FIC: The Request, Dean/Castiel, 8/9

[cloudy_fic]

Title: The Request, 8/9
Author: jenniferlupin
Pairing/Characters: Dean/Castiel, Sam/Jess, Anna, Michael
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: AU, angels that aren't like angels from Supernatural or the Bible or really anywhere, but this story
Word count: approximately 36,000
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. I'm making no profit from this fanfiction.
Status: Complete. I'll be posting a chapter a day for the next eight days.
Summary: When Sam Winchester prays for his brother, Castiel is finally sent on his very first assignment. But what should be a simple love match turns into much more and Castiel finds himself risking everything to ensure the happiness of his extremely frustrating charge.

Author notes: Posting a smidge earlier tonight because I've managed not to be a lazy slug today! Well, kind of. Hope you enjoy! We're almost there, folks!



Dean insists Castiel get checked out 'just in case.'

"You said you never did that healing crap before. Supposing you did something wrong and you're bleeding internally? Your wing'll fall off."

It's hard to argue with something like that. However, Castiel draws the line at visiting the human hospital. He very much doubts they have any experience with wing healthcare. So instead, Castiel returns to Heaven, after promising Dean he'll come back to him as soon as possible. It will have to be a quick trip home. Castiel only has six Earth hours left before his time is up. But he feels confident that he'll find Dean's soul-mate in that time. Now that Dean's heart and mind is clear of the shadow of Adam Zazel, Castiel knows he'll be able to move on.

The healthcare center is in the heart of the Silver City. The nurse on duty, a sprightly young male angel named Ionel, teases Castiel about his injury. It's Ionel's way of expressing his joy that Castiel finally had the opportunity to be hurt on a human's behalf. Castiel couldn't agree more. He doesn't like to imagine how it would have ended if he hadn't been there to protect Dean.

Just as Ionel finishes confirming that Castiel successfully healed himself, Anna darts into the room. He only has a moment's notice, a flash of red and white before she's thrown her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"Castiel! I sensed you return, but you came straight here. Are you alright?"

"Yes," Castiel says, his voice muffled against her hair. She pulls back and her grace shoots around and through him, checking for injury.

"What happened?"

Castiel quickly explains the situation. His tone is both proud and shy as he describes instinctively throwing out his wing to protect Dean from Zazel's bullet. Anna covers her mouth with one hand, eyes wide and amazed.

"Castiel," she breathes, patting his shoulder and wings. Her touch brings a sense of safety and warm familiarity, so different from the scary and thrilling heat that Dean's fingers awaken within him. He leans into the touch and sighs.

"I'm fine, Anna," he says. "Dean is fine. I'm returning to him to finish my job."

"Your job?" She sounds genuinely confused. "But I thought...?"

"What?"

Anna's eyebrows draw together over her expressive green eyes. She hesitates, rubbing a finger along her bottom lip like she does when she feels very confused.

"You broke the rules for him," she says slowly. "What I felt in you...I thought you'd chosen..."

When she didn't explain further, Castiel sighed again, this time in frustration.

"Anna, I have no idea what you mean."

"You don't, do you?" She sounds surprised and maybe even a little annoyed. "I've spent the last day coming to terms with what you'd decided to do and you don't have any clue what I'm talking about!"

"What did you think I'd decided to do?"

Honestly, Castiel couldn't be more lost. The only thing he ever wanted out of this job was to make sure Dean was happy and safe. He might have bent a few rules, but his goal was never anything less than doing his job well. Surely Anna couldn't see a problem with that objective.

"Oh Castiel." Anna smiles, soft and amused. "My poor child. When you figure it out, I just want you to know that I understand. I truly do."

"What?" Now Castiel is beginning to feel annoyed. He's sick to death of being out of the loop. But he can tell by Anna's expression that she would rather he figure it out on his own. So he isn't surprised when she stands and squeezes his shoulder.

"Good luck," she says before leaving.

Castiel stews quietly for a few moments, but time's scarce, so he decides to ponder her odd behavior later, after he's taken care of Dean. It's easy now finding Dean's home from the launch pad. Castiel closes his eyes in Heaven and reopens them a second later in Dean's living room. Dean jumps up from his couch and crowds close, reaching out with possessive fingers to search through Castiel's feathers. That heat, that insistent delicious heat, returns full force and Castiel hears himself emit a soft moan.

"You good?" Dean asks quietly.

"Hmmm," Castiel answers. He sways into Dean's space, drawn like a magnet.

"Sounds like it," Dean says. Happiness streaks through his tone and it's a glorious sound. Now if only Castiel could find a person who makes Dean sound like that all the time, his job will be done.

"Come." Castiel holds out his hand expectedly. Dean frowns, but does release Castiel's wing and takes Castiel's hand.

"Where we going?"

Before he answers, Castiel shifts, taking them both away from Dean's apartment and into a crowded street in downtown Lawrence. Dean jumps and squishes himself against Castiel in apparent fright.

"Holy shit, Cas! Warn a guy before you do that!"

"Forgive me," Castiel says, amused. "I thought this would be a good place to start."

"Start what?" Dean is giving him a suspicious look, which Castiel doesn't understand. He can't imagine what else Dean thinks they could be doing.

"Future-seeking."

"Oh."

His tone is oddly flat. Not at all excited. Castiel remembers the things Dean said before they left to confront Zazel and he feels a flush of shame.

"I know I haven't been doing this very well-"

"Oh no, you’ve been doing a real good job," Dean says forcefully, his sincerity impossible to disbelieve. "Whatever I said before, just forget that. I was just being a jerk because...well, I am jerk. No, seriously, I am," he says overtop of Castiel's protest. "So don't worry. You're doing a fucking fantastic job at this whole soul-mate business."

Castiel stares at him. He senses only truth in Dean, but for some reason, Dean sounds very unhappy. Even a bit angry and this is one of those times when sensing emotions doesn't do any good because Castiel still doesn't understand what they mean.

"Oh, I see," he says, though he doesn't. "What don't we start there?"

They find seats in a small sandwich shop that Dean frequents. Castiel instructs Dean to look around the patrons and when Dean's eyes fall onto a young man with black hair and a soft smile, his aura pulses with faint sexual attraction. It makes Castiel shift uncomfortably, but he ignores the feeling and gives Dean an encouraging grin. With a quick deep breath to steady himself, Castiel pulls the future sense towards him, threading it around the two souls in question and pries into their future.

There is nothing. No discussion. No dating. Not even the merest hint of love. Castiel frowns.

"Well?"

"I'm...I think we should choose another person," Castiel says. Dean shrugs and nods towards a buxom woman in a tight skirt and sleeveless shirt. Again, the sexual attraction is present, but weak, like Dean can't get the energy together to feel much for her at all. Hardly promising, but it's all Castiel has to work with.

He future-seeks and discovers the same empty future. All he sees is Dean alone. Smiling with his family, but alone in his house and there is a sadness about him. Just before Castiel pulls away, he senses it. The merest hint, but enough to make Castiel's heart twist in his chest.

That future Dean is living in his past.

Still in the past, unable to move forward. His stomach drops and somehow Castiel knows that no matter how many people he future-seeks with Dean, he'll see the same thing. He concentrated so hard on resolving Dean's issues with Zazel that he completely missed the real reason Dean can't move on.

"What's wrong?" Dean asks, watching Castiel closely.

"I...I don't know," Castiel admits. His eyes snap open, away from the future sense. This won't do. He has to keep trying.

"Let's try somewhere else," he says and he tugs Dean out of his seat.

The next few hours are frustrating. They travel all over the city of Lawrence, back through Dean's old haunts. Human after human, male and female, handsome and not, old and young, it doesn't matter; they all pass through Castiel's future sense without showing anything other than Dean alone. Castiel finds himself future-seeking with humans he's already checked, just in case he was wrong. He isn't.

"Dude, let's just go home," Dean finally says, his expression resolved. Castiel doesn't like it.

"I still have a few minutes," he says, but Dean shakes his head.

"Come on, man. It's been the same damned thing for the past four hours. I'm sick of it. I just want to go home."

Castiel can't refuse him. Not after failing him so spectacularly. He takes Dean's hand and opens his wings, transporting them back into Dean's apartment.

"I'm sorry, Dean," Castiel says softly, dropping his hand. "I'm so very sorry."

"It's okay," Dean says, shrugging and he actually sounds like he means it. "You tried as hard as you could. I mean, fuck, you went above and beyond with Zazel."

Castiel doesn't know what to say. But Dean fills the silence admirably.

"Are you going to get in trouble? I mean, it's not your fault, but are they going to punish you?" Dean asks worriedly. His eyes are wide and concerned. So very beautiful. It pains Castiel that all this beauty will go unappreciated.

"I don't know," Castiel answers past the lump in his throat. "I've never heard of an angel failing a request before."

In general, Castiel doesn't too much mind being different. But he'd hoped not to be different in this way as well.

"Come to think of it, what do angels get for a job well done anyway?" Castiel can tell by Dean's brighter tone that this line of conversation is Dean's way of lightening the discussion. "Do you people get paid?"

"Not in money. Most of the time, requesters send a prayer of gratitude. I've heard the feeling can be overwhelming," Castiel says. He'd been so looking forward to his first gratitude prayer. Uriel says they are sweeter than honey, like being bathed in sunlight. Coming from Dean, Castiel imagines the feeling would be even more intense.

"You never got one? Not once?" Dean asks, shocked.

"I've felt a distant echo from prayers that express gratitude towards angels as a group," Castiel explains. In his discomfort, he finds himself gathering his left wing into one arm and holding it close. It helps him feel steadier. "I've been told it's not quite the same thing."

"Well, hang on," Dean says and he shuts his eyes, his lips moving silently.

"What are you doing?" Castiel asks curiously.

"Praying. Shut up."

A moment later, his grace is wrapped in an emotion so strong and so vast that Castiel actually stumbles under the weight of it. It's welcoming and familiar and Castiel feels both safe and loved. But it’s more than that. There is gratitude, yes, but underneath, Castiel senses affection more profound than he's ever imagined. He is claimed by it, held close and adored by it. This feeling does not exist anywhere else in his life, not with Anna, not even with Michael.

"Dean," he murmurs, overwhelmed and reaching out blindly. Dean catches his hands and tugs him into a full-bodied hug. His wings close around Dean's shoulders the way he's wanted to do almost from their very first meeting. This near to him, Castiel can feel Dean's heart pounding against his chest and he smells leather and sweet grass, Dean's own particular scent. He presses his nose into Dean's neck and slips his arms around Dean's waist, holding him tight. He is surrounded and surrounding and suddenly thousands of years seems like nothing to wait for a feeling like this.

"Just thought I'd say thanks," Dean says, lips brushing against Castiel's ear. "Least I could do."

"But I didn't-"

"You saved me, Cas," Dean interrupts and he pulls him in closer, tighter, seems like he's trying to climb inside Castiel. "You deserve it and you know, when you go...after you go, I'll keep saying 'em,” A puff of melancholy laughter presses warmth against the sensitive skin just under Castiel’s ear.

“Just so you won’t forget me.”

"I won't," Castiel promises him. "I could never."

There's a tug at his grace, a light pressure of warning. Castiel's heart squeezes.

"Dean." He doesn't want to speak or leave or answer the call. But it's time to face Michael. "I'm being called home."

Dean nods against his hair and then, to Castiel's astonishment, he presses a kiss into Castiel's temple. The warmth he always feels at Dean's touch, that peculiar heat Castiel knows he'll miss, explodes across his senses, stronger than ever before. It's staggering and impossible and Castiel doesn't know how he'll live without it.

"Be careful," Dean grunts. He squeezes Castiel's shoulder. "And if you get into too much trouble, you can hide out at my place."

It's meant to be a joke, but Castiel doesn't laugh. Instead, he trails his gaze across Dean's face, over his freckled nose and his clever mouth and everything he sees in those green eyes.

"Thank you, Dean," he says. His silly protective left wing folds up, rests against Dean's neck, a simple caress and then Castiel shifts into flight, shooting away before he can think of yet another reason to stay.

Next Chapter