it. But I'm not physically injured.” Castiel stood up with Sam following suit. “.. Thanks.”
Sam was about to respond when his brother cleared his throat very loudly, to which he turned around, almost annoyed... until they appeared to be speaking some kind of special language between the two of them that seemed to be through exclusively using strange facial expressions.
“Hey, Cas, can you wait in the car for a bit?” Dean inquired, burying his hand in his pocket. “I need to have a quick chat with Sam.”
Castiel grudgingly opened the car door and went inside, preferring now to occupy his mind with his phone, instead. He turned it on and went through his very short contact list again and again, watching the names highlight as he went through it in a repetitive loop. He cast a quick glance over at the two, noting how they kept side-eyeing him now and then. He returned to his phone, paying little attention to whatever they were discussing.