Tell me where we go from here 32/?

May 06, 2015 17:56


Chapter 32

"Sleeping Beauty?" Dean asked in the exact tone Sam expected coming from him. "You have to be kidding me."

Sam just stared into the flames for a moment longer, giving Dean time to wrap his mind around the idea.

"You have to admit that Metatron is obsessed with stories." Sam repeated. "And this is pretty much a version of that fairy tale."


"What are you trying to say?" Sam felt Dean's eyes on him. "That I've to kiss him and then he'll wake up? Easy like that?"
Sam nodded. "Pretty much."

"Why should he leave such a loop hole? Why not let him sleep forever? Or kill him?"

"It's the story, that's why." Sam had spent half the night thinking about this. It made sense. And if he was honest, how high were the chances that Cas' true love would be near and willing to kiss him?

Sam couldn't really believe just yet that Dean and Cas had made the leap. So to Metatron this must have looked like a permanent solution. Hell, with all the brambles around the birches and in this far off area, Cas could have been lying here for centuries without anybody finding him. He had been lucky that they had been with him.

"So what?" Dean asked after a moment of silence. "I just go in there and kiss him?"

At least they didn't have a discussion about who Cas' true love might be. Sam was grateful for small mercies here.

"You didn't seem to have a problem with eating his face off right in front of me yesterday." Sam reminded him. Since they were openly out seeing them kissing was a regular thing in the bunker. They dimmed it a bit when they were outside but not by much. Not that Sam minded, it was just his job as the little brother to get annoyed by his big brother showing off like that.

"Okay." Dean straightened up but didn't move otherwise.

"What are you waiting for?" Sam wasn't one hundred percent sure this would work but they would never know as long as Dean didn't get his butt up and kissed his angel.

Dean didn't answer but he stood up and walked over to the tent. He moved like he was walking to his own execution and not to save his angel with a kiss of true love.

But that might be the problem here, Sam thought. Dean had this problem with believing that he mattered to others, that he was worth it.

Silently Sam prayed that it would work, it would be the proof that there was real love between Dean and Cas and sometimes Dean just needed a reminder of that.

Sam didn't want to think about what it would mean to Dean if the kiss didn't work. There had been issues between Cas and his brother, Sam still hadn't found out what that was all about, but they had been better lately. If the kiss didn't work, Sam wasn't sure how Dean would take it. Would he think that their love wasn't real? That he wasn't the right one for Cas?

Which was absurd. Everybody but Dean saw how Cas looked at him. The things Cas had done for Dean, sacrificed for Dean … If that wasn't true love Sam had no idea what was.

Sam stayed at the fire while behind him Dean opened and closed the zipper of the tent. There was no need for Sam to go with him, this was something between Dean and Cas, and he would know if it worked or not in a minute anyway.

He stared into the flames and strained his ears but there was no sound coming from the tent. He wondered how long Dean would stall.

A minute ticked by and then another one, Sam had checked his watch, and by now he was almost convinced that he was wrong and a kiss from Dean wasn't the solution at all. Which would leave them with the problem of what to do next. Maybe they could build some kind of travois. He was pretty sure that Dean could come up with some ideas on that.

But then there was a blinding light. Sam had his back to the tent and he still needed to shield his eyes.

"Cas?" He was on his feet a second later, blindly making a step in the general direction of the tent. His vision cleared after a few seconds, at least far enough for him to find the zipper. "Dean!"

For a second he had the horror vision in his mind of Dean dead on the ground with his eyes burned out. The angelic light was dangerous, but then he heard his brother's voice.

"We're fine, Sam."

Peering inside the tent Sam had to make sure himself. Cas was still lying in his sleeping bag with Dean kneeling beside him but now Cas had propped himself up on one elbow and blinked in confusion at Dean. When he noticed Sam he turned his gaze towards him, searching for an explanation. When both brothers failed to speak he tilted his head and asked: "What happened?"

"You walked right into a trap, you idiot." Dean slapped his head playfully. "What were you thinking?"

Cas frowned to that.

"I remember my grace calling for me." He finally said but in a doubtful tone as if he wasn't sure if that memory was correct.

"You took off like a freaking sleepwalker." Dean filled him in. "Right into that thing and we couldn't follow you. Then there was this bright light and brambles sprouted all around the birches. Took us the whole day to hack through that." He took a breath and continued rambling. "And then we found you, sleeping. We were doing all the work and you were sleeping."

Dean glossed over the part where they'd thought he wouldn't wake up again.

"I don't remember any of that." Cas said. "But I'm awake now."

He sat up all the way, with his elbows resting on his knees still inside the sleeping bag. He had a distant look in his eyes and Sam knew he wasn't home at the moment.

"That was a rather strong spell." Cas' vision cleared and he was fully there again. "You shouldn't have been able to wake me up."

"We think Metatron had a fairy tale in mind when he created the trap." Sam sat down next to him and stretched his legs as far as he could in the tent. "Sleeping Beauty."

"I am familiar with that tale." Cas confirmed and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Of course you are." Dean muttered. "Stupid Metatron. He ruined you, you know that?"

An amused smile played over Cas' lips.

"Are you angry because you wanted to be the sleeping beauty?" He asked in that earnest voice of his and Sam lost it there. The tension from the last day or two melted out of his body and he just tilted sideways until he lay on his sleeping bag, gasping for air.

"Not funny, Sammy." Dean growled at him but that only drove him into the next fit. Sam held his stomach and blinked away the laughing tears but he only had to glance over to Cas who watched him with curiosity and he lost it again. He felt the cuts all over his body, laughing wasn't exactly what the doctor had ordered, but the strain couldn't dampen his mood.

"I was the prince here." Dean said. "I'm the hero of the story."

"If you say so." Sam brought the word out between short breaths.

"Besides, Cas makes a way better sleeping beauty."

"Thank you, Dean."

Dean groaned but couldn't hold back the laughter any longer. With the confused angel sitting between them, Sam and Dean let out everything, until they had to wipe the tears off their faces and Sam's stomach hurt but he couldn't stop laughing.

When he finally did come down from the fit, Sam lay on his back, catching his breath and on the other side Dean was in a similar condition. He couldn't remember the last time they'd laughed that carefree but it felt good.

Clearing his throat he sat up again, they should probably start packing soon otherwise they would stay even longer out here than they already had to.

"Your grace." Dean had sobered up as well. "You have it back?"

Cas didn't answer. Instead he reached out to both of them and Sam held his breath when the fingertips touched his forehead.

Soft light washed through him and Sam sighed in relief. Sore muscles, burning cuts, everything was gone in a heartbeat. He even felt more rested than he'd felt in days.

He looked over to Dean and the cuts on his face were gone.

"Thanks, man." Dean said, his voice suspiciously thick.

"You're welcome." With that Cas peeled himself out of the sleeping bag. "I think we can go now."

Sam met Dean's eyes and the awe he saw there made him smile. Cas was back.

They were in no hurry but all of them were fed up with camping and couldn't get back to civilization quick enough.

"Too bad you still can't fly." Dean observed when they'd packed everything and were ready to leave.

"I'm sorry, Dean." Cas answered. "But with what Metatron did ... I'm not sure if I will ever fly again."

There was wistfulness in his voice, his whole posture, that made Sam look away quickly. He couldn't even start to imagine what it felt like to lose the ability to fly. It was their nature, angels had wings, angels fly.

Losing that, Sam shook his head. It wasn't right.

"But you got your grace back, that's all that matters." Dean tried to gloss over it. He slung his arm around Cas' shoulder as if he needed the contact to make sure the angel was truly there.

"That's probably the reason Hannah didn't answer." Sam shouldered his backpack and started walking.

"Hannah?" Cas asked and fell into an easy rhythm with them. He was carrying the weapon bag again and Sam was pretty sure that Dean had put all the heavier stuff into Cas' backpack. Cas would probably not even notice the additional weight.

"Yeah, we didn't know why you wouldn't wake up and I prayed to her." He shrugged. In hindsight it seemed silly. What did he expect? That she would pop in out of nowhere? That she would snap her fingers and everything would be alright?

"And she didn't answer you?" Cas asked farther.

"No." Sam shook his head. "But I guess she's busy in heaven and it worked out just fine without her help." He grinned at his brother who already blushed in advance. "Right, Prince Charming?"

"Nair." Dean muttered while he upped his pace to get ahead of them. "In your shampoo. Or dye. Pink. You'll wake up with pink hair one day."

Sam only laughed to that.

It took them two days to reach a road but then it was only a matter of a couple of hours until they were back at the Impala.

"Baby." Dean hurried over to her and made a full round to make sure she was intact without any scratches or dents. "Missed me?"

"If you get jealous." Sam said to Cas in a low voice, both just standing there, watching the reunion. "That's normal. If he's ever going to cheat on you, it's going to be with her."

"She is his first love." Cas answered matter-of-factly without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "He will always love her. And he will always love you."

Sam didn't know what to say to that.

"Can the sappy talk and get in." Dean had opened the driver's door and was now glaring at Cas. "I want a hot shower, a double bacon cheeseburger and a real bed. Not necessarily in that order.

"I strongly recommend that order." Sam answered and couldn't deny that he was in desperate need of a shower as well. Only full on angel Cas managed to look fresh and clean even after almost a week of hiking. And Cas hadn't slept during the night. He had sat at the fire all night and Sam still wasn't sure if he liked that or not.

Chapter 33
Masterpost

bunker, dean/cas, dean winchester, au, castiel, destiel, sam winchester, 10x03, season 10

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