3. Dean

Dean comes back to the room only once more that day. He delivers another bucket of the grey fish to Sam and leaves as quickly as he arrives. He doesn’t look at Castiel and doesn’t speak to any of the two-tails. Castiel wants to reach out to him and press his confusion and unease into Dean’s mind like he had earlier with his gratitude.After Castiel had spoken to him directly, Dean had stumbled head first into the edge of the wall-hole. Sam and Jess had inquired after him worryingly and Castiel had swam to the glass-wall, concerned. Dean had stared at Castiel with a hand to his head and waved off the other two-tails before he fled from the room. Red-lips returned not long after that.Castiel is worried. Did the touch of his mind to Dean’s frighten him?Sam seems to notice Dean’s behavior because he’s speaking in a quiet rumble to Jess, his brows pinched together. He keeps looking toward the wall-hole where Dean left, even as he dumps the grey fish into the small-sea. He frowns at Castiel too but not in anger. Castiel knows the same expression is on his own face and he shrugs his shoulders.Sam repeats the movement and shakes his head. His smile is strained. Red-lips comes over and Sam steps away to speak to her. She gestures at Castiel with one hand. In her other she has a handful of rectangular pieces of colour. She pulls one from the pile and Sam takes it. His expression brightens and he walks over to the glass-wall. Castiel tilts his head, curious, and presses closer to the glass.He holds up the rectangle for Castiel to see the colours. Castiel squints and then jerks away from the wall, fans flaring in surprise. The colour-rectangle is covered in different shades and colours and they form a still-image of a fin-kin. Castiel recognizes the crimson coral from the edge of the light-beds, and stretched along the seam between sand and coral is a fin-kin.Castiel moves close again, pressing his nose against the glass as Sam holds the colour-rectangle up for him to see better. Many questions flit through Castiel’s mind and none of them lead him to understand how the still-image could be showing him the ocean when the ocean is obviously not here. And who is the fin-kin?His confusion must be evident because Sam lowers the colour-rectangle. He roots around in the folds of his white-clothes and pulls out a much smaller colour-square and presses that against the glass. It is another still-image where the colours come together in the shape of Sam and Jess. They are both sitting at the edge of the ocean, tail-tips buried in the sand and wearing very small clothes.But Sam and Jess are right there on the other side of the glass. They are not sitting in the sand or wearing small clothes. Castiel looks between them and the still-image, frowning in confusion as he tries to understand. Sam puts the small colour-square away and holds up the bigger one with the fin-kin again. He taps the fin-kin and points at Castiel and back to the fin-kin.Castiel’s eyes go wide because it couldn’t be, could it? The still-image of the fin-kin couldn’t be like the still-image of Sam and Jess where it is them but not them. He looks closer at the fin-kin, squinting. Sam holds up his hand, gesturing for Castiel to wait as he exchanges with red-lips for a new colour-rectangle. He holds that up to the glass and it is an even closer still-image of the fin-kin.Now Castiel can see better details. He can see that the fin-kin is male and has two fans pressed close to his back. His tail is black and patterned with familiar streaks and speckles of blue. Castiel twists his tail up beside him and runs his hands over his glow-pattern, comparing it to the still-image. They are the same.The fin-kin is him. But Castiel is right here. He isn’t there. But that is him?Sam is grinning as Castiel struggles to understand. He exchanges the still-image for another from red-lips and this time it is the face of a fin-kin. Sam taps it and points to Castiel again and for the first time, Castiel sees himself. He sees the subtle dip in his chin, the curve of his pale pink lips and the point of his nose. He sees the dark brown of his hair, twisted and loose in the water and the stubble on his cheeks and chin.Castiel rubs his fingers over his face absently as he examines the still-image. He feels the rough hairs. He doesn’t have a knife to keep himself clean shaven and he might end up with a beard if the two-tails don’t give him one. But that’s him? That’s his face? Those are his eyes?A painful knot of longing tightens in his chest. His eyes are the blue of mother-sea. Balthazar had been telling the truth.Sam smiles and nods, handing the colour-rectangle back to red-lips. She is grinning too. Her smile is not kind. It unnerves him. He realizes he doesn’t know her name. Castiel knocks on the glass until he has their attention. He points at Sam and mouths his name. He points to red-lips and then points to the colour-rectangles, tilting his head in question.Red-lips looks surprised and confused, but Sam understands. He gestures at the top of the small-sea and Castiel flicks his tail. There is only enough room between the waves and the bars for him to bring one of his side-fans out of the water. He holds himself carefully to keep the gills on his neck underwater.Sam moves onto the rise next to the glass-wall and points to red-lips, “Meg.” He holds up the colour-rectangle for Castiel to see and he points at it, “Picture.”“Meg. Picture.” Castiel angles his face out of the water to repeat the words before he sinks down. He mouths her name at Meg and then mouths the new word, pointing at the pictures.Meg looks suitably surprised, her red mouth hanging open. She starts speaking excitedly to Sam and he stops her long enough to give her Castiel’s name. He recognizes the shape of his name on Sam’s lips. He nods and points to himself, mouthing his name. She grins and Castiel rewards her with a small quirk of his lips. So far Meg has acted on the side of smug-face and dark-skin and Castiel is still wary of her.She gestures grandly and shoves the stack of pictures into Sam’s arms before she leaves the room in a swirl of her white clothes. Castiel looks to Sam for an explanation and Sam is scowling at the wall-hole. Whatever Meg said, it is upsetting to Sam. Jess is similarly displeased and Castiel knocks on the glass-wall, trying to ask with his eyes about what could be bothering them. He wants to reach out and speak to their minds like he did with Dean, but Sam’s reaction on the reef and Dean’s earlier make him think twice about doing so.Sam waves Castiel off, shaking his head and pointing at the fish. Castiel makes a face and his gills ripple in distaste at the brush off. He grabs the nearest fish and throws it at the wall. It flops uselessly to the floor and Castiel retreats to a back corner of small-sea to sulk. He would never admit that what he’s doing is sulking. It is the action of a child and Castiel is a warrior and warriors do not sulk.Jess and Sam sit at the flat-glows and do not move from there until Meg returns. Meg does not come back alone. She is with a female dressed in white clothes that are different from the white clothes that Sam and Jess wear over their other clothes. It is much longer, going almost all the way to the floor, and hangs off her shoulders on thin straps. This new female has rippling yellow hair that hangs past her shoulders and a wide mouth with red lips.She approaches the front glass-wall and smiles widely at Castiel, raising a dainty hand to wave at him. Castiel waves back purely to be polite. There is something about this female, something off. Like Meg. She mouths his name and taps on the glass. Castiel nods and her smile only gets bigger. She is very pretty, but the smile is cold and cruel. Castiel does not swim closer like he would with Sam or Jess or, if he would return, Dean. He folds his tail and closes his arms around it, pulling it tightly to his chest. He rests his chin on it and watches them as long-white turns to speak with Sam and Jess, the both of them are no longer sitting and they are watching this female with trepidation.Whatever she says to Sam makes his eyes go wide by a fraction and his lips press together in a thin line. Jess mirrors his expression and she looks up at him. Sam only nods, not to Jess but to long-white, and holds out his hand to Jess. She removes the necklace that she had given Dean earlier and hands it to Sam. He moves around the small-sea and onto the rise. Castiel watches from across his cage as Sam lifts the bars like earlier. Long-white takes his place on the rise.Jess, Sam and Meg wait a little behind her. Jess wrings her hands and shifts from side to side. She keeps looking up at Sam and he shakes his head slightly every time. He comes forward and knocks on the glass even though Castiel is already watching him. He crooks his fingers and gestures for him to come over. Castiel shakes his head and looks away, eyeing the grey fish laying scattered on the floor of small-sea. He barely trusts Sam and Jess. He does not trust this female.Sam speaks to the female and she is no longer smiling. She turns to Meg, speaking quickly with short and sharp words. Meg leaves as quickly as she did before. Jess is chewing on her bottom lip and keeps rocking back and forth. Now her hands are pulling at the edges of the white layer of her clothes. Sam is looking at Castiel with pleading eyes and Castiel only shakes his head again. He rubs his fingers over the bandage and Sam’s expression grows pained and sympathetic, as if he understands why Castiel is wary of new two-tails.Meg returns with her hand clamped firmly around Dean’s wrist. Dean is very loud with his protests as she drags him across the room. Castiel can almost make out Dean’s words through the glass and water. He is again pointedly refusing to look at Castiel. It is confusing and if Castiel is honest, it is a little hurtful. Dean had been nice to him from the very start and now he is ignoring him. Castiel hasn’t known him long, less than a day even. But it hurts because Castiel can’t trust any of the two-tails now. They keep on hurting him in new ways.Dean is taken to long-white and his voice immediately grows quiet. He speaks in low murmurs with his eyes adverted to the floor. His face is a hard mask. Long-white bends over, tucking her thin fingers under Dean’s chin and tilting his face up to hers. She smiles widely and Dean’s expression darkens. He jerks his chin from her hold and nods slowly. It is obvious that Sam, Jess and Dean don’t like this new female.Castiel lifts his head and his fans flair slightly with pleased surprise when Dean turns to the glass. He waves at Dean and gets a wave and a small, strained smile in return. Dean presses both hands against the glass and jerks his head in a small gesture for him to come closer. Castiel frowns and shakes his head. Long-white wants him over there. She wants to use his tentative new friends to get him to do what she wants and Castiel will not give her that satisfaction.Dean grimaces and rubs a hand over his face. He shakes his head and looks up at long-white, lips moving. Castiel reaches for Dean’s mind with caution. His first touch is tentative and gentle, but Dean still flinches. He looks away from long-white sharply and stares at him. Castiel looks back steadily and does it again. Dean pushes against the intrusion at first, subconsciously building walls around his mind.Castiel is persistent. He presses on Dean’s mind with his own emotions and projects images. With the mental image of long-white, he layers it with his wariness of her and his displeasure at her manipulation. Dean’s mind is full of surprise and fear and uncertainty at letting Castiel in. Castiel gets the impression that it is a new sensation to two-tails.All that he has seen of the two-tails indicates that their communication is based upon verbalization and physical movements of their body. They do not share their minds like the fin-kin. They have no kin-connection. Castiel pities them because they will never share the closeness that the fin-kin do. But he is in awe of them too. Even without the intimacy of the connection, they manage to form relationships without having a firm grasp of the thoughts or emotions of others.Castiel uses the barest of touches on Dean’s mind. He won’t betray Dean’s trust in him and he gently drags those thoughts along the edges of Dean’s own. He impresses upon him his hope that Dean will accept the connection. It will make communication much easier and Castiel will be able to learn things quickly.He pushes the image of long-white at Dean again and this time, he gets a response. Dean throws up several thoughts in response. A name, Lilith, and feelings of dislike, fear, and brief, miniscule flashes of respect and gratitutde. Castiel gets the notion that Lilith is of a higher rank than Dean, Sam, Jess or Meg.Lilith digs her fingers into Dean’s shoulder and her frown is almost frightening. She is tugging at him to make him move onto the rise next to her. She starts pulling at his clothes and Dean shifts away from her. His movements are clearly uncomfortable as he tries to resist while she pulls off his top layer of clothes and throws it aside. The next layer she starts to drag over his head.It is Dean’s discomfort, vibrating brightly along their thin connection, that brings Castiel to move. Water splashes over the glass-wall when he rises above the waves. Castiel holds his breath, flattening his gills to his neck, and grips the edge of the wall to hold himself there as he reaches out and grabs her wrist.“Lilith.” He hisses, jerking her arm so she lets go.She gasps in surprise and pulls away. Sam catches her when she falls off the rise. Castiel lets her go and he reaches to help adjust Dean’s clothes. “Dean?” He asks softly with his voice while touching his mind with cautious pleading.“It’s okay, Cas.” Dean shoves his clothes back down and starts pushing at Castiel’s shoulders to get him back in the water. His thoughts are calm and thankful, but strained with worry. Castiel drops into the small-sea, breathing deep when his gills are back under the water and Dean’s worry abates marginally.He stays just enough above the water to hear their words, hoping to learn new ones.“He attacked me!” Lilith voice is loud, angry and panicked.“He thought you were attacking me,” Dean replies backs, his voice is rough and barely keeping level.“How did he know my name? Who told him?”Dean hesitates and Castiel feels his panic. He realizes that Dean doesn’t want to tell them about the connection. A flash of selfishness sparks across Dean’s mind and Castiel almost smiles in amusement. Dean sends a quick glare at him over his shoulder when Castiel’s feelings trickle back to him.“It was me.” Sam speaks up and all eyes turn to him, “I showed him photos of the crew and taught him a few names. He’s really intelligent and I think we need to reevaluate our plans regarding the study.”Jess was nodding next to him, “We could learn so much more about his kind if he’s willing to work with us!”Dean’s thoughts and emotions are a complex swirl of distaste and hope. Brief images of grey walls, orange clothes and bars flit across the connection. Castiel does not understand or recognize those images, but they are interspaced with thoughts of the open ocean. Remorse floods his mind and Castiel raises his eyes from the heated conversation between Lilith, Sam and Jess.Dean is frowning at the floor, but he keeps glancing at Castiel. Shame and guilt and all forms of apology choke the connection and Castiel realizes with some surprise that Dean is sorry that Castiel is trapped. Dean is disgusted that Castiel in a cage.Castiel accepts the feelings, and he does nothing to try and soothe them. He thinks it is right that Dean feels that way. The two-tails should never have captured him. Dean may not have been one of the ones who actually put him, but he is still one of them and has done nothing to try and free him.Lilith clears her throat, “Dean.”He flinches and spins around to face her, “Yes, boss?”“Have you been paying attention?”“Not even slightly, ma’am.”Lilith’s red lips pull into a frown and she gestures at Castiel, he perks, side-fans flaring slightly, “Sam says he likes you and he doesn’t like at least half of the research team.”“Half your research team is Alistair and Gordon. They’re dicks. It’s really not all that surprising.” Dean shrugs, shoving his hands into the folds of the clothes on his legs.She frowns more, likely at being interrupted, “I want you here.”Sharp bursts of surprise fill Dean’s mind and his shoulders go rigid. Castiel tilts his head and studies the side of Dean’s face as the surprise melts into annoyance.“I’m not a scientist.”“No, but he likes you. You can help keep him under control.”“No offense, Lilith, but I’m a goddamn mechanic. I keep this stupid tub running.” He gestures wide with both hands as he comes down off the rise, “If you keep me locked up in here with Cas, I’m gonna be next to useless and bored out of my wits.”Sam cringes, “Oh God, a bored Dean is the worst torture you can inflict on a person.”Dean lifts his hand in a fist, middle finger raised and sticks his tongue out at Sam, “Shut it, bitch.”“Jerk.”Lilith reaches out and cups Dean’s cheeks with her hands, smiling sweetly. Dean’s hand drops and he sucks his tongue into his mouth quickly, eyes wide. Castiel frowns as Dean’s thoughts tighten with discomfort. A low growl rumbles in his chest and Lilith immediately withdraws, side-glancing at  Castiel. Instead, she pats Dean’s shoulder.“I’m sure your brother will find plenty for you to do here. And if anything does happens to break on this ‘tub’, I do have other mechanics on staff.” She smiles that dangerous smile that makes Castiel’s fans fold close at the sight of it, “It’s nearly dinner time. I’ll have someone bring your rations and we’ll get a cot set up in here.”Dean’s rage bursts brightly through the connection and his fingers fold into fists at his side, “It’s awesome that you agreed to give me a job in the first place, but I’ve got a contract to work on machines. You can’t lock me up in here too.”“Well I’m just adding an addendum to the contract.” She pats his cheek and sweeps past, “But don’t think of it like that. You can come and go to use the washroom and stretch your legs, but I do expect you to spend the majority of your time with Castiel. Besides, I figure you of all people are used to being locked up.”“But why me? I’ve barely spent any time in here!”“And yet you’ve managed to have the most contact with him and he trusts you the most. Funny how that works, hm?” Lilith replies over her shoulder.Meg is grinning happily by Jess’s shoulder. She chuckles, ignoring the dark looks sent her way by Sam, Jess and Dean. With a shrug, she follows when Lilith gestures for her to keep up. Dean sneers at their backs and makes the gesture with his middle finger again.“Dean?” Castiel asks softly, resting his hands on the edge of the glass-wall and lifting himself slightly out of the water. He tilts his head and pushes his concern at him.He shakes his head, slumping against the glass-wall until he slides down to sit on the rise. Castiel drops underwater and sinks until he is level with Dean. Sam speaks to Dean softly, his voice barely heard through the glass-wall. He puts a hand on Dean’s shoulder and Dean brushes it off. Castiel continues to push at Dean’s mind, wanting to know what’s happening.

Frustration echoes over the connection and it’s followed with images. Castiel recognizes the room and his small-sea. He sees himself and next to it is Dean sitting on a low flat ledge. Thick bars fall over the image and a confining panic flicks through it all. Castiel frowns when he understands.He shields his own thoughts and feelings from Dean. He doesn’t think Dean will like that he is a little happy that Dean can better understand now how Castiel feels. He is happy because Dean will be nearby, and he will keep smug-face and dark-skin away. But Castiel is also displeased that the two-tails would cage one of their own when he has done nothing wrong.Castiel settles against the floor, brushing Dean’s mind regularly as Sam and Jess speak with him. He watches with mild interest as Meg returns with four white square containers that she shares with the other two-tails. They eat thin golden things, dark brown cubes, and a pile of flat green things. Castiel eats the grey fish and frowns at Dean when he laughs when he makes faces at the taste of them.He presses at Dean’s mind with the memories of the succulent taste of fish fresh from the ocean. The joy of hunting and swimming in the open sea. He overflows the connection and takes pleasure in watching Dean reel back at the memories of his family, of the feeling of home and being amongst his brethren and the pain at being separated from them.He feels the first wash of Dean’s sympathy and sorrow before Castiel severs the connection. Dean is trembling and staring with wide apologetic eyes. His white-square of food has fallen to the floor. Castiel glares back for a few moments before gathering the bones from his meal and dumping them into the bucket hanging from one corner of the small-sea where Sam had placed it earlier.Castiel curls in the farthest corner of his small-sea. He hugs his chest and flicks his tail over his head, fans spreading over his shoulders. He hears the bars closing over the water and the muffled sounds of talking and movement. Castiel ignores it all as he tries to stamp down the melancholy emotions that rises up with thoughts of his colony. He waits until he falls asleep.

x

The lights are dimmed again and there is a new addition to the room when Castiel wakes. A low ledge has been set up in the empty space to the right of his small-sea. Dean is sleeping on it, curled under a long, wide piece of cloth. At the end, where the tips of Dean’s two-tails lay, there is a taller grey box.Castiel stretches. He feels much better than he did when he went to sleep. He feels momentary regret at his actions earlier with Dean. Dean is new to the kin-connection and Castiel should never have used it in anger like he did.He touches Dean’s sleeping mind and smiles when Dean twitches. Dean rubs his face into a thick square of white and frowns, but he does not wake. Base emotions from his dream drift across to Castiel and it is soothing to have them play in the background of his mind. It almost feels like home.Like the night before, Castiel swims laps around his small-sea. He stretches and practices the forms taught to him as a warrior, keeping himself limber. Castiel is in the middle of a particularly complex pose when he feels amusement that isn’t his own.(I didn’t know mermaids did yoga.)Castiel accidentally slaps himself in the face with his own tail as he tries to unfold to see Dean. Dean is sitting on the edge of his sleeping ledge. His hair is tousled and sticking in many directions, but his grin is sleepy and lopsided. The words in Castiel’s mind are nonsense to him and his confusion only makes Dean smile more.(Dean?)Dean rubs at his eyes and yawns. An image of Castiel flickers through the connection. It is followed with images of other fin-kin, none that Castiel recognizes, and Dean gives a word to the images. (Mermaid.)Castiel frowns because that word is not what they are and he shakes his head. He sends back images of his colony and the enemy colony. (Fin-kin.)(Fin-kin? Huh. Cool. So you guys talk with your minds then? That’s very ‘Charles Xavier’ of you.)He laughs when all Castiel responds with is confusion. Dean stretches his arms above his head before fumbling blindly at the top of the tall-box. He grabs a small shell-like something and flicks it open. Castiel sends his surprise across the connection when a light from within the shell illuminates Dean’s face. Dean squints and frowns at the shell before closing it and tossing it aside.Castiel pushes the image of the shell at Dean. Silently asking what it is with his eyes and brushing his curiosity along the edges of the image.Dean yawns again and scratches at his stomach. He blinks blearily at Castiel. (Phone.) The word is accompanied with several images of the shells and two-tails holding them open to their odd fleshy side-shells. The memories move and the two-tails talk into the shells and Castiel understands the two-tails use them to communicate over long distances. How the shells do that is beyond him and it makes his head hurt a little to try and figure it out.Instead, he presses against the glass and fixes Dean with a look. He sends his memory of earlier and rings it with regret. Dean shrugs his shoulders and flaps his hand, waving it off because he forgives him. Castiel smiles and Dean returns it before yawning again and lying flat on his sleep ledge, eyes closed.(Dean?)(Cas.)(Are you going to sleep?) He adds images of sleeping, soaked with curiosity to his words.Dean smiles, though his eyes are closed and he shakes his head. (No.)Castiel taps on the glass until Dean opens his eyes and looks at him. He shoves images of Dean, Sam, Jess and the others at him. (Two-tails.)He laughs again. (Humans.)They spend the rest of the night swapping words and images. By the time Sam arrives, Castiel knows what everything in the room is and what it is used for. He knows the names for smug-face and dark-skin. He knows that the different types of clothing the humans wear have different names. He knows the names humans have for things in the ocean. And in turn, Dean knows the very few names that the fin-kin have for human things.At one point, Dean had gotten up to get a flat-rock and small-stick. According to Dean, the flat-rock is something called a ‘clip-board’ and is used to hold ‘paper’. The small-stick is actually a ‘pen’ and humans use them to write on the paper. Writing is something humans do to keep records of things. Castiel taught Dean that fin-kin use song to record their history and they pass the songs from generation to generation. Dean made a list of all the words they exchanged so that he won’t forget. Castiel is pleased that Dean is making an effort to share as much as he is learning.Sam is surprised that Dean is awake when he walks in. Because walking is how humans move from place to place. They walk on their feet, which are the appendages on the ends of their legs. They don’t have tails. Dean grins and nods at Castiel. He shares most of his thoughts with Dean now, and Dean gives as best as he can. This way, Castiel can learn to communicate faster.Dean is telling Sam about what he’s learned throughout the night. Castiel waits under the moveable bars. Jess is the only one with the key and Castiel has to wait for her to arrive before Dean can unlock the bars and lift them. Castiel is swimming in circles impatiently. He is excited and wants to show Sam what he has learned from Dean.The moment Jess comes through the door, Castiel knocks on the glass. (Dean. Key!)Laughing, Dean gets the key and steps up onto the platform next to the small-sea. Castiel likes using his own words for some of the human things. ‘Tank’ or ‘pool’ just don’t sound right to him. Small-sea is nicer. The bars lift and Castiel slips up out of the water. He holds his breath and leans over the glass,  smiling brightly at them.“Sam! Jess! Good morning!”They both have the same expression of surprise and Dean laughs. He pats Castiel on the shoulder before shoving him back into the water. Castiel chuckles and flicks water at him before swimming enthusiastic circles around the small-sea. He pokes his head out again to hear their conversation. Dean translates into emotions and images as best he can.“It’s great that he knows stuff, Dean, but how?” Sam is running his hands through his hair and he sounds worried, “He knew Lilith’s name and none of us told him. And I know you. You don’t have the patience to stand here all night while Cas alternates his ears and mouth out of the water to talk. We let it go yesterday because we were moving you in here, but seriously, man, you have to tell me what’s going on.”“Dean, if Lilith or Meg checks the tapes, they’re going to know that Sam lied.” Jess is frowning, her hand on Sam’s arm.Dean bites his lip and looks to Castiel. He shrugs again and rubs at the back of his neck.“Telepathy.” Castiel says for him and he reaches out to tap a wet finger against Dean’s temple, “Dean. Castiel. Telepathy.”With a snort, Dean slaps his hand away. But he gives Castiel another lopsided grin before turning to his brother. Sam and Jess are staring at them with wide eyes and open mouths again.“He… what? Dean, what?!”“They call it the kin-connection, but it’s basically telepathy. His colony uses it to communicate, but apparently there are other, uh, ‘breeds’ of fin-kin who talk with voices.” Dean shrugs and dips his hand into the water, swirling his fingers absently, “He was in my head yesterday afternoon. It kinda surprised me. S’why I walked into the door frame.”Sam is rubbing at his face with one hand, eyes darting from Dean to Castiel and back, “This is… wow. Holy shit, this is amazing! Mermaids are telepathic!”“No, dude. Didn’t you hear me?” Dean points at the clipboard, “They’re called ‘fin-kin’.”Castiel nods in agreement, pointing at himself, “Fin-kin.” He points at Sam and Jess, “Humans.”“See? He gets it. Good lil’ smarty-pants!” Dean reaches over and ruffles his hair.Jerking away, Castiel makes an indignant noise low in his throat and splashes at him, “Dean!”Dean laughs and jumps down from the platform, “I’m going to go grab a shower and some breakfast. Cas, you hungry?” He pushes images of the grey fish and Castiel eating them.“Yes. Please.” Castiel smiles and is about to sink into the water when Sam grabs Dean’s arm and gestures for Castiel to stay.“Can you tell him that we’d like to take measurements this morning? Just with the tape. It won’t hurt or anything.”Dean shrugs and scratches at the back of his head, “Yeah, sure. He’ll probably be okay with that.” He goes around to the other side of the small-sea and pulls a change of clothes out from the drawers at the end of his bed.Castiel pushes his curiosity at him and Dean answers with images of a thin strip of white held along Castiel’s tail then along his arms. He gives him images of the same thin-white held along Dean’s arm and his leg, and wrapped around his chest. Dean gives it a name. (Measuring tape. Sam will use the measuring tape.)“Sam.” Castiel calls, holding his breath and lifting himself by the edge of the glass, “Measuring tape. Yes.”“Holy shit.” Sam breathes, wide eyes looking between Dean and Castiel, “You really are using telepathy.”“I wasn’t blowing smoke outta my ass, Sammy.” Dean grins, gathering his bundle of clothes and a small brown pouch, “I’ll be back in half an hour or something. If Alistair or Gordon show up, kick ‘em the hell out or tell them if they even try to touch Cas, I’ll kick their asses into next week. Got me?”Jess waves her hand, “Don’t worry. We’re more than capable of watching him.”Dean laughs and waves over his shoulder as he leaves, “See ya later, Cas!”“Goodbye, Dean.” Castiel lets the connection drop to give Dean privacy during his morning rituals.He sinks to the floor of his small-sea and watches Sam and Jess turn on all the computers and machines. They’re talking excitedly to one another and pause repeatedly to smile at him. Castiel nods and smiles back, pleased. He thinks of making the kin-connection with one of them, but Dean had seemed unwilling to share knowledge of the link to start with. Castiel decides to wait to speak to Dean about it.Meg arrives and takes her place at one of the computers. Sam and Jess stop talking then. They share furtive glances with Castiel and Sam presses a finger to the middle of his lips while she isn’t looking. Castiel frowns at the gesture and repeats it. Humans talk with their mouths. To cover the mouth like this must be a signal to remain quiet.Sam gathers a few items and he and Jess come around to the platform. He steps up onto it and Castiel rises to meet him. Jess has her clipboard and pen ready. Sam is holding the measuring tape.“Hey Cas.”He tilts his head, “Sam.”“Um, so, I don’t know how much of what I’m saying you’ll actually understand. But we’d like to take some measurements now.” He holds up the measuring tape, letting it unroll and trail down the side of the glass-wall, “We’re going to start with your head, if you don’t mind.”Castiel frowns as he tries to sort through the words for one he recognizes.“Show him what you want to do.” Jess suggests, poking Sam in the shoulder with the pen.Sam holds the end of the measuring tape at the center of his forehead and wraps the rest of it around his head. Then he gestures at Castiel, motioning for him to come closer. Castiel huffs a breath through his nose before holding in another and rising up for Sam to wrap the tape around his head. Castiel goes cross-eyed trying to look at the point where Sam is holding it to his forehead.He pulls it away and says nonsense things to Jess that she writes down. Then he gently tilts Castiel’s head to the side. He holds the tape to his side-fan. Without needing to be asked, Castiel spreads the spines and is rewarded with a pleased smile. When he steps away, Sam taps at Castiel’s shoulder. It is a simple sign that it is alright for Castiel to drop back underwater to breathe.Through this way, they measure Castiel’s shoulder width, the length of his arms and his hands and fingers. They measure the length and spread of his back-fans and Castiel has to flatten those as tightly to his body as he can when they wrap the tape around his chest.Dean returns while Castiel is upside down, his waist and tail draped over the edge of the glass while Sam measures the length and width of his tails and his fans. Castiel drums his fingers on the glass and tries to hold his tail still while flaring his fans. It is hard to do when his scales itch with drying sea water.He curves his body and lifts his head when there is knocking on the glass. He smiles at Dean and rolls his eyes at the amused grin before slumping forward against the wall. Dean knocks again and this time Castiel simply twists to look at him from the corner of his eye. He has a finger to his temple and keeps tapping at it.Castiel brushes his mind and is surprised to find relief amongst the amusement. His shoulders, held in a tense line that Castiel hadn’t noticed before, relax. Dean sends an image of what Castiel looks like hanging over the edge and his glee at the position. Castiel raises his hand, his fingers in a fist, and lifts his middle finger.Dean’s laughter echoes loudly through the water.Castiel is grateful when Sam slips his hands under his tail and lifts him back over the wall. His stomach is sore from where the glass edge was pressed into it. He rubs at it and then touches his scales, smoothing his fingers over them. His tail still feels weird and he wonders how long until it will feel normal again.(Hungry, Cas?) The words are accompanied with the sensation of hunger and images of fish.(Yes, Dean. I’m hungry. You’ve only given me food once a day.) Castiel flicks his tail and he is across the small-sea quickly. He gives Dean the impression of two days’ time and only two feedings.(Sorry, sorry.) Dean frowns, apologetic, but hoists a large bucket into view.Castiel follows along the glass while Dean carries the bucket around the small-sea. Sam jumps down from the platform to help him raise it above their heads and tilt it over the edge of the wall. Water sloshes out and with it come several small brightly coloured fish. They are alive and dart about the small-sea. Castiel stills, his eyes wide as he watches them.(Have fun. I’ll give you the dead ones later at dinner time.) Dean grins, supplying the image of the grey fish and the sensation of passed time.(Thank you, Dean!) Castiel flashes a happy grin at him before setting about chasing the fish.It is a fun exercise. Castiel is breathless by the time he has caught and eaten the last one. The fish taste like they did in the sea, rich in flavor and memories of home. Castiel stretches out along the floor and sucks lazily at the bones, watching as Dean and Sam talk. From Dean’s mind he gets the impression that Sam is asking Dean more questions about Castiel. Dean is both amused and annoyed by them.(Cas.) Dean approaches the wall, his hands in his pockets, (They want to take x-rays.)Castiel tilts his head and waits for the images that Dean provides. He receives thoughts of a machine like a camera that takes pictures of a person’s insides. Dean gives him black and white images of bones and internal organs. And Castiel’s fans flare in surprise as he jerks up from the floor. They want to see inside of him!(Whoa! Hey, Cas. Calm down!) Dean soothes him while pressing his hands against the glass-wall. (If you don’t want to do it, it’s okay.)He turns and speaks to his brother. Sam’s shoulders sag. Castiel doesn’t need a kin-connection to know that Sam is disappointed. Meg speaks over her shoulder at them and both Sam and Dean still before looking to each other. Whatever Meg said leaves Dean surprised and thoughtful.Dean gives Castiel an image of the x-ray camera being pointed at Castiel. He balks at it, but then Dean supplies an image of the x-ray camera pointed at his own chest. He raises questioning eyebrows at Castiel. The images come side by side and then Dean first followed by Castiel.Frowning, Castiel fidgets with the bones. Dean is offering to be subjected to the x-ray camera too if it means Castiel will do it.(It’s safe and it’s not gonna hurt, Cas. I promise. Please? It’ll make Sammy happy.)Castiel wraps his arms around his chest and swims in a tight circle until his back is presented to them. Dean’s disappointment and irritation filters through and Castiel shakes his head. It’s one thing to allow a human into his mind through the kin-connection. It is another thing entirely, too personal and too intimate, to allow them to see his insides.He pushes those thoughts at Dean, hoping that he’ll understand.Dean withdraws. (Yeah, okay. I get it, Cas, I get it. It’s fine.)

x

Alistair and Gordon return when Dean is getting their dinners. Meg is sitting at the glass with a thick stack of papers. Before he had left, Dean had explained that she was drawing an image of Castiel. Dean had gotten her to show Castiel a few drawings. Castiel is trying to hold still so she can get the drawing just right. But when Alistair and Gordon come through the door, he jerks away to the far side of the small-sea.All day the humans have left the bars raised so Castiel can speak, however stilted, to Sam and Jess without being uncomfortable. He rises up now, flattening his gills while holding his breath, and peers over the wall at the two who hurt him the day before.“No!” He hisses, side-fans flaring.“So it can speak! Will wonders never cease.” Alistair sneers, his tone condescending and Castiel doesn’t need to know his words to know he is being arrogant.“And we haven’t even said why we’ve come by.” Gordon mutters, glaring hard at Sam as he places himself between the small-sea and the other humans, “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that we work on this project too?”“You kind of forfeited that right when you treated Castiel like an animal before finding out just how smart he really is.” Jess snaps back, taking her place next to Sam as Castiel sinks low enough to breathe, “What do you want?"Alistair holds up a hollow tube with a needle point, “Its blood.”“His name is Castiel and you can wait until Dean gets back to ask Cas if he’s okay with that.”“We don’t need Winchester’s permission to do our damn job.” Gordon’s upper lip curls in a growl.“Cas refused an x-ray because it was too invasive. I highly doubt he’s going to be okay with you taking his blood.” Sam’s voice is a disapproving rumble.He pulls something from his pocket that Castiel can’t see and hands it to Jess. She steps away and flips open a phone. She holds it to her ear and glares heatedly at Alistair and Gordon, who continue to snap at Sam just as much as Sam snaps back at them. They use sharp, angry words.Castiel hisses again, just to get his point across. “No.” He will have nothing to do with these two.“Dean.” Jess says into the phone, “You need to get back here now.” She flicks it closed and hands it back to Sam.Alistair rolls his eyes, “Oh no, you’ve called back the convict. I’m positively shaking in my boots.”“Don’t. Call. Him. That.” Sam hisses, his teeth clenched.“I horse is a horse, Sammy. And a convict is your brother. Refresh my memory… What did he do again?”Sam’s response is cut short when a fish hits Alistair in the back of the head. Dean stomps through the door and Castiel reaches for his mind immediately. He isn’t surprised by the tempest of rage that clouds Dean’s thoughts. His face is dark and his body tight with anger.“You know damn well what I did and you’re going to leave it alone.” Dean snarls. He picks up the fish and forces past Gordon and Alistair, knocking them aside with his shoulders. “And I’m the only one allowed to call him 'Sammy'.”Now that Dean is back, Castiel sinks beneath the waves. He ignores the fish when Dean dumps them over the edge and he listens through Dean’s impressions of the conversation. Dean is very unhappy that Alistair and Gordon are back. Dean shows Castiel what they want with images of the needle in his arm and drawing out the red of his blood.(No! Dean, no! No x-ray! No needle!) He shakes his head violently and retreats to the back of small-sea.Dean shouts loudly until Alistair and Gordon leave. But he can’t coax Castiel away from his corner. The others eat their supper while Castiel lays curled, holding himself tightly. Dean stays mostly quiet, offering only soothing apologies and promises that they won’t do anything that Castiel doesn’t want. Castiel does not respond.It is a long time before he twists onto his back to watch Sam close and lock the bars. Castiel raises his hand in a lazy goodbye when Sam, Jess and Meg leave. The lights dim and Castiel rolls onto his stomach. He pushes himself up on his elbows and rests his chin in his hands. He watches as Dean shuts the door and goes to his bed.Dean sheds his shirts, pulling the last over his head. Castiel watches the muscles move across his back as he bends to remove his jeans. He frowns at the jagged scar above his left hip and he brushes the image and his curiosity against Dean’s thoughts. Dean jerks at the sudden touch and he turns around.(Jeeze, Cas. Don’t do that! I thought you were sleeping.)Castiel ignores that because it was mostly nonsense words. He only understood one of them and he wasn’t sleeping and neither was Dean. Therefore there is no need for him to mention it. He pushes the scar image again. Dean winces and sits on the edge of his bed to run a hand through his hair. He is hesitant to share the story and Castiel can feel him trying to withdraw from the connection.He is about to let it drop when the memory surges forth in dark flashes. It sends Castiel’s mind staggering at the weight of it. A younger Dean, fists bloodied, lip split, fighting in a darkened space. Dean’s memories provide the word ‘alley’. Dean’s anger at the ones he’s fighting. His fear because Sammy is there and Sammy is wrong and stupid and he’s going to kick his ass later. There are too many enemies and their hands are on his arms. The flash of silver and a pinching pain in his side that begins to burns. Sammy’s shouting and red everywhere. So much red and it’s all his.The memory breaks off sharply and Castiel comes back to himself with ragged gasps and the sting of tears in his eyes. He is reminded of battle, where the kin-connection is kept to its bare minimum to protect fin-kin from moments like this. It would be too distracting during a fight to be able to feel the pain of other fin-kin before they die and the connection is severed brutally. He understands why now, better than he ever did before.(Cas, you okay?) Dean’s eyes are worried and he’s standing at the glass, hands and forehead pressed against it.Castiel crosses the small-sea with a sharp flick of his tail. He presses his forehead to the glass over Dean’s and covers his hands with his. He feels the phantom pain of the knife in his skin as though it had actually happened to him and he makes soft keening noises in his throat. Dean smothers Castiel’s mind with calm murmurs of his name and hushes him.(It’s okay, Cas. It’s okay. It was a long time ago and I’m fine now. Don’t worry. I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was gonna affect you like this. Christ, you’re crying. Cas, c’mon man. You gonna be okay?)(Yes, Dean.) He shudders and opens his eyes. Dean is right there and he’s smiling softly.(Eat your fish and get some rest. Sam wants to do more tests in the morning. No x-ray or needles, promise.)Castiel looks over his shoulder at the grey fish, still resting dead and bland on the floor of the small-sea where Dean dumped them. He crinkles his nose at them and then sticks his tongue out at Dean when he laughs. Dean laughs harder at that and stumbles back to flop onto his bed. He wriggles until he gets the blanket over himself.When he looks over, Castiel is sitting in the nearest corner and chewing slowly on the tail of a fish. After Dean’s painful memories, he doesn’t have much of an appetite now. Castiel tilts his head and looks at him. Dean’s eyebrows are drawn together in a frown and his lips are pursed.(Colony. Tell me about your family.)Castiel slowly lowers the fish he is eating. At the mention of his family, the same heavy weight settles in his stomach and his chest tightens. He presses a hand to his sternum and rubs, eyes downcast. He lets Dean feel his sadness, but he doesn’t withdraw like he did before. Castiel draws up his memories of his family and he passes them along to Dean, naming his nest-brothers and sisters as he does.Dean’s eyes are drooping as Castiel starts listing the members of other nests. He slows and stops when Dean’s eyes fully close and his thoughts and emotions fade into dreams. Castiel is no longer hungry. He gathers the fish and puts them in the waiting bucket. They will not keep in these warm waters.Castiel curls in the corner closest to Dean. He hugs his folded tail to his chest, his shoulder pressed into the corner and his head resting against the glass. He watches Dean sleep and hums lullabies until he drops off too.