dauntperplexity | Fic: Been Close to Breaking

Title: Been Close to Breaking
Author: DauntPerplexity
Rating: PG
Genre: Friendship, gen, preslash
Characters and/or Pairing: Castiel, Dean, Sam, Leviathan
Spoilers: Season 7
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1941
Summary: “Tell me, Dean. How would you know if your little angel was still alive?”
Author’s Note: Another possibility of how the show brings Castiel back. Again, it was supposed to be a drabble or something, but it got away from me.

The smile on Castiel’s face wasn’t his smile. It was the same smile Dean saw before the Leviathan hobbled off into the water supply. It was the smile the Leviathan gave Dean when he told him Castiel was dead. The smile did not belong to Castiel.

The air in the room was thick. Dean thought that’s what kept everyone frozen in their spots.

The Leviathan, wearing Castiel wearing Jimmy, stood at the door. There was no way that Dean and Sam were getting out of the motel room. Not without injuries.

The Leviathan took a seat on Dean’s bed. He smirked at the brothers. “You guys should sit down. Relax.”

“Fine where I am, thanks,” Dean replied.

“Me too,” Sam added.

“Boys, relax,” the Leviathan said. He laid down on Dean’s bed with his hands behind his head. “You two are so tense and nothing’s even happened yet. You’re ruining my fun time.”

“Apologies,” Sam said.

The Leviathan sat up and looked at the younger Winchester. “So snarky. How are the hallucinations?”

“You know what, just kill us already,” Dean said before his brother had the chance to answer.

“Dean!” Sam yelled. He had no idea what his brother was thinking. He didn’t know if his brother was pulling something, or preparing to pull something, but he didn’t want to die if his brother was acting without a plan.

“Would you rather listen to this wannabe-villain keep running his mouth?”

“No, but—”

“Oh, Dean.” The Leviathan swung his legs off the bed and stood up. He walked toward the elder Winchester. “Don’t worry. I will be the one to kill you. And it will probably happen within the next few hours. But I like to play with my food before I eat it.”

“Yay for us.”

He stood a few feet in front of Dean. “It’s always better when they put up a fight,” he said. He reached up to run his fingers through Dean’s hair, but Dean moved out of the way before he could touch him. The Leviathan only smiled. He brought the hand to his lips and kissed his fingertips. “The victory makes the meat taste just a little sweeter. Then again, it’s nothing compared to killing an angel.”

Dean’s eyes darkened. He wanted to smack the smile off of the Leviathan’s face. He would have sprung forward and attacked, but he knew that would have been suicidal. “Don’t talk about him,” he growled.

“Why not, Dean? I can tell you how it happened. His wings were so itchy.” The Leviathan rolled his shoulders. “Such a nuisance.”

“I said, shut up,” Dean yelled.

The Leviathan smirked as he was able to get a rise out of Dean. “Poor little fly. He wasn’t a match for me once he gave back all those souls. And with all of us in him, we had to snuff him out. Like squashing a bug. And don’t worry, he was in a lot of pain.”

Dean felt something strange. He was always good at reading people. Demons and all things evil were a little harder, but he knew their motivations were all the same. The feeling from the Leviathan led to a hunch. Something wasn’t right. “Whatever,” he said.

“I thought you cared about him. So nonchalant, Dean. Why so?”

“Because…” He didn’t want to say it out loud in fear of it being wrong. But he always went with his gut. And his gut was telling him something big. “Because I know he’s not dead.”

“How so?” He asked with a tilt of his head that was almost Cas-like. Almost. He stepped forward and got within an arms length of Dean. He reached out to touch his face again, but stopped. He dropped his hand back down to his side. “Dean, it’s not polite to keep secrets.”

Everything in Dean’s body screamed for him to take a few steps back to put some space between him and the Leviathan, but he stayed put. “It’s none of your business.”

“Tell me.”

“You could always ask Cas yourself.”

“I would, but he’s dead,” the Leviathan repeated.

Dean could see he was trying to convince someone. He could see the Leviathan trying hard to sell him that he killed Castiel. “Then why are you so scared?”

“I’m not,” Leviathan Castiel said. He was clearly shaken. “I want to know where this confidence is coming from.”

“You really want to know?”

“You’re wrong about whatever you’re feeling.”

“You’re scared,” Dean said again. He could see the tension written all over the Leviathan’s face.

“Dean, what the hell are you doing?” Sam whispered. He knew he should have just stayed quiet, but he wanted to know if he had to prepare himself for something.

“Why haven’t you killed him?” Dean asked. He was curious. Castiel meant nothing to the Leviathans. They got all the information out of him they needed, why wouldn’t they get rid of him?

“I did,” the Leviathan said. He shook his head and put up a hand to correct himself. “We did.”

“No. You haven’t. Why is he still alive? Is it because you can’t live without him?”

The Leviathan let out a laugh that was close to genuine sounding. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black.” He watched Dean bite his bottom lip to keep him from saying something. “Tell me, Dean. How would you know if your little angel was still alive?”

“Because,” Dean started. He didn’t know how to answer that question. He could have just said his instinct was telling him. He didn’t see the ashed wing outline anywhere, so he could use that to deny Castiel’s death all he wanted. But he knew that it was something more. “I don’t know if you know this, but me and Cas. See, we have this profound bond.”

The Leviathan reacted as if Dean had struck him. “What?” he said, taking a few steps back.

Dean took the opportunity to step forward. “It means that you can keep trying to sell me on Cas being dead, but I know he’s not.” He stopped when he had backed the Leviathan into a wall. He looked straight into Castiel’s blue eyes. “Cas, I know you’re in there. If you can hear me, we’re trying to find a way to get you out.”

The Leviathan growled. He grabbed Dean by his shirt, spun him around, and pushed him up against the wall. “Shut up,” he hissed.

Dean, of course, ignored him. “Just let me know that you’re okay.”

“He can’t.”

Dean saw the Leviathan struggle to get those two words out. He knew he was breaking through. “So you keep saying. But I have to say, this is the first time I’ve ever seen fear in any of the Leviathans we’ve come across.” It was his turn to smirk. The feeling he was getting from screwing with the Leviathan was enough for him to ignore the pain in his chest from the Leviathan holding him against the wall. “Cas, just give me a sign. Anything.”

“Stop it.”

Dean wasn’t going to back down. He could see something wavering in the Leviathan’s persona. “Cas, we’re working on a way to save you.”

“I said stop,” the Leviathan growled.

“You promised you’d redeem yourself to me.”

“Stop it!”

Dean knew that he should have. If he angered the Leviathan any more, he’d be killed on the spot. He couldn’t give up. He’d made too much progress. “You deserve to be saved.”

The Leviathan gasped. “S… stop,” the Leviathan said with a shaky voice. He tightened his grip on Dean’s shirt and tried to push Dean deeper into the wall.

Dean knew that there would be bruises on his chest tomorrow, but he’d take it as a victory if he was able to finish what he started. “Cas. Please. I need you. I need you to tell me you’re okay.”

“No,” the Leviathan whispered. He let go of Dean and stumbled back. A hand went to his nose when he felt something oozing out of it. He looked at his hand and saw that it was black.

“Cas?” Dean asked.

“Dean?”

The moment Dean looked into Castiel’s eyes, he knew that some sort of miracle had just occurred. “It’s really you?”

“Yes,” Cas whispered. He saw Dean step forward to touch him, but he shook his head. “No, don’t… he’s still in me. Just… I’ve disoriented him for a moment.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.” He stepped back, putting space between the two of them until the back of his legs hit the edge of the bed. He slid down to the floor. “Dean, you should—”

“Don’t you dare ask me to borax you,” Dean said, knowing exactly what Castiel was going to ask him to do.

“One less—”

Dean took a few tentative steps toward him. He took his time, but not too much. He was wary that the Leviathan was going to take control at any moment. “Cas,” he whispered. He knelt down at Castiel’s side. “You know that I won’t be able to do that.” He wouldn’t be able to kill Castiel. Not after everything.

“I know.” Castiel groaned and doubled over. His hand went to his face and he pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt a hand on his shoulder and wanted to yell at Dean not to touch him, but the pain in his head was too intense. “But you need to leave. I won’t be able to hold him off much longer. And he’ll be upset. It’ll be worse when he realizes you’ve eluded him again.”

Dean didn’t move from his position, but he could hear Sam shuffling around behind him and getting all their stuff together. “Okay. Cas,” Dean whispered. He reached up and put a hand on the back of Castiel’s neck. “I’m gonna get you out of there okay. I’m getting you out. So, just hold on a little while longer and you’ll be okay. All right?”

Castiel blinked a few times and tears rolled down his cheeks. He nodded. “Dean, now,” he whispered. “You have to go now.”

“Look at me.” He squeezed the back of Castiel’s neck, not to hurt him, but to get his attention. He waited until Castiel looked up and met his gaze. “You have to keep fighting, okay? Promise me, Cas.”

Castiel swallowed hard. “I promise,” he whispered. He let out a groan when he felt the Leviathan in him stir. “Now, please. Leave.”

Dean gave Castiel one more reassuring squeeze before he broke contact. “Sam, you got everything?” he asked, not taking his eyes off of his friend.

“Yeah,” Sam replied.

Dean stood up and snatched the keys off of the table. “Let’s go.”

He sent one more look at Castiel who was writhing on the floor and resisted every urge in his body to go over and help his friend. The Leviathan was taking over again. He led the way as they ran to the Impala. They got in, he started the car, and they drove. They had no idea where they were going, but they needed to get as far away from where they were.

Dean was on an adrenaline high. They had just escaped a Leviathan that had a legitimate chance of killing them. But his heart was racing because of something else. He had confirmation that Castiel was alive.

He knew the nerd angel was tougher than most creatures realized. He knew Castiel would be able to hold off for as long as they needed before they could help him. Castiel promised. But Dean knew something more important. It was his turn to save him.

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: In my living room