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Castiel crept around the side of the dilapidated house, careful not to crunch any leaves or twigs beneath his feet. The cloudy night sky provided him with a convenient cover of darkness. He was completely tensed up and listening intently for any noises that might snake out of the woods nearby, or even any movement in the house. He knew that Gabriel was on the other side of the house, mirroring his movements and waiting for his signal. Castiel forced himself to stay completely focused. He was determined not to mess this up again.
He and Gabriel had been hunting this same demon for days. It was beyond bizarre for it to take them this long, but Castiel had to admit that the son of a bitch was sneaky. They had known it was a demon almost straight away, but it had been impossible to track down. Every time the brothers managed to find the person the demon had most recently possessed, the demon abandoned ship, sometimes before they'd even finished kicking down the door. It was unusual for a demon to act like this, staying in the same town and allowing itself to be tracked, but never caught.
Castiel had done plenty of speculation about this strange behavior, but Gabriel had been determined to skip the thinking and get right to finally hunting the demon down. So that was how they had ended up here, sneaking around a small house five miles outside town. This was the most recent place they had tracked the demon to, following it around all day before it led them here. They had spent a few minutes hidden in the woods, discussing a game plan. They both agreed that a sneak attack was best, hoping that they would be able to catch the demon by surprise. Then they went their separate ways around both sides of the house, heading towards the backyard.
A quiet noise coming from inside made Castiel stop and push himself flush against the brick wall of the house. He realized there was a window only a few feet in front of him, and a few seconds later a light turned on inside. Castiel couldn't see anything from this angle, but he heard distinct footsteps inside, letting him know the window was at least partially cracked open.
Creeping a few steps forward, Castiel listened as the person inside (he could assume the demon) shuffled around. It sounded like they were dragging something behind them, most likely a chair from what Castiel could hear. He was just about to duck under the window and keep moving, when he heard voices. There was a woman's voice, but what truly stopped him in his tracks was the sound of a man's voice talking back to her. Confusion and the beginnings of fear began to creep into Castiel's mind before he roughly shoved them away. He had to think about this intelligently, like the hunter he was.
Now that he knew there were multiple people in the house, he had to assume that they were both demons. While this by no means meant he and Gabriel were outmatched, Castiel knew they would have to rely on the element of surprise even more now to get the upper hand.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Castiel heard a shout and dull thumping noise from the other side of the house. His chest constricted in panic when he immediately realized that it was Gabriel shouting.
His mind went into overdrive, fishing madly for the perfect plan of action. But he knew that Gabriel was either dead or captured, and both of those options made it almost impossible for him to focus. Eventually he realized that he couldn't stay in this one spot forever, and with slightly shaking hands he began to continue the rest of his walk towards the backyard.
He only got one step into the backyard before he was hit over the head by a blunt object and his vision snapped to black.
~•~•~•~
As soon as he regained consciousness, Castiel's eyes shot open. His first realization was that he was in a kitchen. The second was that his arms, legs, and upper body were all tied tightly to a chair with thick ropes. It wasn't a stretch to assume he was in the same house that he'd been prowling outside of.
The memory of Gabriel's shout finally came back to him, and it prompted him to start struggling against the ropes, searching hopelessly for any weakness. The relief he felt was overwhelming when he heard Gabriel's annoying voice behind him, saying, "No use, bro. Even I can't get out of these bad boys, you've got no shot."
"Gabe!" This was the only way that Castiel could think to reply at that moment. Craning his head around to look behind him, he could see that Gabriel was tied to a chair as well. The backs of both their chairs were pressed together so that Gabriel was directly behind him, and while Gabriel was facing the window, Castiel was turned towards the doorway of the kitchen.
"No duh. Any more brilliant observations, or are we gonna figure out a way to get out of here?"
Castiel was fully recovered from the shock of finding Gabriel unharmed, and would no doubt have replied with his own remark. Except that was when a woman walked into the kitchen. She was tall with curly, dark hair, and she probably would have been very attractive if it wasn't for the fact that her eyes flipped to black when she entered the room. She stopped right next to their chairs so that they could both turn their heads to look at her.
"Hello, boys," she said in a simperingly sweet tone. "You must be so proud of yourselves, you finally caught me."
"I've got no problem if that's how you wanna read this situation, of course," Gabriel replied.
The demon rolled her eyes, losing all pretense of sweetness, as she said, "Gabriel Novak, just as hilarious as they all say. Wouldn't it be great if you could use some of that razor-sharp wit to save you and your brother's sorry hides?"
Gabriel made no further comments. Before the demon could continue, Castiel spoke up. "So where's your friend?"
Smiling brightly, the demon turned her attention fully to Castiel. "And you're just as 'down to business' as they say, aren't you, Castiel? The famous Novak brothers, who'd have thought you would be so predictable?"
Chuckling as if enjoying a private joke, the demon turned away from the brothers and walked back to the doorway of the kitchen. "Okay boys, we're all ready in here," she called.
Realization dawned on Castiel as demon after demon began to enter the room. It hadn't occurred to him that there would be more than the two he had heard talking, and he never could have imagined the ten that were now grouped together in front of him, all leering and smug.
The curly haired demon stepped forward once more, standing in front of her friends. This time Gabriel was facing away from the action, so only Castiel could see her when she said, "I wish you could see the look on your face, Castiel. It's so... pathetic. Even with all your precious strategizing, neither of you idiots ever considered that I might not be alone."
Determined to remain calm despite what he knew was an impossible situation, Castiel replied, "Why? Why all the back up?"
"Well I would have thought it'd be obvious," she shot back, anger seeping into her voice. "You're the Novaks, the ones who stopped the Apocalypse. Did you really think we would just sit back and watch while you both enjoyed your victory, after what you did to our father? No, you need to pay for what you've done. And we're the lucky few assigned to the job."
"But why all the running away? What was the point if you wanted to catch us anyway?" At this point, Castiel was just buying time until a genius plan occurred to him and trying not to panic. So far, no such luck.
"What, all that? That was just for kicks. These stooges took forever to show up, so I figured why not play a little game with the vermin before we snap the trap? And it worked, didn't it? I made you squirm, drive yourselves crazy trying to figure out a motive when there never was one. Mind tricks are my specialty, you know." She winked and a shiver went down Castiel's spine.
"Now, enough chit chat," the demon continued. "As fun as all this has been, we've got something much more fun planned for you boys. We're gonna show you a new meaning to Hell on Earth." A cruel smile stretched across her lips as she strode over to the kitchen counter. There was a rolled up piece of fabric sitting there, and when she rolled it out there was an assortment of knives, needles, and torture devices inside. Castiel heard Gabriel's breathing start to become louder and uneven, and the knowledge that his brother, the ever calm and collected trickster, was terrified set Castiel over the edge. They were going to die, and they had no cards left to play.
Castiel has accepted defeat, his only real regrets being that he hadn't been able to save his brother and that he might never see Dean again. As Dean crossed his mind, Castiel sent up a final prayer of love and goodbye. But just after these thoughts crossed his mind, a white light shown out over the heads of several demons. In understandable surprise, they all turned around in unison. What they saw behind them caused them to panic. The curly haired demon looked up sharply from her tools when she heard the others begin to shout and run in all directions. Her shouts telling them to stop proved useless.
As the demons scattered, Castiel could finally see who had caused the mayhem. It was Dean. He was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, viciously grabbing each demon within reach and smiting it before it could run away. If Castiel hadn't been so thrilled to see him, he might have been as intimidated as the demons. Dean's face was hard with righteous fury, his eyes burning with intensity and hatred for the demons he was destroying. Not one of them even considered standing up to him, not that they would have been given the chance if they tried.
Several demons managed to slip out of the kitchen and escape, but Dean didn't chase after them. Instead, he made his way over the haphazard collection of bodies toward the terrified demon who was still standing over her collection of torture instruments. Except now she was so frozen with fear and shock that she seemed to have forgotten how to move.
The fury on Dean's face was still present, perhaps even stronger, as he picked the demon up by her throat and pushed her roughly against the wall next to the counter. She didn't even have a chance to cry out before Dean slammed his hand onto her forehead, a white light shined out, and she crumpled to the floor.
Breathing heavily, Dean turned to look at Cas. The anger and hatred had completely evaporated from his expression, and now it only held concern and small traces of lingering fear that he had been hiding before. The angel seemed unsure of what to say or do, and Castiel was in no better shape. That was when Gabriel finally spoke up, looking over his shoulder at Dean and saying, "Well if it isn't Heaven's most punctual angel. Now would you mind cutting us out of these damn ropes, or are you just gonna keep standing there staring meaningfully at my brother until I die an even more painful death than the one I almost just did?"
Dropping his eyes awkwardly, Dean made his way over to the brothers and with one touch to each of the ropes, they were free. Dean still avoided Castiel's eyes as he and Gabriel stretch out their arms and legs before standing up. Gabriel immediately walked over to one of the cabinets and pulled out some salt. While Castiel and Dean watched on, he lined the windowsill. He began to walk out of the kitchen then, but first he sighed, approached Dean, and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks, Clarence," he said, probably the most sincere thanks he felt comfortable giving without feeling stupid. With one last raised eyebrow at Castiel, Gabriel left the kitchen to go guard against reinforcements.
The second Gabriel was out of sight, Dean strode over to Castiel and pulled him into a warm, firm hug. Despite his surprise, Castiel hugged him back. Dean buried his nose in Castiel's shoulder, and his voice was muffled as he said, "I'm glad you're all right, Cas."
"Well I probably wouldn't be if you hadn't come swooping in here to save the day." Castiel smiled slightly, even though Dean couldn't see it, and tightened his arms around Dean's waist.
Dean pulled back then, and Castiel was surprised to see him frowning. "I'm so sorry, Cas, I should've been watching over you. I was so distracted with all the crap going on in Heaven, I don't think I would have realized you were in danger if it weren't for your prayer. I got down here as soon as I could, but I had to persuade my superiors that I had a good reason first."
Before saying anything, Castiel pulled Dean into a light kiss. Pulling back and seeing the slight confusion on Dean's face, Castiel said, "You don't have to apologize for anything, Dean. You saved my life, my brother's life. Nothing else matters. And it's kinda nice to know I've got a guardian angel on my shoulder." Castiel's smile from before came back as a teasing smirk.
A wide smile appeared on Dean's face, and he looked relieved that Castiel wasn't angry or disappointed with him. Still keeping his arms wrapped around Castiel, he said, "Well I'm glad you feel that way, cause when I got permission before I came down here, they gave me a couple free days. Any idea where I should spend those?"
"Hmm, I could probably think of a couple..." Before Castiel could make any suggestions, Gabriel popped his head back in the room.
"Hate to break up the love-fest of course, but we've got about ten angry back-up demons trying to find a way in right now. Mind giving me a hand?"
Sighing, Castiel replied, "Of course. Let's go find where they stashed our weapons." Gabriel nodded before heading off to search. Before they joined him though, Dean pulled Castiel into another lingering kiss.
Castiel pushed him away a few seconds later though, and Dean groaned quietly. Castiel laughed at the slight pout that had started on his angel's face before grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the kitchen to find Gabriel.
They both knew there would be plenty of time for those things later.