63. Chapter 63

“Cas!”

Dean heard Jody’s scream before he felt the shockwave. It threw him back against Sam so hard that Sam crashed back against Bobby, and it would’ve sent all three of them to the ground had Bobby not grabbed the doorframe to brace them. For a split second, the world shivered around Dean and everything faded. It was almost like flying with an angel, but completely different at the same time: it felt like something – he didn’t know what – was grabbing onto him, trying to drag him away.

Sam grabbed his shoulder hard and yelled, “Dean!”

The world snapped back into focus. Dean gasped for breath and sagged against his brother. His skin was itchy and over-sensitive, but at least he didn’t feel like he was losing his grasp on reality. “Sammy,” he panted. “What the hell was that?”

“Demons,” Bobby said grimly, and a shiver rocked through Dean’s core. He gulped in breath and forced himself upright, staring over Jody’s shoulder. The yard was crawling with demons possessing human bodies; there had to be a good twenty from first count. At the far end of the yard, a man was standing beside the storage shed. He had his hand pressed against the wall – against a banishing symbol.

Holy shit. It took him a moment to put two and two together. Castiel and Gabriel had been banished, which had happened before. But Dean had been affected by it too. He hadn’t been banished, but if Sam hadn’t been here to shake him out of it… Dean swallowed hard. That, more than anything, was proof positive that he was more angel than human now.

“I thought this place was still heavily warded,” Sam hissed.

“Human,” Dean said, pointing to the man. If he squinted, he could see something dark crawling over the faces and bodies of the possessed humans. He couldn’t see the demons yet, but there was definitely something there that a part of him recognized. His heart thudded in panic. What if they were here to drag him back to hell?

Bobby swore under his breath. “They sent a human in to erase the traps,” he said with disgust. “Just enough to make it so they could get in. Son of a bitch.”

“We know you’re in there,” one of the demons called out. She was a tall girl, wearing a waitressing uniform with the name ‘Kitty’ on it. “Come out here, or we’ll kill him.”

“What?!” The guy who’d cast the banishing spell squawked with dismay at suddenly finding himself surrounded by demons. “Oh my god, no! You promised that – urk!” He let out a choked gasp as one of the demons grabbed him around the neck.

Something hard nudged at Dean’s lower back. He took it automatically and realized that it was a shotgun filled with salt. Sam also handed him an iron crowbar. Dean took that took, tucking it under his other arm. His hands were shaking, he realized suddenly. It had been months since he’d held any kind of a weapon. He had the disorienting thought that his daddy wouldn’t have liked it.

Jody stepped out first, since she was in the lead, armed with similar weapons. Dean, Sam and Bobby followed. Sam, Dean was glad to see, held Ruby’s knife in his hand. Kitty smiled when they were all assembled on the porch, and the thing behind her face shifted with glee.

“We want the baby,” she cooed, her eyes flashing black.

“Fuck you,” Dean said without heat. Oh god, they really did want to drag him back to hell. In the distance, he heard the sound of baying dogs. He couldn’t help trembling with fear. He wanted his daddy so badly.

“You’re not getting him,” Sam said, putting a hand up in front of Dean.

“Then we’ll kill you all,” Kitty said casually, inspecting her nails. “And that dumb town. And as many people as we need to until we get what we came for.”

“No,” Dean said before Sam could respond. “I’ll… I’ll go with you.”

“No!” Sam, Bobby and Jody all exclaimed at the same time.

“It’s fine,” Dean muttered. It so wasn’t fine. He was sick with terror, tasting bile at the back of his throat. This was his worst nightmare. Where was Daddy?

Sam tried to stop him, of course, but Dean easily pushed him aside. He walked down the steps and got a half dozen steps down the walkway before Kitty grinned. Dean stopped moving, but it was too late. He heard the flick of a lighter and then the world exploded in heat. He yelped in fear and shrank back as a ring of fire – holy fire – roared around him.

“Dean!” Sam yelled.

“Or maybe we’ll just kill them anyway, and then take you with us,” Kitty said, laughing.

The flames were so hot that Dean’s wings ached. He whimpered with fear as they climbed above his head, obscuring his view. But he could still hear the sound of battle breaking out. He was torn between trying to figure out a way to help and staying right where he was. Daddy had told him once, a long time ago, that holy fire could burn an angel’s wings off. Dean didn’t want to lose his wings.

He wanted Daddy.

“Daddy,” he choked out, tears spilling over. But Daddy was gone, wasn’t he? It always took Daddy and Uncle Gabriel a long time to come back from wherever they were banished to. Dean had once asked where they went, but Daddy just shook his head and didn’t answer. Wherever it was, they couldn’t fly back until the sigil’s effects stopped working. It could be minutes or hours.

By the time they got back, Sam, Bobby and Jody would be dead and Dean would be back in hell. The thought made his throat close up entirely with fear. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. He was trying to pull in air, but none was actually coming into his lungs. He dropped to the ground, crouching down and gasping. The flames seemed to roar higher, and he tasted soot.

“Daddy,” he sobbed again. “Uncle Gabe…” He pulled his wings in tight around him to protect them from the fire and caught a glimpse of the copper color, now dusty with soot. There was another angel he knew well that always had colorful wings, wasn’t there?

“Balthazar!” he screamed, not even stopping to let himself wonder whether Balthazar would heed his call. “Balthazar, help me!”

Before the second sentence had even passed through his lips, Dean heard a screech. It was the kind of sound that once would’ve brought him to his knees, clutching at his ears in agony. But now his ears only ached a little, and he couldn’t interpret whatever the angels were saying, but he could feel their rage. Whoever had shown up was furious. Beyond the flames, Dean could see glimpses of flashing light: grace.

Suddenly the flames hissed as water was sprayed onto them. Dean tensed in fear, sobbing softly. He wasn’t sure what he would see. His eyes widened when he saw Balthazar standing there with an incredibly angry look on his face. Far from the usual smirk he wore, Balthazar’s eyes were glowing and his navy wings were extended fully, angel sword in hand.

“Dean,” Balthazar said.

Dean lost it. He threw himself at Balthazar, wrapping both arms around the angel’s waist, and wailed. Shockingly, Balthazar didn’t push him away. He set one arm around Dean’s shoulders and wrapped both wings around him, which only Daddy and Uncle Gabriel had ever done before. Balthazar’s wings were cooler and didn’t hug him as tightly, but Dean still wept with relief.

The sounds of battle continued around them for – well, Dean didn’t know how long. He just cried into Balthazar’s chest and didn’t look up, partly because of Balthazar’s wings blocking his view and partly because he just didn’t want to see. He’d lost his shotgun and the crowbar at some point and he had no desire to ever see them again. He didn’t know why he’d bothered to take them in the first place.

“Balthazar, the demons have been destroyed,” a woman said. Dean didn’t recognize her voice. “Is Castiel’s hatchling well?”

“Well enough,” Balthazar said. “He’ll be better once we get Castiel or Gabriel back here.”

“We’re looking for them,” another woman said, probably more for Dean’s benefit than Balthazar’s. Her voice was vaguely familiar. “We’ll find them, Dean, I promise.”

Dean hiccupped and finally lifted his head, looking up as tears continued to stream down his face. Balthazar obligingly shifted his wings, letting Dean see the two angels that were standing there. One was a short woman with dark hair, but the other was Anael. Dean blinked at her, letting go of Balthazar with one hand so that he could slide his thumb into his mouth but holding on extra hard with the other hand, and Anael smiled sadly at him.

“We’ll find them,” she repeated. “And until then, Balthazar and I will stay with you.”

“Yes, Castiel would run me through if I let anything happen to you,” Balthazar drawled. “The humans?”

“All safe.” Anael looked over her shoulder and Dean followed her gaze. Jody, Sam and Bobby were standing near the house, looking worse for the wear. An angel was standing with them, one that Sam was familiar with judging by how closely he was allowing her to stand, and healing their injuries.

All three of them were staring at Dean.

Dean immediately flushed with humiliation, suddenly realizing that his pleas for Daddy, Uncle Gabriel and Balthazar had probably been audible to anyone who was listening. And that he’d been standing here bawling into Balthazar’s chest for the past several minutes. He’d also wet himself, he realized suddenly, though he couldn’t remember when that had happened.

He wanted to move away from Balthazar and try to save face. But it was like his body had locked up. He couldn’t bring himself to move, much less let go of Balthazar. What if Balthazar disappeared? Then Dean would be alone ago, and maybe the demons would come back with their hell hounds and they’d take him back to hell and he’d end up back on the rack –

“You’re okay, Dean,” Anael said soothingly, moving closer, and Dean realized he’d been whimpering. “We burned the demons out of existence, along with their hell hounds.” She put a hand on his back, just below Balthazar’s arm, and rubbed his back gently as she leaned in to whisper, “As long as there is an angel alive, we’ll never let the demons have one of our children.”

Choking on another sob, Dean nodded to show he’d heard and turned his face back into Balthazar’s chest. He couldn’t handle dealing with the inevitable questions that Bobby, Jody and especially Sam were bound to have. He squeezed his eyes shut and wished really hard that the three of them would just go away for a little while. Anael patted his back again and then stepped away.

“Please go back into the house,” she said, directing it at the three of them.

“Not without Dean!” Sam said. “That’s my brother.”

Anael walked away, her voice growing quieter, so Dean didn’t bother to try and listen to the conversation – well, argument she was probably now having with Sam. He knew that the decent thing to do would be to go over and assure Sam that he was fine, but he just couldn’t do it. He felt like he was falling apart, and the only thing holding him together were the angel wings wrapped around him.

“You’re wet,” Balthazar said into his ear, and Dean flushed again. “And filthy, and it’s dangerous for you to be out here in the open. I’m taking you back to your nest.”

Dean didn’t even think of protesting. If he couldn’t have Daddy, then he wanted to go home. He nodded and felt the world twist. Fresh panic gripped him, remembering the banishing sigil, but before it really had the chance to manifest, Balthazar had landed. Dean’s feet hit the ground for just a second before Balthazar was effortlessly lifting him up onto his hip and carrying him towards the nest.