Hymns of Angels Don't Sound Like This Chapter 14
Title: Hymns Of Angels Don't Sound Like This
Authors: azimmermann & bodiesnotourown
Artist: kassiopeiar
Fandom/Genre: Supernatural, High School AU
Rating: PG-13
Chapter Word Count: 2792
Warnings: swearing, talk of drug use, talk of physical abuse
In the end it took a lot of preparation, though Castiel supposed that that’s how most coup d’états worked. The first dominos tipped were the teachers and administration at the school. Gabriel had struck up a probably terrible-for-everyone-else friendship with Ash after their gigs and the Thanksgiving at the Harvelle-Singer’s, but it had proven helpful in uncovering just what dirt Crowley had on the school’s staff. Some of it seemed rather minor but a few made the singer’s stomach turn. Still, it was needed in the long run. Convincing any of them to give Crowley up and potentially take the fall for hiding his sins was not easy.
Luckily, that was where Sheriff Mills, a friend of Ellen and Bobby’s, came into play. Dean had convinced the Milton’s to go to her with their concerns. The discussions that followed about ‘taking the law into their own hands’ were long but in the end, she backed them. Castiel had stayed behind to express her gratitude, but bolted quickly when she had looked too closely at him. They were able to give the teachers an out on the offenses they were being blackmailed for, as long as they came forward. It was more than they had hoped to get and had a handful of teachers ready to go.
He couldn’t help but feel a little miffed that it was Anna, Israfael, and he in charge of getting the teachers to fold. Despite the oh-so-cliché high five they had shared when they finally succeeded, he had wanted to be involved in the planning of bigger events. Though, he had to concede that when it came to the rest of his family or Dean, the three of them did have the better grades and reputations. Dean also had a point that if it were any of them it probably would have taken much longer than a week to flush out the teachers and staff.
Now, Castiel supposed, it was all water under the bridge. All that was left now was the removal of Crowley’s “number two’s” and Crowley himself. The idea was fine in theory, but whenever Castiel actually thought about it, his stomach would clench and he would find himself in front of a toilet, nausea threatening to overcome him. He knew Crowley posed a serious threat to not only him but also the people he cared about but even seeing him from a distance in the hallways filled him with a sick dread. He was trying to force himself to get over what had happened but it was just so hard. Dean was being so careful with him, making sure not to push him in anyway that made him uncomfortable, but it was frustrating to Castiel that he couldn’t get as close to him as he wanted without flinching from Dean’s touch.
He knew that he should go to the Sheriff about what had been done to him. The beating alone would have him in trouble, not to mention the other things, but the hot burn of shame he felt at even considering it convinced him otherwise. What would his family think? All of those years of fencing and other martial arts and he couldn’t defend himself properly. It was just too much and thinking about it just made him want to sleep constantly. It was enough that Dean knew, right? Even if he felt green eyes boring into him whenever they would meet with his family to discuss how to really nail Crowley to a proverbial cross, as worries built that the grade cover-ups and Alistair and Brady would not be enough to keep him away. It didn’t matter. Castiel could barely admit it to himself, let alone see it in the all too knowing eyes of the sheriff. It did, however, spark an idea in his head and he scrolled through his phone to the “M”s and pressed send. ”Hello? This is Castiel Milton, I was wondering if you wanted to meet and talk?”
Waiting in Dregs did not do much to soothe his nerves, but it was not Crowley he was waiting for this time. When he heard the jingle of the door’s bell as it opened, he stood and smiled slightly at the pretty brunette that walked through. He had spoken with Madison briefly in class about the cheating, but neither wanted to dwell on it too much at the time. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when two other girls followed her inside, even more so when he realized he did not recognize them. He reached out to shake her hand and the hands of the girls behind her and couldn’t help but smiling more fully when Madison laughed.
“This feels so formal, Castiel. We aren’t here for a business meeting.” Her smiled dimmed a little when he flinched. “Or are we?”
“This is not necessarily a social call, no. I apologize.”
“Yeah, I didn’t really think so, but a girl can hope, yeah? ”After they slid into their booth and placed drink orders with a magically appearing Pamela, Madison cleared her throat.
“So I had a feeling that this was going to be about a certain male douchebag we know, so I thought that you might like to meet these two. This is Harper” the girl with curly blonde hair nodded, “and this is Spencer.” The other girl, with short punk styled red hair, smiled at him and went to sip her tea.
“You see, when we had our little run in, I thought that maybe it wasn’t just you or me. Lo and behold, I was right.”
Castiel smiled ruefully. He wasn’t surprised to know that Madison was not an isolated case, but it he was surprised at it didn’t sting nearly as much as he anticipated it would.
“Well you’re assumptions were right. I was hoping to discuss Crowley, but I was mainly wondering if you could tell me if...was there ever any...” He trailed off, looking at the paintings on the walls, rather than at any of the girls.
“If there was any abuse?”
“If he hit us?”
“If he was violent?” He snapped his gaze back to Madison and she scowled, the other girls matching her expression. “Actually, he was the picture of gentlemanly until you stumbled on us. I freaked out at him for cheating on me, not realizing I was the other woman, ha. But anyways, I told him he could go to hell and he smacked me. Hard. So I left. I’m not his to do with whatever he wants.” Madison’s bitter tone had a backbone of strength behind it and Castiel found himself admiring her.
“He left bruises all over my arms when I told him that I had found someone else. It was never more than that though, and a week later he dumped me anyways.” Harper shrugged.
“He hit me before we were going to have sex, and when I decided that I was done and I didn’t want to do that, he choked me until I passed out. It was terrifying. ”Spencer’s voice shook and Castiel’s heart broke for each of them, but it stiffened his resolve. He startled slightly as he felt Madison take his hands into hers from across the table. The sympathy in her eyes brought an annoying ever-present sheen of tears to his eyes. He pulled his hands away and laughed, blinking them away.
“I’m sorry, my eyes must be dry.”
Madison scoffed. “Castiel Milton. You wouldn’t be here, asking these questions, unless you could relate. You don’t have to tell us what he did, but don’t insult us by not being honest, at least with yourself.”
Castiel coughed and smiled slightly at her.
“You’re right, and I did want to talk for a reason. I need your help with something, if you are willing to give it.”
With nods from the girls and feeling just a little lighter than he had in a while, they put their heads together and the second round of planning started.
“I’m going to puke.”
Dean laughed and slapped Andy Gallagher on the back. “You’ll be fine! I mean really how many times have you done this before?”
Andy whined loudly and pointed to Sheriff Mills who was standing a few feet away with Gabriel and Balthazar Milton. She turned her head and with an exaggerated sigh, made a show of covering her ears and turned back to positioning her deputies around the back of the school so they wouldn’t be seen.
Dean laughed again and reminded himself again to thank Bobby and Ellen for connecting them with Jody. His nerves were shot and after two weeks of almost constant plotting, he was exhausted. He fidgeted with his phone in his hands, sending Castiel a quick text and smiling when he received one in return. He tucked his phone back in his pocket and went back to convincing Andy that he was not going to puke or be murdered in his sleep. The tension level skyrocketed as a crappy preset ringtone sounded from his classmate’s phone.
“Uh, hello? Mm, yeah in the normal spot. Yeah behind the library. See you in a few.” Andy’s face was a sickly shade of green when he hung up and the scene burst into a controlled chaos as Dean and the Milton’s booked it back to the police cruiser where Jody had threatened indefinite jail time if they were not there. The other officers and Sheriff Mills took position as well, out of sight.
Dean rubbed sweaty palms on the legs of his jeans and peered through the windshield. As much time as they spent goofing off and what not; Dean was mollified by the near silence coming from Gabriel and Balthazar in the backseat of the cruiser. His heart rate sped up as Brady’s douchey new Camaro pulled into the driveway and up next to where Andy was nervously twitching against his beat up sedan. He knew that they had been over the plan with Sheriff Mills what felt like a thousand times but he was still preparing for the worst. Neither Alistair nor Brady was as clever as Crowley but they weren’t idiots either, unfortunately. He felt as if he were being deafened by Gabriel tapping out an anxious pace with his fingertips against the door.
“They’re here.” He whispered, even though he knew there was no way for them to be heard.
“Merde. I don’t think I’m cut out for spy work, boys. This is far too ulcer-inciting for me.” Balthazar chuckled and sat forward to see what he could from the back seat.
Alistair and Brady had stepped out of the car and Dean pitied Andy. He knew he had bought drugs from them before, but Dean was just a little concerned that Andy would pass out by how pale he seemed in the school’s security lighting.
“Oh shit, shit, they’re going for it!” Gabriel breathed, excitedly, while Dean simply stopped breathing. He watched as Andy handed Alistair the money and Brady handed him a small, unassuming, plastic baggy in motions that were so smooth it was nothing but routine. When Balthazar slammed his hand on the cage in excitement, Dean startled and cursed loudly as his hand came down on the switch for the cruiser’s lights and siren. He rushed to turn it off, and in the resulting darkness, saw the shape of Sheriff Mills and her officers move towards the duo, with their hands up. Gabriel and Balthazar scrambled out of the car as soon as they saw their arms cuffed behind their backs and Dean was quick to follow.
Dean found himself next to Andy, skidding to a halt and responding to the high five thrown his way.
“You know, Dean-o,” Alistair’s lilting voice made Dean’s skin crawl. He didn’t have much interaction with the guy, but even in the hallways he was creepier than fuck. “I wouldn’t celebrate too much. Crowley will find out and we’ll skip this, and then I think we could be the best of friends.”
Dean turned to look at the two figures being guided into the back of another cruiser that had pulled up by the student’s cars and grinned.
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?”
With that, he turned his head to see Gabriel wiggle his fingers in a small wave at the cruiser and Dean smiled. On the way back to the Milton’s house to drop his two cohorts off, he listened with one ear as Jody ripped them all new ones for almost blowing their bust but messing around in her cruiser.
“I knew you kids coming along was going to be nothing but trouble. Trouble. But no, I thought I would be nice and I would help you out and Bobby and Ellen swore you were responsible!”
She continued to rant, though it had a level of affection he wasn’t sure they deserved. His fingers were tracing figure eights on his thighs, adrenaline from the bust still running its course through his system. He was running through the plan to deal with Crowley the following morning and worrying that whatever they had on him wasn’t enough. He knew the teacher scam would get Castiel’s douche of an ex expelled at the least, and hopefully it would be enough, but he wanted blood if he was honest with himself. Alistair’s words echoed in his head and while he wasn’t worried for his sake, it still lent a feeling of unease to his thoughts.
Arriving back at the station after sending Balthazar and Gabriel on their way, so he could retrieve the Impala, Dean was surprised to see a small gathering of three girls waiting just inside the doors.
“Hey, Madison, right?”
The pretty brunette smiled at the curiosity in his voice. “Hello, Dean. Castiel should be out of the bathroom in a minute.”
Dean blinked. “Cas is here?”
Madison blinked back and then flushed. “Uh, not if he isn’t supposed to be? Did he not tell you?”
Dean barely heard her as he slid past the girls and Sheriff Mills, who had stopped to talk to them, on his way to the men’s restroom. The room was silent and cold, the noise from the officers outside muted. He rounded the corner to where the solitary stall was.
“Cas?” The sound of shuffling reached his ears but when he received no response he tried again, spotting his friend’s shape under the stall door.
“Castiel?”
“Dean?”
Dean grimaced at the bathroom’s floor but slid his back down the wall to sit cross-legged next to the stall door. “Are you okay?”
A soft chuckle came from the other side. “No, but better soon. Hopefully.”
Dean smiled as he looked down to see a hand reaching for his and slid his hand under the door for Castiel to grab. Whatever. He could deal with feeling like a girl if it got his boyfriend out of a dirty bathroom.
“So, why are you down in the dumps?” He coughed to hide his laugh at his terrible pun and could hear a muffled groan from the other side of the door.
“You told me you were going to meet with Madison, but I didn’t think I would find her, or you, here with some other girls?”
He heard Castiel sigh. “Those are the other people, that I know of anyways, that Crowley cheated on me with.”
Dean tried to connect the dots but still felt like he was missing something. “As far as I know, cheating sucks but it isn’t illegal?”
Castiel sighed and Dean could hear hints of the roughness caused by vomiting in his voice.
“It would seem I am not the only one that he’s hurt.”
“Are you saying that bastard...” Dean’s fists clenched involuntarily.
“No. Not that. I guess for that I was the lucky one.” The bitterness seeped through the stall door to Dean and he squeezed Castiel’s hand a little.
“Dean?” Castiel questioned after a few beats of silence.
“Are you going to tell Jody about what happened or just the beating?” Dean listened as his the singer sucked in a steadying breath.
“All of it. You were right. He needs to be stopped and maybe this will stop me from feeling so disgusting.”
“Hey now,” Dean tugged on Castiel’s hand and then let go and stood. “Would you come out of there, please?”
The door opened shortly afterward and Castiel emerged looking pale but determined. Dean cupped his cheeks and leaned in to press a brief kiss on his forehead.
“Dean? Will you come with me?”
“Duh. You’re not doing this alone. Let’s go.” Dean smiled into Castiel’s hair and then pulled him towards the door as more dominos tipped over.
Authors: azimmermann & bodiesnotourown
Artist: kassiopeiar
Fandom/Genre: Supernatural, High School AU
Rating: PG-13
Chapter Word Count: 2792
Warnings: swearing, talk of drug use, talk of physical abuse
In the end it took a lot of preparation, though Castiel supposed that that’s how most coup d’états worked. The first dominos tipped were the teachers and administration at the school. Gabriel had struck up a probably terrible-for-everyone-else friendship with Ash after their gigs and the Thanksgiving at the Harvelle-Singer’s, but it had proven helpful in uncovering just what dirt Crowley had on the school’s staff. Some of it seemed rather minor but a few made the singer’s stomach turn. Still, it was needed in the long run. Convincing any of them to give Crowley up and potentially take the fall for hiding his sins was not easy.
Luckily, that was where Sheriff Mills, a friend of Ellen and Bobby’s, came into play. Dean had convinced the Milton’s to go to her with their concerns. The discussions that followed about ‘taking the law into their own hands’ were long but in the end, she backed them. Castiel had stayed behind to express her gratitude, but bolted quickly when she had looked too closely at him. They were able to give the teachers an out on the offenses they were being blackmailed for, as long as they came forward. It was more than they had hoped to get and had a handful of teachers ready to go.
He couldn’t help but feel a little miffed that it was Anna, Israfael, and he in charge of getting the teachers to fold. Despite the oh-so-cliché high five they had shared when they finally succeeded, he had wanted to be involved in the planning of bigger events. Though, he had to concede that when it came to the rest of his family or Dean, the three of them did have the better grades and reputations. Dean also had a point that if it were any of them it probably would have taken much longer than a week to flush out the teachers and staff.
Now, Castiel supposed, it was all water under the bridge. All that was left now was the removal of Crowley’s “number two’s” and Crowley himself. The idea was fine in theory, but whenever Castiel actually thought about it, his stomach would clench and he would find himself in front of a toilet, nausea threatening to overcome him. He knew Crowley posed a serious threat to not only him but also the people he cared about but even seeing him from a distance in the hallways filled him with a sick dread. He was trying to force himself to get over what had happened but it was just so hard. Dean was being so careful with him, making sure not to push him in anyway that made him uncomfortable, but it was frustrating to Castiel that he couldn’t get as close to him as he wanted without flinching from Dean’s touch.
He knew that he should go to the Sheriff about what had been done to him. The beating alone would have him in trouble, not to mention the other things, but the hot burn of shame he felt at even considering it convinced him otherwise. What would his family think? All of those years of fencing and other martial arts and he couldn’t defend himself properly. It was just too much and thinking about it just made him want to sleep constantly. It was enough that Dean knew, right? Even if he felt green eyes boring into him whenever they would meet with his family to discuss how to really nail Crowley to a proverbial cross, as worries built that the grade cover-ups and Alistair and Brady would not be enough to keep him away. It didn’t matter. Castiel could barely admit it to himself, let alone see it in the all too knowing eyes of the sheriff. It did, however, spark an idea in his head and he scrolled through his phone to the “M”s and pressed send. ”Hello? This is Castiel Milton, I was wondering if you wanted to meet and talk?”
Waiting in Dregs did not do much to soothe his nerves, but it was not Crowley he was waiting for this time. When he heard the jingle of the door’s bell as it opened, he stood and smiled slightly at the pretty brunette that walked through. He had spoken with Madison briefly in class about the cheating, but neither wanted to dwell on it too much at the time. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when two other girls followed her inside, even more so when he realized he did not recognize them. He reached out to shake her hand and the hands of the girls behind her and couldn’t help but smiling more fully when Madison laughed.
“This feels so formal, Castiel. We aren’t here for a business meeting.” Her smiled dimmed a little when he flinched. “Or are we?”
“This is not necessarily a social call, no. I apologize.”
“Yeah, I didn’t really think so, but a girl can hope, yeah? ”After they slid into their booth and placed drink orders with a magically appearing Pamela, Madison cleared her throat.
“So I had a feeling that this was going to be about a certain male douchebag we know, so I thought that you might like to meet these two. This is Harper” the girl with curly blonde hair nodded, “and this is Spencer.” The other girl, with short punk styled red hair, smiled at him and went to sip her tea.
“You see, when we had our little run in, I thought that maybe it wasn’t just you or me. Lo and behold, I was right.”
Castiel smiled ruefully. He wasn’t surprised to know that Madison was not an isolated case, but it he was surprised at it didn’t sting nearly as much as he anticipated it would.
“Well you’re assumptions were right. I was hoping to discuss Crowley, but I was mainly wondering if you could tell me if...was there ever any...” He trailed off, looking at the paintings on the walls, rather than at any of the girls.
“If there was any abuse?”
“If he hit us?”
“If he was violent?” He snapped his gaze back to Madison and she scowled, the other girls matching her expression. “Actually, he was the picture of gentlemanly until you stumbled on us. I freaked out at him for cheating on me, not realizing I was the other woman, ha. But anyways, I told him he could go to hell and he smacked me. Hard. So I left. I’m not his to do with whatever he wants.” Madison’s bitter tone had a backbone of strength behind it and Castiel found himself admiring her.
“He left bruises all over my arms when I told him that I had found someone else. It was never more than that though, and a week later he dumped me anyways.” Harper shrugged.
“He hit me before we were going to have sex, and when I decided that I was done and I didn’t want to do that, he choked me until I passed out. It was terrifying. ”Spencer’s voice shook and Castiel’s heart broke for each of them, but it stiffened his resolve. He startled slightly as he felt Madison take his hands into hers from across the table. The sympathy in her eyes brought an annoying ever-present sheen of tears to his eyes. He pulled his hands away and laughed, blinking them away.
“I’m sorry, my eyes must be dry.”
Madison scoffed. “Castiel Milton. You wouldn’t be here, asking these questions, unless you could relate. You don’t have to tell us what he did, but don’t insult us by not being honest, at least with yourself.”
Castiel coughed and smiled slightly at her.
“You’re right, and I did want to talk for a reason. I need your help with something, if you are willing to give it.”
With nods from the girls and feeling just a little lighter than he had in a while, they put their heads together and the second round of planning started.
“I’m going to puke.”
Dean laughed and slapped Andy Gallagher on the back. “You’ll be fine! I mean really how many times have you done this before?”
Andy whined loudly and pointed to Sheriff Mills who was standing a few feet away with Gabriel and Balthazar Milton. She turned her head and with an exaggerated sigh, made a show of covering her ears and turned back to positioning her deputies around the back of the school so they wouldn’t be seen.
Dean laughed again and reminded himself again to thank Bobby and Ellen for connecting them with Jody. His nerves were shot and after two weeks of almost constant plotting, he was exhausted. He fidgeted with his phone in his hands, sending Castiel a quick text and smiling when he received one in return. He tucked his phone back in his pocket and went back to convincing Andy that he was not going to puke or be murdered in his sleep. The tension level skyrocketed as a crappy preset ringtone sounded from his classmate’s phone.
“Uh, hello? Mm, yeah in the normal spot. Yeah behind the library. See you in a few.” Andy’s face was a sickly shade of green when he hung up and the scene burst into a controlled chaos as Dean and the Milton’s booked it back to the police cruiser where Jody had threatened indefinite jail time if they were not there. The other officers and Sheriff Mills took position as well, out of sight.
Dean rubbed sweaty palms on the legs of his jeans and peered through the windshield. As much time as they spent goofing off and what not; Dean was mollified by the near silence coming from Gabriel and Balthazar in the backseat of the cruiser. His heart rate sped up as Brady’s douchey new Camaro pulled into the driveway and up next to where Andy was nervously twitching against his beat up sedan. He knew that they had been over the plan with Sheriff Mills what felt like a thousand times but he was still preparing for the worst. Neither Alistair nor Brady was as clever as Crowley but they weren’t idiots either, unfortunately. He felt as if he were being deafened by Gabriel tapping out an anxious pace with his fingertips against the door.
“They’re here.” He whispered, even though he knew there was no way for them to be heard.
“Merde. I don’t think I’m cut out for spy work, boys. This is far too ulcer-inciting for me.” Balthazar chuckled and sat forward to see what he could from the back seat.
Alistair and Brady had stepped out of the car and Dean pitied Andy. He knew he had bought drugs from them before, but Dean was just a little concerned that Andy would pass out by how pale he seemed in the school’s security lighting.
“Oh shit, shit, they’re going for it!” Gabriel breathed, excitedly, while Dean simply stopped breathing. He watched as Andy handed Alistair the money and Brady handed him a small, unassuming, plastic baggy in motions that were so smooth it was nothing but routine. When Balthazar slammed his hand on the cage in excitement, Dean startled and cursed loudly as his hand came down on the switch for the cruiser’s lights and siren. He rushed to turn it off, and in the resulting darkness, saw the shape of Sheriff Mills and her officers move towards the duo, with their hands up. Gabriel and Balthazar scrambled out of the car as soon as they saw their arms cuffed behind their backs and Dean was quick to follow.
Dean found himself next to Andy, skidding to a halt and responding to the high five thrown his way.
“You know, Dean-o,” Alistair’s lilting voice made Dean’s skin crawl. He didn’t have much interaction with the guy, but even in the hallways he was creepier than fuck. “I wouldn’t celebrate too much. Crowley will find out and we’ll skip this, and then I think we could be the best of friends.”
Dean turned to look at the two figures being guided into the back of another cruiser that had pulled up by the student’s cars and grinned.
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?”
With that, he turned his head to see Gabriel wiggle his fingers in a small wave at the cruiser and Dean smiled. On the way back to the Milton’s house to drop his two cohorts off, he listened with one ear as Jody ripped them all new ones for almost blowing their bust but messing around in her cruiser.
“I knew you kids coming along was going to be nothing but trouble. Trouble. But no, I thought I would be nice and I would help you out and Bobby and Ellen swore you were responsible!”
She continued to rant, though it had a level of affection he wasn’t sure they deserved. His fingers were tracing figure eights on his thighs, adrenaline from the bust still running its course through his system. He was running through the plan to deal with Crowley the following morning and worrying that whatever they had on him wasn’t enough. He knew the teacher scam would get Castiel’s douche of an ex expelled at the least, and hopefully it would be enough, but he wanted blood if he was honest with himself. Alistair’s words echoed in his head and while he wasn’t worried for his sake, it still lent a feeling of unease to his thoughts.
Arriving back at the station after sending Balthazar and Gabriel on their way, so he could retrieve the Impala, Dean was surprised to see a small gathering of three girls waiting just inside the doors.
“Hey, Madison, right?”
The pretty brunette smiled at the curiosity in his voice. “Hello, Dean. Castiel should be out of the bathroom in a minute.”
Dean blinked. “Cas is here?”
Madison blinked back and then flushed. “Uh, not if he isn’t supposed to be? Did he not tell you?”
Dean barely heard her as he slid past the girls and Sheriff Mills, who had stopped to talk to them, on his way to the men’s restroom. The room was silent and cold, the noise from the officers outside muted. He rounded the corner to where the solitary stall was.
“Cas?” The sound of shuffling reached his ears but when he received no response he tried again, spotting his friend’s shape under the stall door.
“Castiel?”
“Dean?”
Dean grimaced at the bathroom’s floor but slid his back down the wall to sit cross-legged next to the stall door. “Are you okay?”
A soft chuckle came from the other side. “No, but better soon. Hopefully.”
Dean smiled as he looked down to see a hand reaching for his and slid his hand under the door for Castiel to grab. Whatever. He could deal with feeling like a girl if it got his boyfriend out of a dirty bathroom.
“So, why are you down in the dumps?” He coughed to hide his laugh at his terrible pun and could hear a muffled groan from the other side of the door.
“You told me you were going to meet with Madison, but I didn’t think I would find her, or you, here with some other girls?”
He heard Castiel sigh. “Those are the other people, that I know of anyways, that Crowley cheated on me with.”
Dean tried to connect the dots but still felt like he was missing something. “As far as I know, cheating sucks but it isn’t illegal?”
Castiel sighed and Dean could hear hints of the roughness caused by vomiting in his voice.
“It would seem I am not the only one that he’s hurt.”
“Are you saying that bastard...” Dean’s fists clenched involuntarily.
“No. Not that. I guess for that I was the lucky one.” The bitterness seeped through the stall door to Dean and he squeezed Castiel’s hand a little.
“Dean?” Castiel questioned after a few beats of silence.
“Are you going to tell Jody about what happened or just the beating?” Dean listened as his the singer sucked in a steadying breath.
“All of it. You were right. He needs to be stopped and maybe this will stop me from feeling so disgusting.”
“Hey now,” Dean tugged on Castiel’s hand and then let go and stood. “Would you come out of there, please?”
The door opened shortly afterward and Castiel emerged looking pale but determined. Dean cupped his cheeks and leaned in to press a brief kiss on his forehead.
“Dean? Will you come with me?”
“Duh. You’re not doing this alone. Let’s go.” Dean smiled into Castiel’s hair and then pulled him towards the door as more dominos tipped over.