Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For over a century, I have lived in secret, hiding in the shadows, alone in the world, until now. I’m a vampire and this is my story.

Dean sits on his bed writing another entry in his journal, one of a hundred that sit in his bookcase.

I shouldn’t have come home. I know the risk, but I had no choice. I have to know him.

He promised himself he would never return here. There are too many dark memories of this place, memories that should stay buried, but keep finding their way to the surface. He has been a vampire for 145 years and the face that cursed him to this life is the same face that has brought him back to Mystic Falls.

He is interrupted by Zach, his younger brother Sam’s grandson 6 generations over. Dean did everything in his power to keep Sam safe from this life. Dean was turned when Sam was only 13 and not wanting to abandon him, he hung around until he became an adult and compelled him to live a normal life and forget that Dean is alive, Dean watching from afar. He sat in the back row of Sam’s funeral back in 1940, claiming he was a friend of the family, watching as the only brother he ever truly loved was gone forever. Being the only human left in the family after 1864, Sam had managed to keep the Winchester bloodline going, which is how Zach is still living in the Winchester mansion.

“Uncle Dean, I thought you said you would be careful.” Zach is holding up a newspaper with the headline about an animal attack.

“What are you implying, Zach? I didn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Why did you even come back here? Vampires haven’t lived here for over a century, but there are still families here that are aware of their existence and articles like this might stir things up.”

Dean steps closer to his nephew. “I don’t have to explain myself to you Zach. I allow you to exist because you are family, but don’t for a second think that I owe you an explanation.”

“Just be careful and please don’t stir up any trouble.”

Zach leaves, and the vampire is suddenly reminded of how thirsty he is for blood. He has to fight his true nature every day of his existence. Human blood is his achilles heel. Still he can’t resist as the scent of his nephew fills his nostrils and he must leave before he kills the last living Winchester. He is fast as he runs through the town, trying to get as far away from Mystic Falls as he can.

He is led to a house just outside his hometown with the sweetest smelling blood. There are no voices inside, the occupants must be sleeping. He jumps up to the balcony to get a look inside. There is a young woman sitting at a desk reading a book. He hasn’t been invited in, so he needs to lure her out here somehow. He knocks lightly on the door, taking a risk that people in this area are still trusting and not suspicious of strange noises.

The woman walks to the balcony door and peeks outside.

“Hello, is someone there?”

Dean pulls her outside and stares into her eyes, compelling her to not make a noise.

“Don’t make a sound. This will only hurt for a second.”

Dean has spent years perfecting the art of feeding on a human without killing them. An unfortunate side effect of being an empath as a human is that the first time you take a life as a vampire, it causes a downward spiral of self loathing and the turning off of emotions. By the time Charlie found him 5 years after he turned and, after he had wiped out an entire village of people, it took her 10 years to finally get him to the point where he could feed on a human and still leave them breathing.

Dean bites into the woman’s neck, the blood coursing through his veins, satiating his thirst and bringing him back from the edge. Her heart begins to slow, and Dean knows that he has taken as much from her as he can. He licks up any remaining blood that is on her neck.

“You never saw me, and this never happened.”

She nods her head and walks back into her room to finish reading her book. Dean runs back home, no longer tempted to take a bite out of his nephew’s neck. Tomorrow, he would be going back to school, to meet the person that brought him back to this town. He opens his first ever journal to look at the picture that he has hung onto all these years.

The picture is of a man he thought he was in love with all those years ago when he was only 17, but it had all been a lie. He had been deceived by dark hair and blue eyes and had suffered the consequences of it. The inscription on the photo reads James 1864, the only reminder that he ever existed.

He places the photo back in the book on the bookshelf and falls asleep, excited for tomorrow where he would hopefully learn why the mystery boy he rescued from the water 3 months ago looks exactly like Jimmy. What is the connection between them?

The sun is blinding as it peeks through the curtains. He rises from his bed and showers, grabbing a cup of coffee on his way out the door. He drives to school in his ’67 Chevy Impala and parks in the student parking lot, watching the other students until he finally spots the object of his affection. He’s walking across the lawn to the front entrance of the school with two girls, one is blonde who looks like she needs to get more sun and the other one has dark hair and a dark complexion.

Dean follows behind them, losing them along the way so that he can stop by the office to get registered for classes. He’s in the process of compelling the secretary to believe that everything she needs is in his file, when he hears the boy and one of his friends whispering behind him. They would probably be embarrassed if they knew that his hearing was so good.

“I wonder who that is. Do you think he looks as good from the front as he does from behind?”

“Patience, shh, what if he can hear you?”

“Come on, Castiel, you’re no fun. This could be your chance to move on from Inias.”

“We don’t even know if he’s gay. You can’t just assume that he is because he has a nice ass.”

Dean smiles and takes that as his cue to exit. He turns around making sure to lock eyes with the boy and girl, an audible gasp coming from them both. As he passes them, he can sense Castiel staring after him. It still takes his breath away how much he looks like Jimmy, but after watching him for the past few weeks, he knows that looks are the only thing that they share. Castiel’s heart is kind and Jimmy's heart was made of stone.

Dean sits in the back of the classroom for his classes and watches how much things have changed while still staying the same. They still hold the Founder’s events, not realizing that one of the original founders of the town is walking amongst them. He walks to the lunchroom with his ears focused on any mention of Castiel’s name. He hears him and his friends over by the corner of the lunchroom, so he grabs a tray of food, not caring what, since food only works to curb his blood thirst and holds no nutritional or taste value whatsoever.

He sees Castiel watching him inquisitively while he makes his way over to the table.

“Is this seat taken?”

Castiel looks at him and smiles. “No, please, have a seat.”

Dean sits down and notices that everyone is just looking at him with inquisitive glares. He keeps forgetting that, to them, he is the new guy in town. He holds his hand out for Castiel to shake.

“I’m Dean. I believe we share History class together.”

“I’m Castiel and you would be correct about the class.”

The two just stare at each other for an unknown amount of time when the blonde clears her throat. Castiel is pulled out of his trance.

“Oh, right. Let me introduce you. This is Amanda, Patience, and Inias.”

Dean gives them all a nod. “Hello, nice to meet you.”

Amanda is staring at him like she is trying to undress him with her eyes. “So, what brings you to Mystic Falls Dean?”

“I just moved back actually. I grew up here and my family moved away for a while, but now I have returned. I’m living at the Winchester boarding school with my uncle Zach.”

“You’re a Winchester? So, you’re one of the founding families too.” She says more than asks.

“I guess you could say that. I don’t like to participate in anything they do though. They’re too uppity for my taste.”

Amanda scoots her hand closer to Dean, very close to actually touching him and Dean thinks that he should nip this in the bud before she gets her hopes up.

“I don’t mean to be rude, Amanda, but you and I are never going to happen. I’m gay.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” She snaps her hand back, trying her best to not look disappointed and Dean can’t help but notice the smile on Castiel’s face at Dean’s confession. They continue to stare at one another as Patience tries to get Dean’s attention.

“So, there’s a bonfire tonight in the woods. Are you interested in joining us?”

“Are you going to be there Castiel?”

“Yes, I go every year.”

“Then, I shall be there as well.” Dean doesn’t miss the look of disgust on Inias’s face as he and Castiel continue to talk. Dean senses that they may have been a couple recently and Inias doesn’t like anyone flirting with Castiel. The bell rings and the group disperse to their respective classes, Dean excited for the bonfire.

Dean forgot to ask Castiel if he needed a ride tonight, so he just meets up with him at the bonfire. He eavesdrops on some of the conversations going on until he can locate Castiel talking to Patience by the bonfire.

“So, are you going to make a move on Dean now that you know he’s gay?” Patience asks him.

“I don’t know Patience. I told Inias that I needed some time to think. I don’t want to hurt him by moving on to someone else.”

“Are you planning on getting back together with Inias?”

“No, I don’t like him romantically, plus I don’t even know if Dean is interested in me.”

“Anyone with sight can see that he is interested in you. He was practically undressing you with his eyes in History class.”

“Really?”

Dean would have to up his game if Castiel didn’t know that the vampire was interested in him. He walks towards the two friends to make his presence known.

“Hiya, Cas.”

“Hello, Dean.” Dean should have known just by the voice alone that this wasn’t Jimmy when he first heard him speak. Castiel’s voice is much deeper and has Dean feeling things that haven’t been awake in him for over 100 years. Jimmy never had that effect on him; it had never been real anyway. It was just a parlor trick.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Dean asks.

“That sounds exciting.”

The two of them walk towards the bridge and Dean would like to get to know Castiel better. He had so many questions. They stop midway across the bridge and Castiel leans against the railing, looking out at the water.

“You seem sad, Cas. Is there anything I can do?”

“I don’t know if you heard the stories yet, but I just lost my parents in the spring. We were driving over the bridge and the car went into the water. I somehow survived, but they didn’t make it.”

“I’m so sorry Cas.”

“I’m learning to adapt. I just miss them.” Castiel looks over at Dean. “Do you have any other family besides your uncle?”

Dean knows that he can’t answer this truthfully without opening a can of worms he isn’t ready to share yet. “None that I communicate with. My parents died a while ago and it’s just me and my uncle.”

“I’m so sorry. I guess we’re both orphans.”

“You can say that, yes.” Dean lets his guard down for a second as he is drawn into Castiel’s blue eyes that he doesn’t notice himself reacting, the boy’s smell reaching his scent glands.

Castiel reaches out to touch his face. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”

Dean turns away so that he can get himself back under control. He wouldn’t be able to hide for much longer. He underestimated how much Castiel’s scent appealed to him. He longed to sink his teeth into the other boy’s neck, but he knows he can’t do that. One taste and he isn’t sure he would be able to stop before draining him completely.

“I must have gotten something in my eye.” Dean takes a few deep breaths and wills his blood vessels back beneath the surface so that he at least has some semblance that he is human even if he’s not. He turns back around to face Castiel. “There, I think I got it.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Dean doesn’t have a chance to answer as Castiel looks behind him and lets out a sigh.

“Excuse me. I have to go talk some sense into my brother.”

Dean watches as Castiel walks away towards a younger boy sitting on a log drinking a beer. Dean opts to give the two some privacy. He knows all too well the complications that arise between siblings, brothers in particular.

He walks around trying to get a feel for the atmosphere. He hadn’t heard any mention of any vampires or if any of these teenagers had any idea that this town used to be overrun with them. He knows that he had no idea himself that vampires even existed until Jimmy walked into his life. Sometimes he wishes that he never met him, but as much as he hates his existence, had he not been turned he never would have been alive to meet Castiel and he can’t imagine a world where that never happens.

He is just getting ready to search for Castiel when he hears a scream and someone yelling for help. He looks to see Castiel and his brother Gabriel walking out of the woods, Gabriel carrying Inias’s sister, Hester who appears to be knocked out. They lay her on one of the benches.

“She’s been bitten.” Dean hears Castiel say.

Dean can’t be here right now. He thought he had outrun his past, but it appears his past has caught up to him. He runs at vamp speed to his house, Zach sitting in the living room when he shows up.

“We have a problem Zach. Are you still drinking the vervain in your coffee every day?”

“Yes, of course. Why do you ask?”

“There’s another vampire in town. I think he discovered where I’m at. Just make sure you’re on guard.”

Dean runs up to his room to try to figure out what he’s going to do when he notices a crow flying in his window and his suspicion has been correct. He looks over at the balcony window and sees his brother standing there, a hint of a smirk on his face.

“Hello, brother.” The other vampire says.

“Adam, what are you doing here?”

“What, can’t a guy visit his baby brother without having a reason?”

“It’s been 15 years Adam. I thought I was rid of you.”

Adam walks further into the room, perusing the books on the bookcase, no doubt trying to get under Dean’s skin.

“I’ve been watching you, Dean. I noticed you’ve taken a liking to Castiel. He looks identical to Jimmy don’t you think?”

“Cas is nothing like Jimmy. You leave him alone.”

“Cas? I see it didn’t take you long to give him a nickname. Some things just don’t change.”

“You can leave now. Nobody wants you here.”

“Last time I checked this was my house too. Maybe you should have told Zach not to let me in 15 years ago, or maybe he should have been taking his vervain so I couldn’t compel him to let me in.”

Dean is growing tired of his brother’s ranting.

“I plan on staying in town, so you might as well get used to me.” He pauses before stepping closer to his younger brother. “Maybe I’ll pay a visit to Castiel while I’m here.”

Everything in Dean that was keeping him calm just snaps. He produces his fangs and growls at his brother as he charges at him, causing both vampires to crash through the window and down to the ground.

“You will not touch him.” Dean snarls, Adam looking shocked at Dean’s display of strength.

“Looks like someone has been eating the people food. No more bunnies for you, I see.”

Dean pulls his brother into a standing position, not letting go of his shirt.

“Yes, which means we have the same amount of strength so don’t for a second think you can beat me.”

Adam holds his arms up as a display of surrender. “Whatever you say, brother.”

Dean lets go of his brother’s shirt and watches as he walks into the house, hoping that he won’t leave the town in complete disarray with his mere presence. Dean can’t go back inside. He needs to go for a walk and clear his head and before he realizes what he’s doing, he is standing outside Castiel’s house. He knocks on the door, hoping that he’s at home.

Castiel answers the door in a t-shirt and sweatpants and Dean loses his train of thought for a split second.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Cas, hi. Sorry to stop by like this, but I just wanted to see if everything was okay with Hester. Did they find out what happened to her?”

“Yeah, I can tell you about it. I just need to make sure the popcorn doesn’t burn.” Castiel leaves the door open and walks further into the house, probably assuming that Dean would follow, unaware that he needs to be invited in. Dean stands there awkwardly, unable to get past the barrier of the door, hoping it wouldn’t take long for the boy to realize that Dean wasn’t behind him.

A couple seconds later, Castiel is peeking his head around the door, staring at Dean.

“What are you doing out there? You can come in.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to come in or if you were going to talk to me out here.”

Dean follows Castiel into the kitchen and they sit and talk about what happened with Hester, Dean now certain that it was Adam who bit her. He was always more careless than Dean. Adam usually didn’t leave them alive unless he compelled them to forget, so it was unusual that he didn't kill Hester. He must be getting sloppy.

It’s nice talking with Castiel, but when they realize how late it is, Dean bids him farewell and walks back to his house, not looking forward to spending any more time than he has to with his brother.

Dear Diary, This morning is…different. There is a change. I can sense it, feel it. For once, I don’t regret the day before it begins. Because I know I will see him again. For the first time in a long time, I feel good.

Castiel looks out the window after writing the new entry into his diary. He had the best night with Dean last night. It had been a while since he felt happy. Since his parents died and he ended things with Inias, he hasn’t truly felt alive, but there’s just something about Dean that makes him want to forget his past pain and looked towards the future.

He bumps into his Aunt Lydia in the hall on his way down to the kitchen.

“Which one do you think looks better? This one, or this one?” She holds up two different dresses for him to look at.

“I’ve already told you Aunt Lydia, not all gay guys have a sense of fashion. I’m one of the ones that doesn’t. Gabriel on the other hand, even though he’s as straight as an arrow, does have a sense of fashion, so he might be your best shot.”

“No luck with that one. He’s still walking around in one of his moods. I wish I could help him through his grief.”

“He’ll get there. We need to just lean on each other. You lost your big sister when we lost our mom. You don’t have to be strong for us. It’s okay to be sad.”

Lydia pulls him into a hug. “You are wise beyond your years, Castiel. Any guy would be lucky to have you.”

Castiel can only hope that he maybe did find a lucky guy, but he’s not ready to share that information with her yet. He runs downstairs to witness his brother stuffing a baggie in his back pocket before he tries to walk out the door.

“Stop right there, Gabe.”

Gabriel turns around and looks at Castiel, knowing he’s been caught. Castiel holds out his hand.

“Hand it over.”

Gabriel rolls his eyes, but he knows better than to disobey his older brother, so he shoves the baggie into Castiel’s hand. Castiel looks at it and it’s filled with pills.

“Seriously, Gabe, now you’re dealing pills?”

“Why do you care?”

“Gabe, you need to talk to someone. The accident was 3 months ago. Nobody cares anymore that our parents died. Everyone's going to stop giving you second chances.”

Gabe just sighs and storms out of the room with his backpack in his hand. Castiel wishes there was some way he could help him, but he won’t listen to anyone.

Patience is waiting outside in her car to take Castiel to school, he’s only half listening to her conversation, his mind still stuck on his evening last night with Dean.

“Did you even hear anything I said?”

“Yeah, you were saying something about witches.”

“I said that I talked to Grams last night about my weird premonitions and she told me that I’m psychic and our ancestors were Salem witches. Isn’t that crazy? No wonder dad doesn’t talk to her anymore. Most of what she says doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know. I think it would be cool to have a best friend who is a witch.”

“I’m not a witch, my ancestors were, but I might be psychic. I keep getting these strange feelings like something bad is going to happen.”

“Well, you keep your bad mojo over there. I don’t need any more bad luck.”

They pull up to the school and Castiel immediately spots Dean sitting on one of the benches out front. He tells Patience that he’ll see her later, but before he can make his way over to Dean, he is stopped by Inias.

“Castiel.”

“Hey, Inias, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to thank you for helping with Hester. If it hadn’t been for you and Gabriel finding her, I don’t know if she would have made it.”

“Of course, Inias. Did they say what happened to her? That was a nasty bite on her neck.”

“They said it was an animal attack, but last night Hester told me the craziest thing. She said it was a vampire.”

“What? That’s crazy. There’s no such thing.”

“I know. I’m going over during lunch to check on her.”

“Well, tell her I said hi, and I hope she gets better soon.”

Inias walks towards the front entrance and Castiel gets ready to make his way over to Dean finally, but he’s no longer there. He scans the perimeter to see if he can spot him, but he must have already gone inside since he’s nowhere to be found. Castiel spends the day thinking about Dean instead of paying attention to what’s going on in class. He meets up with Amanda and Patience at the Roadhouse after school so they can put together the flyers for the gathering tonight to watch some comet or whatever go across the sky. Seems lame, but whatever.

“So, did you and Dean make out last night?” Amanda asks, obviously jealous that she wasn’t the object of Dean’s affection.

“No, he came over and we talked, but I don’t know if it will go any further. I’m not sure I’m ready for something more.”

Patience interjects. “You have to at least give it a shot. You owe yourself a chance to be happy. Inias will be fine.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Of course, I am. We’ll finish up here. Why don’t you go over to his house and tell him that you like him?”

Castiel doesn’t have to be told again. He walks to Dean’s house and rings the bell, but nobody answers. He knocks on the door, and it opens, having not been shut completely. He walks inside and calls for Dean, but nobody answers. He’s never been inside this house before and he is impressed with how big it is. He finds himself in a study with wall-to-wall shelves full of books and antique furniture decorates the room. He gets ready to turn to leave when he bumps into a man slightly taller than himself, about the same height as Dean with hair a similar shade.

“Excuse me. I was just looking for Dean. The door was open.” He points to the door, but it is somehow closed, which is strange because he doesn’t remember shutting it.

“He’s not here right now. I’m Adam, his brother.” Adam holds out his hand for Castiel to shake, which he does reluctantly.

“Dean didn’t tell me he had a brother.”

“He doesn’t like to talk about me much. He’s been a bit closed off ever since Jimmy.”

“Jimmy?”

“I take it the two of you didn’t have the awkward ex’s talk yet?”

“Nope.”

Castiel gets the sinking suspicion that Adam is purposely trying to sabotage whatever relationship he and Dean might build in the future. Castiel would never speak this way to someone Gabriel was interested in.

“It’s a pity really. You would be the first guy he’s been with since Jimmy. You know what they say about the rebound relationship.”

“Adam!!”

Castiel turns around to see Dean staring daggers at Adam. Without taking his eyes off Adam, Dean speaks to Castiel.

“Thanks for stopping by, Cas. I’ll talk to you later.”

Castiel wants to protest, to tell him that he stopped by to talk to Dean, but he can tell just by the tension in the room that the brothers need a moment alone.

“Of course, Dean. Talk to you later.”

Castiel exits the mansion feeling stupid for stopping by. It isn’t apparent if Adam was just trying to get under Castiel’s skin with the whole Jimmy story, but it’s working. Dean must still care about his ex and Castiel isn’t really interested in being a rebound. He doesn’t really have room to talk, seeing as though he just recently got out of a relationship. He didn’t really feel anything romantic for Inias, but they were together for a year, so that certainly does complicate things. Plus, Castiel has noticed Inias giving dirty looks Dean’s way. Jealousy doesn’t look good on him, but there isn’t much Castiel can do about it.

Castiel makes it home to find Gabriel sitting on the couch staring into space. He sits next to his brother to try to pull him out of his funk.

“Are you coming to see the comet tonight at the town square?”

“No, I think I might just go visit Hester at the Roadhouse. She’s supposed to be released from the hospital tonight.”

“Okay, you know I’m here if you need anything, right?”

“Of course, Cassie.”

Castiel hated the nickname his little brother gave to him, but he just went with it to please the younger boy. He lies down on his bed to take a quick nap before the coming of the comet event that he hated attending, but as one of the only remaining members of one of the founding families, he was obligated. There were only two members of the Shurley family remaining in town and with one of them pouting on the couch, it was up to him to represent.

He shows up at the town square to see Amanda shamelessly flirting with whomever will give in to her charms and Patience is talking to her Grams who doesn’t get out much since everyone in town thinks she’s crazy with her psychic premonitions that always come true. It just makes Castiel wonder if she’s crazy or if the entire town is just in denial that she might actually be a psychic.

Just when he thinks he’s in the clear, he bumps into Dean who always happens to be around as if he’s following him.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Hiya, Cas.”

“I’m assuming this is your first comet here since this only happens once every 160 years.” Castiel jokes.

“Something like that.” Dean says more mysteriously than Castiel would have liked.

Dean is looking at him with those green eyes that make Castiel want to melt, and he can’t do this right now. He has to let him down easily before he gets in too deep.

“Look, Dean. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, but I just broke up with Inias and you just lost Jimmy…”

“Wait, how do you know about Jimmy?”

“Your brother told me.”

“What exactly did he tell you?”

“Not much, just that you were getting over an ex.”

Dean doesn’t say anything which confirms Castiel’s suspicion that Dean is still hung up on Jimmy.

“I just think that had we met another time or another place, we could see where things go, but circumstances being what they are, I don’t think it would work. I would still like to be friends though.”

Dean doesn’t make eye contact and he looks sad and defeated, but he still agrees. “Yeah, Cas, if that’s what you want.”

They don’t have a chance to continue with their conversation before being interrupted by Amanda wanting to introduce Castiel to this new guy she met. Castiel watches as Dean walks away hoping he didn’t just make a huge mistake.

Castiel is emotionally drained by the time he makes it back home and the night only gets more interesting when he finds his Aunt going through Gabriel’s room.

“Aunt Lydia, what’s going on?”

She’s digging around in his things as she talks and pulls a bong out of one of his boots.

“Well, I see the hiding spots haven’t changed since I was a teen.”

Castiel plops down in the bean bag chair while Lydia sits down on the bed.

“What spurred on this invasion of his privacy?”

“I had a meeting with his history teacher today and he made sure to point out how much of a failure I’m being right now.”

“Ahh, so you’ve been Adler’d. If it makes you feel any better, Mr. Adler is a dick to everyone.”

Lydia sighs and stares off into space.

“I just wish I could do things as good as her. She had this perfect life and made it look so simple. Then she died and I thought I would have been able to swoop in and do it as good as her, but I can’t even hold a candle to her.”

“Aunt Lydia, you can’t compare yourself to mom. She had 17 years of practice. You were given an impossible task with no experience, and you’ve only been at it for 3 months. You have to give yourself time. For the record, I think you’re doing an awesome job. Gabe is just troubled, but he’ll come around. He just needs time.”

“Thanks, Cas. I guess I’m just being hard on myself.”

Castiel stands up to leave the room before turning back to his Aunt.

“Whatever you do, though, don’t look under the bed. There isn’t any drug paraphernalia, but you still won’t like what you see.”

“Oh, you mean the Casa Erotica movies? Yeah, I’m not touching those with a ten-foot pole.”

They share a laugh before Castiel walks the few feet to his room sitting on his bed and contemplating if maybe he should take his own advice. Yeah, he was scared that things wouldn’t work out with Dean, especially if he’s still hung up on his ex. But, on the other hand, they could end up having an epic love story and did he really want to miss out on that possibility? With his mind made up he heads over to Dean’s house and hopes that he’s the one to answer the door when he arrives.

Dean opens the door as per Castiel’s wish and he gives the dark-haired boy a big smile.

“Cas, what are you doing here?”

“Do you think we can talk?”

“Yeah, sure.” Dean joins him on the porch.

Castiel looks towards the sky as he talks, trying not to lose his nerve.

“I came over to tell you that maybe I misspoke earlier. Relationships can get messy, and I think I’m just worried about what might happen if we try to give us a shot. I think I’m just afraid of failing and losing someone else, but I don’t want to be afraid anymore, because the truth is, you make me happy, and I don’t want to give that up.”

Castiel looks at Dean and the other boy is staring back at him with so much affection, it makes Castiel’s heart melt. He isn’t sure who made the first move, but within seconds, his lips are on Dean’s and the kiss is soft and tender and full of promise. They stand there for an unknown amount of time just kissing and getting lost in each other’s scent. When they finally break apart, Castiel knows he’s done for. This boy came into his life at a time he needed him most and he’s certain that he’s going to continue turning his life upside down.

“I should probably go. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” Dean says breathlessly.

Castiel walks back home with a smile on his face looking forward to a new day.

The moment Castiel leaves, Dean takes off into the woods. He doesn’t have time to try to find an unsuspecting human. Right now, he isn’t even sure if he would be able to hold back enough to prevent from ripping their head off completely. He follows the scent of Bambi’s mom, needing enough blood to satiate his thirst for days.

He finds the deer in question and rips into its neck. He doesn’t take the time to calm the creature down like he normally would to give it a peaceful death. He needs the animal to fight back. Dean is a monster and he needs to give into his animal instincts. He can feel the terror in the animal’s body as Dean drains its blood. The deer continues to thrash and try to get away, but Dean is stronger and his fangs are buried deep in the vein in the animal’s neck, sucking it dry. The animal’s heart begins to slow down and stops all together once Dean has drained the last drop of blood from its neck.

Dean begins to get his humanistic side back and the guilt begins to take over as he stares at the animal’s life he just took.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispers to the lifeless body and runs back home, collapsing on his bed, his eyes focused on his ceiling. He hadn’t expected Castiel’s scent to be so overwhelming. He had never been in the same vicinity as blood as intoxicating as his. The moment their lips connected, the vampire inside Dean took over and it took every last ounce of willpower to not rip into the other boy’s neck right there. This was going to be more difficult than he had originally thought.

With his thirst temporarily under control, he ignores his brother’s glare as he leaves for school the next morning. It doesn’t matter that he was around for the content being taught in history class right now, but he needs to keep up the façade that he is a high school senior if he wants to get closer to Castiel.

He arrives at school to find Castiel and Patience walking towards the entrance of the school. He hangs back, not wanting to interrupt, but unable to avoid turning on his vamp hearing to listen to their conversation.

“I just want you to be careful, Castiel. I think I might have been wrong about Dean. I didn’t get a good feeling from him last night. There’s just something about him that seems off.”

“You’re the one that told me to go for it, Patience. Now you’re telling me to leave him alone?”

“All I’m saying is just be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight at my house, just you, me, and Dean, and you will see that he’s a great guy?”

Dean steps closer before this conversation takes a turn for the worse. He gives Castiel a kiss on the cheek as he greets him, not trying to come off as too possessive.

“Are the two of you conspiring?” Dean says jokingly.

“No, we were just talking about the three of us having dinner at my house tonight. I’ll even cook.” Castiel smiles and Dean can’t help but notice the withdrawn look on Patience’s face.

“I would love to.” Dean says.

“Well, I’ll see you two tonight then.” Patience says as she walks quickly to the entrance of the school.

“She doesn’t like me very much, does she?” Dean asks.

“She’s just very protective of me, but she’s harmless I promise.”

Castiel leans in and kisses Dean on the lips, Dean taken back some that he is so open with affection. The last time he was in Mystic Falls, even though it was accepted, it was not to be done in public.

“Are you sure we should be doing this in public?”

“Oh, please. Half the people in this town are at least a little bi.”

“Well, if you say so.”

He goes back to kissing Castiel enjoying the taste of the other boy’s mouth. He is so entranced and trying to avoid giving in to his temptation to take a bite out of his neck, that he almost misses the sound of a football getting ready to hit him in the back of the head. He turns around just in time to catch it, not missing the shocked expression on Inias’ face as well as his friend Lee Webb who both play on the football team.

Dean throws the ball back to Lee who seems more impressed than he should seeing as though Dean is the enemy who is kissing his best friend’s ex. The moment is over quickly as Castiel and Dean make their way to their locker. Yes, they are a cliché and they share a locker.

“Have you ever considered trying out for the football team?” Castiel asks as he’s stuffing some books into his bookbag.

“I played before, but I don’t think it really interests me all that much now.”

“Well, our team sucks so you would be doing them a favor.”

“I’ll think about it.” Dean says as he wraps his arms around Castiel’s neck and they walk to their next class attached at the hip.

It takes Dean the entirety of one class period with Mr. Adler and his cocky attitude before he decides to take Castiel up on his suggestion to join the team. He’s the football coach as well and he thinks the guy needs to come down a peg or two, so maybe having a player with Supernatural abilities on the team might actually make the guy somewhat likeable.

After much convincing, Zachariah- Dean refuses to call him Mr. Adler anymore since he’s well over 100 years older than the other guy- agrees to at least let Dean practice with them to get a feel of his abilities. He’s on the way to the locker room to grab some gear when he spots Castiel over with the other cheerleaders. Castiel is one of four male cheerleaders on the squad and he looks sexy as fuck in his uniform.

Dean doesn’t have much of a chance to admire his boyfriend though as he witnesses his brother pull up in his ’69 Chevy Camaro Convertible. Adam was always one to be competitive, but Dean still has him beat in the classic car department. Nobody holds a candle to Dean's Baby and who even gets a car that’s painted whatever color blue Adam claims his car to be. Black is a classic color and you can’t tell Dean any differently.

What’s interesting is the fact that Amanda is in the seat next to him with a scarf wrapped around her neck. She gets out of the car and Dean turns his vamp hearing on in time for Amanda’s smug response that she got the other Winchester brother as she walks past Castiel who looks shocked.

“What are you doing, Adam?” Dean whispers hoping his brother will pick up on it.

Adam looks back at him and whispers. “Don’t worry about it, brother.” Before he drives off.

Dean doesn’t have time to think about what is going on right now. He’s too busy pretending to be a high school student. He manages to make it through football practice with just a broken finger that he fixes while nobody is watching. Inias and Lee are indeed not his biggest fans and he understands that he has a long way to go before he can earn their trust. Coach Adler was impressed enough with his performance that he ended up letting Dean onto the team.

Later that night, he ignores his brother’s attempt to get him riled up about Castiel. He knows Adam is just trying to pick a fight and he’s not going to give in. He drives over to Castiel’s house and arrives at 6pm on the nose. He doesn’t tell Castiel that he’s aware that the food is just take-out placed in bowls to make it look home cooked. It’s the thought that counts.

Probably trying to break the ice because he can sense the awkwardness between his friend and boyfriend, Castiel speaks up. “So, Dean, did you know that Patience comes from a long line of witches?”

Now Dean is intrigued, especially since a witch is the reason he is able to walk around in the daylight. In order for a vampire to walk around in the sun a witch has to give them a daylight ring or some other form of jewelry. There are only a few witches who knew the spell for daylight jewelry and Dean was lucky enough to be around one who knew it. It would have been nice if Alicia would have picked a less gawky ring to give him and Adam, but if it keeps the brothers from turning into a pile of ash and dying permanently when they walk out into the sun, then so be it.

“Castiel overexaggerates. We’re more psychic than anything. My Grams did say that we are descendants of Salem witches, but I don’t know how true that is.”

“Well, Salem witches were thought to be very powerful and very well respected in spite of what the history books allow us to believe. It’s an honor to be in your presence if that is the case.”

“Thank you.” She says with a hint of blush on her cheeks.

Dean would need to stay on her good side. If what she says is true then that means she is a descendent of Alicia, Jimmy’s personal assistant who was a very powerful witch in her time. She hailed from a long line of Banes witches who gathered their power from nature. If Patience is able to tap into her true power, Dean needs to become her ally because having a Banes witch as an enemy could be a death sentence for a vampire, especially a vampire who was around in 1864. The only reason Jimmy had a Banes witch in his back pocket was because he saved Alicia’s children, and she was indebted to him.

His thoughts are interrupted by a knock at the door, Castiel looking confused as he claims he wasn’t expecting anyone else. Dean is at his side as he answers the door to a cheerful looking Amanda and a deceptive looking Adam.

“We brought pie.” Amanda exclaims and fuck Adam for still knowing Dean’s biggest food weakness after all these years.

“What are you doing here, Adam?” Dean inquires.

“We heard that you were having a dinner party, so we figured we would stop by.”

Dean can tell that Castiel seems a little distraught that Adam just invited himself, but with Amanda being his friend he probably doesn’t want to say anything.

“Yeah sure, com….”

“No, don’t invite him in. He can’t stay.” Dean does not want Adam to have access to Castiel’s house. How is Dean going to keep him safe that way?

“Don’t be silly Dean. They came all this way. Come in, Adam.”

Just like that, his brother won another round of let’s see how many times I can screw over my brother. They have been playing this game for 145 years now and Dean is growing tired of it. While Castiel is helping Amanda put the pie in the kitchen, Dean pulls Adam aside.

“What are you playing at Adam? Are you mad because I got the guy again?”

“Please, I have no interest whatsoever in men. Jimmy was just a fluke. I still don’t know why I fell for him, but it happened none the less. Castiel is safe from my charms, so no worries. But, the moment you step out of line, don’t think I won’t hurt your precious boyfriend.”

The five of them gather in the living room to converse and Dean doesn’t miss the fact that Amanda continues to wear a scarf when she hadn’t been wearing one prior to meeting Adam and she seems to do whatever he says without question. Dean had only spent a handful of minutes with the blonde in the past few days, but he knew better than anyone that she was not a girl to just do whatever she is told. It’s evident to Dean that she is under Adam’s compulsion. He would need to find a way to keep Castiel from his brother’s mind tricks.

Everyone leaves and Dean kisses Castiel goodnight before heading home. Once in his room he digs out the small box of mementos that he has in the bottom of his dresser drawer and produces a ring with a tiny amount of vervain hidden inside the band. He hopes that Castiel would be okay with wearing it. Vervain is an herb that is basically vampire kryptonite. It keeps them from being able to compel someone wearing it or ingesting it and can also be used as a way to weaken a vampire if they themselves are injected with it or ingest it somehow. This is the only way he knows to keep his brother from getting Castiel under his spell.

The last day of school for the week is the homecoming game, so Dean shows up to school in his football jersey. He runs into Castiel who is not wearing his cheerleading uniform.

“Are you not cheerleading tonight?”

“No, I decided to throw in the towel. It’s not something I’m interested in anymore, so no point in punishing myself.”

Dean pulls him in for a kiss.

“That’s a shame. I was really hoping to see you in it again.”

“I can always wear it for you if you want.”

The kiss lingers and Dean really needs to stop. He had forgotten to feed before the game tonight and Castiel’s scent is calling out to his fangs. He rests his forehead against Castiel’s.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

He regains his composure and pulls the ring out of his pocket. “I know this might be soon and it might seem old fashioned, but would you be interested in wearing a promise ring, so that people know we’re together?”

Castiel pauses at first as if he doesn’t know what to say and Dean thinks that he might say no, but he surprises Dean by taking the ring and placing it on his finger.

“I would be happy to wear your ring Dean.”

Dean is beyond excited now that he knows his brother won’t have any influence over his boyfriend.

The pep rally prior to the game is interesting to say the least. Dean is standing in the row of players listening to Coach Adler give his speech when he hears a commotion from the other side of the field. He runs over to find Gabriel and Lee rolling around on the ground, fighting. Dean has learned just by word of mouth that Hester is somewhat dating Lee who treats her like shit and Gabriel has a crush on her and can’t stand the way she gets treated by Lee. Love triangles are the worst and some things don’t change in 145 years Dean guesses.

He doesn’t want Castiel’s little brother to get hurt especially since the dumbass who is 120 pounds soaking wet is picking fights with jocks twice his size. He tries to intervene to break up the fight, but in all the confusion, Gabriel picks up a broken beer bottle to swing at Lee and ends up gashing open Dean’s palm when he tries to step between them. He hisses at the contact and what’s worse is the fact that Castiel witnessed the entire thing.

Castiel drags his brother away from Lee to get him calmed down. Dean looks down at his hand which is already healing trying to figure out how he’s going to explain this. He holds his hand behind his back as Castiel walks back over to him.

“Here, let me see your hand. You’re probably going to need stitches.”

“No, it’s fine. He missed me.”

Castiel tries to reach for Dean’s hand, but Dean won’t let him.

“Dean, let me see.”

Dean stops trying to avoid the inevitable and just shows Castiel his hand which doesn’t have a scratch on it.

“See, like I said, he missed me.”

Castiel looks dumbfounded and furrows his brow.

“I could have sworn he nicked you.” Dean kisses him to distract the other boy.

“Nope, all good. I’d better get ready for the game. See you after?”

“Yeah, see you after.”

Dean walks over to the side of the building on his way to the locker room, only to find Adam standing there. Just what he needs right now.

“What now Adam?”

“Dean-o, always to the rescue.”

“I’m not in the mood, Adam. You can leave now.”

“I noticed you gave Castiel that ring full of vervain. Are you worried that I might try to compel him to join my team? I could just eat him you know, no compulsion necessary.”

Dean has had enough of his brother’s foolishness.

“No, you’re not going to hurt him, Adam, because deep down inside there’s a part of you that feels for him. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you, that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be.”

“Who’s pretending?”

“Then kill me.”

“I’m tempted.”

“No, you’re not. You’ve had lifetimes to do it and yet here I am. I’m still alive and there you are. You’re still haunting me after 145 years. Jimmy is dead and you hate me because you loved him and you torture me because you still do, and that my brother, that is your humanity.”

Just when he thinks he’s finally gotten through to his brother, Adler picks that specific time to walk out of the building and call for Dean.

Adam says, “If that’s my humanity, then what’s this?”

Before Dean has a second to figure out what he’s talking about, Adam runs over to the coach and rips into his neck until his blood is drained and his heart stops beating, the teacher collapsing onto the pavement.

“No.” Dean yells as if that’s going to change anything.

Adam looks at him with his eyes blood red and his fangs still protruding.

“Anyone, anytime, anyplace.”

Then he runs off leaving Dean standing there dumbfounded. He can’t be caught here over a dead body, so he disappears to find Castiel. He doesn’t know where he’s at but a yell from Inias alerts everyone that something is wrong. The medical examiner arrives and take the coach’s body away and Dean tells Castiel that he will talk to him tomorrow. He is still unsure of what his brother’s motives are for being back in town, but Dean just needs to be by himself tonight. He pulls his journal out to write another entry, one that he plans on keeping the promise of.

I thought there was hope, that somewhere deep inside, something in Adam was still human, normal, but I was wrong. There’s nothing human left in Adam, no good, no kindness, no love, only a monster who must be stopped.

Chapter Text

Castiel gets out of bed the morning after the death of Coach Adler, still confused about the events of the previous night. The most disturbing part was the moment Dean had been cut. Castiel was certain that the bottle had made a gash in his hand, but when he looked, there was nothing there. Is he losing his mind or is there more going on than meets the eye? Hester had mentioned something about vampires. No, he won’t even entertain that idea. It’s too absurd.

After his shower he joins his Aunt Lydia in the kitchen where she has the news on and is talking obscenities to the television, which to say the least is somewhat disturbing before Castiel has even had his coffee.

“Are you having a nervous breakdown, Aunt Lydia? Do I need to call someone?”

“No, I’m fine. I was just letting Arthur Ketch know how much of a dirtbag he is.”

“You do know he can’t hear you right? He’s on the television.”

“I know.”

“I take it you’re not a fan of his?”

“Your mom never told you why I left town did she?”

Castiel squints his eyes to try to think back when it suddenly dawns on him why she would be asking.

“No way, you and Arthur?”

“Yep, we were dating for two years and then he slept with some floozy named Candy and I left town and didn’t come back until, well, you know.”

“He did you a favor if you ask me. Can you imagine what your kids would be like?”

Castiel laughs as Lydia shivers, probably thinking about that scenario.

“Gross.” She says.

Castiel sits down to start sipping his coffee when the doorbell rings. He answers it to find the object of his affection, one Dean Winchester, hottie extraordinaire. Castiel pulls him inside and shoves his tongue down Dean’s throat. He will never tire of kissing the other boy.

They move their kissing upstairs to Castiel’s room and fall onto Castiel’s bed, Dean on top of the shorter boy.

“I missed you.” Castiel says in between tender kisses.

“You just saw me yesterday.” Dean points out.

“I know and that was entirely too long.”

Castiel cards his fingers through Dean’s hair as they rut against each other, Castiel’s erection straining against his jeans, already turned on at the prospect of someday maybe going all the way with Dean, Dean kissing and licking his pulse point, the sensation of teeth grazing his neck, and Castiel wants him, he wants all of him.

Dean lets out a grunt as he sits up, facing away from Castiel, breathing heavily.

“Are you okay?” Castiel asks him.

“Yeah, I just had to take a breather. I don’t want to move too fast.”

Castiel can’t say that he’s not disappointed, but he agrees with Dean. That’s probably why teenagers should never be left to their own devices.

“So, moving on, are you interested in being my date for the founder’s party tonight?” Castiel asks.

“I can’t believe they still do that.”

Didn’t Dean say he just came back to town?

“Have you been there before?”

“No, the Winchesters don’t get invited anymore.”

“Well,” Castiel can’t resist as he climbs into Dean’s lap, placing a tender kiss on his plump lips. “If I invite you, would you say yes?”

Dean squeezes Castiel’s ass and kisses him back. “I would love to accompany you.”

They make out a little longer, with some mild French kissing before they decide once again that they should put on the brakes and Dean leaves so that he can find a suit to wear tonight.

Patience shows up a couple hours later so that they can get ready. She always asks Castiel’s opinion on make-up even though he has told her a thousand times over he has no idea what looks good and what doesn’t.

They are standing in the bathroom that Castiel shares with Gabriel, and he can tell that Patience has something on her mind. Patience is trying to decide what color eyeshadow to wear while Castiel is trying to tame his out-of-control locks.

“Okay spit it out.” Castiel finally says.

“I can’t. Amanda swore me to secrecy.”

“And I promise I won’t tell her.”

“Fine, how much did you hear about Jimmy?”

“I know that Dean dated him, and Adam didn’t like how much time they spent together, so they have bad blood between them.”

“Yeah, well according to Adam, Adam dated Jimmy too and Jimmy chose Adam which made Dean angry, and Dean manipulated Jimmy into thinking that Adam was a bad guy which caused Jimmy to leave them both behind.”

Castiel doesn’t believe that for a second. “That doesn’t make any sense. Even if this happened recently, Adam is like 24. I don’t know how old Jimmy was, but Dean is 17; why would he and Adam even be interested in the same person? I think Adam is full of shit.”

“You can believe what you want, but you don’t know anything about Dean. You just met him. We don’t know who is lying and who is telling the truth.”

“That’s the point of getting to know him. I don’t care about his past. Plus, if there’s something he wants to tell me, I’m sure he’ll tell me when he’s ready.”

“If you say so.” Patience catches a glimpse of Castiel through the mirror. “Now, about your hair.”

“What? I just fixed it.”

“I say this because I love you, but your hair is boring.”

“What do you mean?”

“Here, let me show you.” Patience starts tugging and ruffling his hair that he just took the effort to get flat until it is sticking up everywhere. “See, much better.”

“How, is that better? It looks like I just rolled out of bed.”

“That’s the point. Your hair is one of your best assets and you don’t take care of it the way you should.”

Castiel moves his head around to check himself in the mirror, not disagreeing with her that he does like his hair this way.

“What other assets do I have?” he asks out of curiosity.

“Your eyes for one and then everything from your head to your toes.”

“So, my whole body basically?”

“Yes, if you weren’t gay and we weren’t best friends I totally would have kissed you by now.”

Castiel opens his mouth in shock and then playfully smacks her arm. “Patience, I can’t believe you.” He smiles at her, enjoying their playful banter.

“You should know how cute you are Castiel, you’re not blind.”

Castiel thinks about that for a moment and then shrugs. He knows he’s not bad to look at, but he didn’t want to seem narcissistic by mentioning it.

“Okay, now that we’ve established how hot I am, I think it’s time for us to go.”

Patience packs up her make-up and Castiel straightens up the sink and they walk down to the living room to wait for Dean to arrive. Castiel’s heart skips a beat when he sees Dean in his suit. He looks so dapper and could probably pull off wearing a suit of any era. Castiel has never been this smitten before and it’s starting to worry him. He just met Dean. He doesn’t want to fall too fast. Patience says she will meet them there and they get in their respective cars to drive to Mayor Richardson’s house for the party.

Even though most everyone knows everyone here, it’s still courtesy to wait to be invited in before entering the party. There is a line at the door and when Dean and Castiel make it to the threshold, Castiel waves to the mayor and his wife and they invite them in.

They look around the house, hand in hand, just to run into Amanda and Adam who are two people Castiel was hoping to avoid tonight.

“Thank God, you guys are here. I’m so bored and Adam won’t dance with me.” Before waiting for permission from Dean or Castiel for that matter, Amanda grabs Dean’s arm and pulls him towards the dance floor. “I’m just going to borrow your date for a little bit, Castiel. You don’t mind, right?” They are already on their way to the dance floor before Castiel can process what is happening, Dean looking back at him. Castiel would like to rescue him, but once Amanda has an idea in her head, there’s no fighting her on it.

“Sooo..” Castiel says as he looks at Adam feeling a little awkward to be left alone with Dean’s brother that he barely knows.

“So, is my brother treating you right?”

“Look, Adam, you don’t have to make small talk. I’m not getting in the middle of whatever you and your brother are fighting over. If you have unresolved issues about Jimmy, you need to take that up with him.”

Adam holds his arms up as a show of surrender. “I’m just trying to make sure my little brother is treating you right. If you don’t want to talk, that's okay. We can just wait for our dates to finish conspiring against us.”

“Thank you.”

The two boys walk around the house, Castiel enjoying the architecture. He never really paid much attention to how nice the house looked. They finally make their way to Dean and Amanda who look like they are just finishing with their current dance. Castiel taps Amanda on the shoulder.

“May I cut in please?”

Amanda smiles. “Sure, we were done anyway.”

“Thankyou.”

Amanda and Adam leave the dance floor and Castiel drapes his arms across Dean’s shoulders, interlocking his fingers behind his neck. He kisses Dean softly on the lips.

“Fifteen minutes was entirely too long to be away from you.”

Dean kisses him back.

“I would have to agree.”

They start swaying to the music, Castiel unable to stop staring into Dean’s eyes, getting lost in his gaze. He knows at that moment he’s going to regret what he’s about to ask, but it’s bothering him that he doesn’t know what this thing with Jimmy is about.

“So, what is it with this feud with you and your brother over Jimmy?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“That’s fine, but I’m stuck listening to what everyone else has to say about it and it would be nice to hear your side.”

They stop dancing and Dean’s face goes flat.

“Is that what Adam wanted to talk to you about? He’s obviously trying to turn you against me.”

“Then prove him wrong. Tell me what is so bad that the two of you can’t stand to be in the same room together, because I can’t imagine fighting with Gabriel like the two of you are, so it must have been something bad.”

“I can’t believe that you are going to listen to what Adam says. This is what he does. He manipulates people into believing what he says.”

Castiel feels like they are just talking in circles.

“Fine, when you’re ready to talk, you know where to find me.”

Castiel storms away from the dance floor not sure where he’s going since Dean was his ride. He ends up heading towards the bathroom and passes Amanda on the way as she’s looking in a mirror checking her hair. He hasn’t talked to her in a while, so he figures now is as good a time as any.

“So, how are things with you and Dean?” Amanda asks as she leans forward to reapply her lip gloss. Castiel is getting ready to answer when he notices a mark on her neck where her scarf has adjusted.

“What is that?” Castiel asks as he tries to move the scarf aside to get a better look. Amanda tries to knock his hand away, but Castiel is quicker and notices a bite mark on her neck with some bruising around the edges.

“Oh my god, who did that? Did someone hurt you?”

Amanda tries to push him away, but it’s no use.

“Just stop. Nobody hurt me, okay. My mom would kill me if she saw.”

Castiel pulls her shawl down away from her shoulders and notices another distinct bite mark near her shoulder blade. Amanda quickly pulls the shawl back up over her shoulder.

“Did Adam do this to you?”

“No, just leave it alone, okay? He didn’t hurt me.”

She walks away, leaving Castiel standing there dumbfounded. He walks outside and finds Adam standing by the drink table. Castiel walks over to him and pushes him against the wall.

“There is something seriously wrong with you. You stay away from Amanda, or I will go straight to her mom, the Sheriff, and let her know that you are abusing her daughter, do you understand me? Stay away.”

He doesn’t give Adam a chance to plead his case. Castiel needs to find Dean to apologize. Dean was right about his brother all along. Dean is standing next to the fake river that the Richardsons have in their backyard. Castiel walks up to him.

“I am so sorry. You were right about Adam all along.”

Dean has a look of concern on his face.

“What did he do? Did he hurt you?”

“No, not me. It’s Amanda. She has bruises and bite marks all over her body.”

Dean nods his head in agreement and Castiel is surprised because it seems like this isn’t new information for the other boy.

“Wait, did you already know?”

“I suspected. I’m handling it though.”

“What do you mean you’re handling it? You should be having him arrested. Have you ever met Amanda’s mom? Sherriff Mills is not someone you want to mess with. She will fight to the death for her family and friends.”

“Cas, I don’t expect you to understand, but there’s more going on here, things that I can’t tell you. Please just trust me.”

“Trust is earned Dean and so far, you haven’t given me any reason to trust you. Either you turn him in, or I will.” Castiel takes a few steps back. “I’m going to get a ride with Patience. Let me know when you have your brother under control.”

Castiel walks back towards the house, not even caring if Dean might be following him. He had some things to think about and continuing a relationship with Dean was high on his list of things to think over.

Dean stands by the water watching Castiel walk away. How many relationships is Adam going to screw up for him? He couldn’t tell Castiel the truth, not without exposing that he was a vampire. An eternity of misery. Adam keeps his promise, even all these years later.

Dean catches a glimpse of Adam dragging Amanda down to the edge of the property, out of sight of prying eyes. Dean sticks to the shadows. He watches as his brother digs his fangs into Amanda’s neck and then he watches as his brother collapses to the ground, the vervain making him weak.

“I knew I couldn’t spike your drink, so I spiked hers.” Dean says as he walks closer to his brother. Adam just lies on the ground defeated, too weak to even try to fight back. Dean checks Amanda’s pulse and when he notices that she’s still breathing, he scoops up Adam and vamp speeds to their house before anyone notices. He and Zach lock Adam in the cellar full of vervain, Dean trying to figure out what his next move is.

Zach calls the school to let them know that Dean will not be there for the next week due to a family emergency and Dean leaves a message for Castiel letting him know he will call him when he is able, not wanting the other boy to worry. For the next three days, Dean injects Adam with vervain, also denying him the blood he needs to keep his body nourished.

During one of his checks on his brother’s wellbeing, he peeks through the little window in the door and Adam talks to him.

“Where’s my ring?”

“I took it.” Dean tells him. “You won’t be needing it anymore.”

“You’re just going to starve me to death?”

“Back in the dark ages, if a vampire became out of control and threatened the vampire species, they punished him or her. I will keep enough vervain in your system to keep you weak and eventually, without blood to feed on, your skin will desiccate, turning you into a mummy and you will become a living corpse. I will put you in the family crypt and we can re-evaluate the situation in 50 years when I think it is safe for you to be around other people.”

Adam sounds hoarse as he talks to Dean. “You know you won’t be able to pull this off. I’m strong.”

“Yes, but I’m stronger right now.” Dean walks away, not wanting to entertain his brother any longer.

He walks upstairs to find Zach in the kitchen.

“I’m heading out. Adam is weak, but don’t let your guard down. He could still be just strong enough to overpower you. Don’t go anywhere near the cellar.”

“Trust me. I have no interest in going anywhere near him.” Zach adds.

“Okay, don’t hesitate to call me if you notice anything different about him though. I can get here in a few seconds if I need to.”

“Will do.”

Dean hops into his Baby and drives to school, not sure what he’s going to tell Castiel. He’s tired of lying to him, but he can’t exactly tell the truth yet. He should have known that coming back here would blow up in his face. It’s all Adam’s fault. If he had it to do over again, he would have shoved a stake through his heart 50 years ago, but there’s still a part of him that knows he wouldn’t be able to do it. Despite everything Adam has done over the years, he’s still Dean’s brother and Dean loves him. He just wishes things could have turned out differently.

He still hadn’t thought of a good story by the time he got to school, but as soon as he sees Castiel talking to Patience near their locker, it doesn’t matter anymore. Dean’s just happy to see him again. The moment Dean walks up to them, Patience takes that as her cue to leave pretending that she has somewhere to be right now. Then, it is just Dean and Castiel and Dean can’t deny the pitter patter in his own chest, the other boy’s heart beating just as strong.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy. I was taking care of something.”

“It’s been 4 days. What could you have been doing for 4 days?”

“I was taking care of Adam. He won’t be bothering anyone anymore.”

“Good, I hope you’re right.”

“I want to explain everything to you, but I need to go home right after school. Can we meet around 6pm at the Roadhouse?”

“Yes, that’s fine. I’ll see you then.”

Dean walks away, not liking how cold Castiel seems. He hopes that he can repair things with the other boy. He goes through the motions of the rest of his school day. He doesn’t pay attention to what any of the teachers are saying. It’s not like he needs to. He already knows the material.

He barely gets out of his car once he reaches the house before his vamp hearing picks up the commotion in the basement. He runs inside to find Zach pinned against the door with Adam’s arm reaching through the small window, choking him. Dean acts fast and removes Adam’s hand from his nephew’s neck, breaking the bone, knowing it will take longer in Adam’s weakened state to heal himself.

“Keep it up, Adam, and I’ll add another 10 years to your suffering.”

He walks up the stairs to find Zach trying to get his breathing back under control.

“What the hell, Zach? I told you to stay away from him.”

“I’m sorry, Uncle Dean. I just needed to let him know how much I despise him. I never had a family because of him. I didn’t want to run the risk of having more people for him to hurt. The bloodline ends with me, you know that, right?”

Dean doesn’t answer right away. He’s spent the last 15 years holding on to the secret of the Winchester bloodline, compelling Zach to forget to make it easier for him. Dean is the only one who knows about the person living in Boston, happy and healthy, and as far away from vampires as Dean can possibly manage. It was the only thing he had managed to keep from his brother, and he wasn’t going to let him find out now.

“I understand that Zach, and I don’t blame you for not wanting children. In all honesty, I’m surprised it’s taken this long for one of Sam’s descendants to realize that.” He places a hand on his nephew’s shoulder, a sign of familiarity and trust amongst the two. “It doesn’t mean you have to do something stupid to get yourself killed. You still deserve to live a long and healthy life.”

Zach nods in agreement and then his face grows soft. “If you ever want to talk about him with me, you can.”

“Who?”

“Sam. I know I’m a direct descendant of your younger brother and I know you did everything in your power to keep him from becoming like you, so I know how much you love him. I can’t imagine being around for as long as you and missing someone like that, so if you want to talk about him, I’m here.”

Dean tries to ignore the tears gathering in the corner of his eye as he thinks about Sam. It’s been 69 years since his younger brother passed away and Sam died not knowing he had a brother that loved him with every fiber of his being. One would think that after being alive so long, it would get easier missing someone, but it doesn’t. The day Sam turned 18, Dean compelled him to forget he had two brothers that were vampires and Sam married Eileen, became a lawyer, and had babies and grandbabies until he died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 89. Dean would love to talk about Sam, but now is not the time. He has his other brother to deal with and that problem wasn’t going away anytime soon.

“I appreciate it Zach. I might take you up on that offer some night. Right now, I need to go talk to Cas. Stay out of the cellar.”

He arrives at the Roadhouse just in time to catch Castiel and Inias finishing with their game of pool. Dean walks over to them and clears his throat to get their attention. Inias looks between the two of them, realizing Dean and Castiel need some space, so he tells Castiel he’ll see him later and joins his sister at the bar.

“Sorry, I’m late, Cas. I had something going on with my uncle that I had to take care of.”

“You couldn’t at least send a text?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that.”

“It’s not complicated at all. You came here to explain things and you’re still being secretive. How can I trust you if you don’t talk to me?”

“I am talking to you.”

A voice behind them interrupts their conversation.“I don’t believe it. It’s you.” Dean turns around to see an aged version of a man he once knew from 40 years ago. “It can’t be. You haven’t aged a day.”

“I’m sorry. I think you have me confused with someone else.” Dean states, hoping Castiel will believe the lie.

“No. I would recognize your face anywhere. You still look exactly the same as you did all those years ago.”

Dean grabs Castiel’s hand to lead him towards the door, the other boy looking between Dean and the other man with confusion.

“Cas, let’s go somewhere else to talk.”

“No, why does this man seem like he knows you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before.”

Castiel breaks free of Dean’s grasp.

“Still with the secrets. I can’t do this anymore. When you’re ready to tell me everything, give me a call.”

Fuck, Dean thinks as he watches Castiel walk away from him again. He was slowly losing his grip on reality. Was he going to have to compel everyone in this town not to remember him? He thought everyone who would have recognized him would be long gone. He thought his nephew would have mentioned that the old groundskeeper for the Boarding House still lived here, one he hadn’t seen in 40 years when the man was just 30 years old.

Dean needs to release his frustration somehow. He has too much going on and his brain is in a fog. He knows he’s taking a risk, but he walks to the men’s bathroom and locks the door behind him. There is only one other occupant just finishing washing his hands. It’s not someone he recognizes, so it must be a tourist who doesn’t have vervain in his system. He walks up to the man and looks him in the eyes.

“Don’t move. Don’t make a sound.”

The man stands there as if paralyzed waiting for Dean to do something. Dean unbuttons the top few buttons of the stranger's shirt to expose more of his neck.

“You have a really pretty neck.”

Dean tilts the man’s head to the side exposing his veins, Dean running his finger along the seam, the veins throbbing against his finger, his own veins pulsing underneath his eyes, his fangs protruding from his gums. He pushes the man against the wall and sinks his teeth into his neck, allowing the blood to course through his veins.

This isn’t normally what he likes. He doesn’t typically feed on men. Men are for fucking and women are for feeding but knowing that it would seem awkward going into the women’s restroom, he came in here instead. The stranger’s blood continues to fill his scent glands as it leaves the man’s body. Dean’s heart is racing as the other man’s heart begins to slow. He needs to stop now before he ends up killing the stranger because he doesn’t want to go down that rabbit hole of self-hatred.

He retracts his fangs and tilts his head back, taking in the scent one more time before compelling the man to forget this ever happened, and disappearing, leaving the other man to regain his faculties and go about the rest of his day without knowing he had been 5 seconds away from dying.

He sits in his car trying to clear his head and figure a way out of this mess that he’s created. He can’t tell Castiel the truth about himself yet, but he also can’t keep being secretive. If there’s one thing he learned in his time on this Earth is the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Maybe cooking dinner for him will be the way to win back Castiel’s trust. He makes a stop at the store to pick up the ingredients and drives over to Castiel’s house. He runs into Lydia as she’s leaving, and once he tells her his plan, she lets him into the house. He begins preparing the vegetables when he notices Castiel walking down the stairs.

“Dean, what are you doing here?”

“I am making you homemade burgers.”

“Look, I don’t know what game you’re trying to play…”

“You said that you wanted to know more about me and to be honest with you, so this is my way of doing it. I just think that if you want to break up with me, you should know what you’re breaking up with.”

Castiel’s exterior begins to soften as he leans forward and kisses Dean on the cheek.

“I’m listening.”

Castiel leans against the counter listening to Dean talk as he prepares the burgers to be cooked.

“You wanted to know about Jimmy. Jimmy was the best-looking guy I had ever seen. He had perfect skin and mesmerizing blue eyes, and his laugh could warm even the coldest heart. He brought joy to everyone around him, and I guess you could say I fell in love at first sight. Jimmy was also manipulative and could be spiteful if he didn’t get his way. Adam swooped in and swept Jimmy off his feet, and I guess you could say I became a little jealous. Then, Jimmy died, and Adam blamed me for it as if I had anything to do with it. I was heartbroken, but now my grief doesn’t consume me like it used to.”

Castiel places his hand against Dean’s cheek and Dean leans into the touch.

“Thank you for sharing that with me.”

“Now, for all the little things, I do need to let you know that if you don’t like Led Zeppelin and Pie, I’m afraid we can’t be together anymore.”

Castiel stares at Dean as if he’s contemplating his response.

“I think I can learn to adapt.”

Dean thinks he’s beginning to break through and Castiel even joins him in chopping the onions and tomatoes for the burgers. Dean walks over to the refrigerator to grab another tomato when he hears Castiel say, “Ow” behind him.

Dean turns around to see Castiel’s finger bleeding.

“Are you okay?” Dean asks.

“I just cut myself a little.” Castiel walks over to the sink to wash his hand. Dean, unable to resist, notices a speck of blood on the counter and wipes it up with his finger. He loses his train of thought as he stares at the blood, the smell reaching his scent glands. His blood vessels protrude from beneath his eyes, his fangs begin to protrude from his mouth, and he gets ready to make a move towards his prey.

“Dean?”

Dean is brought back by the sound of Castiel’s voice. He looks up to see his reflection in the kitchen window, which is the same place Castiel is staring at him. Dean turns to face the other direction, taking slow shallow breaths, but the scent is still there, and he still wants to taste the blood. He wants to rip into the other boy’s neck and he wants to drain every last drop of his blood until his thirst is finally quenched.

“Dean, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just got something in my eye.” He fights back against his nature, digs deep beneath the surface to whatever ounce of humanity is left in him, to bring him back from the depths of the hell that his mind has gone to.

“Here, let me see.” Castiel tries to turn his head, but Dean turns away as Castiel reaches for the other side, and they do this song and dance until Dean’s face has gone back to its human form. He turns around and faces his boyfriend.

“See, all better.”

“I swear my mind is playing tricks on me.”

“It happens to the best of us.” Dean says as he kisses the other boy tenderly, reminded that this is someone he cares deeply for, not someone to feed on to satiate his thirst.

With the weirdness out of the way, they finish making the burgers and Castiel shows his appreciation with a sexy goodnight kiss at the front door. Dean doesn’t bother checking on Adam when he gets home. He can hear his labored breathing from his bedroom, so Dean knows he’s still not a threat.

The next day, Dean drives to the school since he promised he would help Castiel with the car wash fundraiser for the school athletic department. Dean arrives wearing his usual t-shirt and flannel shirt and Castiel is in just a pair of swim trunks.

“I feel a bit overdressed.” Dean comments.

“Amanda said it’s called Sexy Suds car wash, so off with your shirts mister.”

Dean removes his shirts and catches a glimpse of Castiel staring at his pecks.

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Like what you see?” Dean says as he raises his eyebrow seductively.

“Come on before you give me a boner.” Castiel tells him as they grab a bucket and walk over to the next car that needs to be washed. They spend more time staring at each other than at the car they are washing and Castiel points out the ring that Dean is wearing.

“Is that some sort of family crest? I noticed that Adam has one too.”

“Yes, they get passed down through the generations to the eldest two sons.”

“You should probably take it off, so you don’t get any suds on it.”

“I’m fine. I don’t want to lose it.” Or burn up and die because of the sun, Dean thinks.

“Suit yourself. I’m going to go grab some more towels.”

Castiel walks off to look for Amanda and Dean continues to wash the car. He’s always enjoyed blending in with humanity, trying to pretend that he’s not a monster cursed to walk the Earth alone, or at least he used to be alone. Now he has Castiel, and he is slowly beginning to earn his trust.

Dean is lost in his thoughts before he notices that it’s been an hour since Castiel went to look for towels. He’s starting to think his new boyfriend ditched him. Dean will have to give him a call later. He doesn’t want to abandon his commitment here that he volunteered for. Everyone is starting to clean up as they finish washing the last car when Dean hears a commotion to his left. He looks over and notices there is a car on fire with no explanation of how it started.

He glances over to see Patience standing still; focusing her attention on the car and the fire that has gathered underneath it. He carefully walks over to her, not wanting to spook her, and lightly touches her arm.

“Patience, Patience, can you hear me?”

She turns around as if she’s in a trance and looks at Dean just as the fire goes out. She looks at him and then at the car and then back at Dean.

“Did I do that?” she asks him, with a hint of concern in her voice.

“I think so.”

“Please don’t tell anyone. I don’t want anyone to find out about me.”

“Don’t worry. Your secret's safe with me.”

She walks away and Dean stares after her. He hopes that she seeks out her grandmother to help her gain control of her powers. The last time he saw a witch with that kind of ability, it was when she was handing Dean the daylight ring she had just made for him. He has managed to stay out of the vicinity of a Banes witch for 145 years and now he is in a town with two of them. This could get interesting to say the least.

He figures it’s time to call it a day, so he asks Inias if he has seen Castiel. Inias says no, so Dean figures Castiel just went home without him. He sends a text but doesn’t get a response. Hopefully he’ll hear from him soon. When he gets to his house, he finds the door open and a dead, bloody crow on the living room floor. His heart sinks as the realization hits.

He reaches the cellar to find Zach dead, his neck snapped, and Adam is missing. Dean is beside himself as he stares at his nephew’s lifeless body, the last living male descendant of his brother Sam, taken from him by his evil older brother. Adam must be stopped and if a stake to the heart is the way to do that, then so be it. He grabs a stake out of his dresser drawer and runs to the front door, ready to hunt down his brother.

Dear Diary, 

I’m not a believer. People are born, they grow old and then they die. That’s the world we live in. How can I deny what’s right in front of me? Someone who never grows old, never gets hurt, someone who changes in ways that can’t be explained, girls bitten, bodies drained of blood…

There have been too many mysteries lately for there to be any other explanation of what is going on with Dean. Castiel has seen with his own eyes the weird things that have been happening to Dean’s face and Castiel is almost certain that he had been hurt the other night, but there wasn’t a scratch on him and with confirmation from the elderly gentleman at the car wash that he knew Dean from 1953, Castiel needs answers. He gets in Lydia’s car and drives to Dean’s house, and he doesn’t plan on leaving until he finds out the truth.

Castiel knocks on the door and tries not to sound frightened when Dean opens the door.

“What are you?” Castiel asks, but Dean just stares at him as if he’s afraid to answer. “What are you?”

A tear forms in Dean’s eye as realization hits that he’s not going to be able to sweet talk himself out of this.

“You know.” He says.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do, or you wouldn’t be here.”

“It’s not possible. It can’t be.”

Dean steps forward and Castiel steps back wanting to keep a decent amount of space between the two of them.

Dean continues to speak, “Everything you know and every belief that you have is about to change. Are you ready for that?”

Castiel is finished with the games. “What are you?”

“I’m a vampire.”

Even though Castiel was expecting that answer, actually hearing it from the other boy’s mouth was overwhelming and he still couldn’t fully wrap his head around the idea.

“I shouldn’t have come.”

Castiel starts the walk back to his car, but Dean reaches for him.

“Please stay, let me explain.”

Castiel breaks free of his grip. “Let me go.”

Before he makes it back to his car, Dean is suddenly right in front of him as if he appeared out of nowhere.

“How did you do that?”

“Please don’t go.”

Dean tries to stop him, but Castiel once again breaks free of his grip and gets in the car to drive back to his house.

He runs inside as soon as he gets there, checks on Gabriel in his room, and then starts pacing back and forth in his room. How can this be? Vampires aren’t real. They are only real in the movies. Did Dean play some kind of trick on him, to get Castiel to like him? His mind goes about a mile a minute after he goes over in his head where everything could have gone wrong.

“Castiel.” He hears Dean behind him in his room and in a panic, he runs towards the door, but Dean closes it before he has a chance to escape. Is Castiel about to die? Will Dean really hurt him? Castiel rests his face against the door with his back against Dean’s chest.

“Please don’t hurt me.”

“Cas, I could never hurt you. That was never my intention.”

“But all the animal attacks and all the dead bodies. That was you.”

“No, it was Adam. I don’t live that way. I can control myself when I feed. I don’t kill people, but Adam does.”

Castiel wishes that changed anything, but he still isn’t sure he feels safe. He turns to face Dean.

“Please just go.”

“Please just let me explain, Cas.”

“If you mean me no harm, then you’ll go.”

“I never wanted it to be this way, you have to believe me.”

Dean leans in and gives Castiel a tender kiss on his lips, Castiel closing his eyes, and then Dean is gone as if he had never been there.

Castiel has a restless sleep, unable to get Dean out of his head, and when he wakes up in the morning, he decides to give Dean a chance to explain. He calls him and asks him to meet up at the Roadhouse. He at least wanted a public place in case Dean was lying about everything and he truly was a monster. Dean arrives and the waitress brings them both a glass of water.

“You said you would explain, so explain. When you google vampire, you get a bunch of mumbo jumbo.”

“I will answer any question you have.”

“First off, the sun doesn’t seem to be an issue.”

Dean holds up the finger with his ring that he never removes. “We have rings to protect us.”

“Crucifixes?”

“Decoration.”

“Holy water?”

“Uncomfortable, but it doesn’t hurt us.”

“Mirrors?”

“Myth.”

So, basically everything Castiel thought he knew about vampires was a complete lie.

“You said Adam is the one killing everyone, but yet you let him get involved with Amanda and you didn’t try to stop him.”

“Trying to stop Adam from doing something is worse, trust me.”

“He was hurting her.” Castiel says angrily. He doesn’t understand how Dean can be so nonchalant about this.

“He was feeding on her and erasing her memories with a form of mind compulsion. She didn’t know what was happening.”

“Is that supposed to make it okay?”

“No, nothing about this is okay. I’m just trying to be honest with you.”

“Are there any other vampires?”

“Not in Mystic Falls, not anymore.”

“What do you mean, not anymore?”

“There was a time when this town was very much aware of vampires, and it didn’t end well for the vampires or the humans that knew about them. That’s why it’s important that you don’t tell anyone. I don’t want any harm to come to you.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Just give me today to answer any questions you may have and then if you decide you never want to see me again, I’ll leave.”

Castiel thinks about it. Even with all this information, he still likes Dean very much. He didn’t want to give that up if there was a chance he could hold on to it.

“Alright, Dean. I’ll give you a day.”

They get into Castiel’s car and Dean directs Castiel to an abandoned road in the middle of the woods. He stops the car but has an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach when Dean gets out.

“Why are we here?”

“You wanted to know everything, so I’m going to tell you.”

“And you had to bring me to the middle of nowhere to tell me?”

“This didn’t used to be the middle of nowhere. It used to be my home.”

Castiel gives Dean a strange look. That can’t be. The pillars marking the walkway have bricks missing as if they have been sitting abandoned for decades. There are leaves and branches lying around blocking the pathway that used to lead up to a house that is only half standing, the outside in shambles.

“This used to be your home? How is that possible?” Then, the realization hits Castiel. How old is Dean? “Wait, how long have you been….”

Dean gives a half smile as if he had expected this reaction from Castiel.

“I’ve been 17 years old since 1864.”

Castiel gasps. That would make Dean over 150 years old give or take a few years.

“Over 100 years before the Winchester Boarding House was built, this was our home, only I didn’t just have one brother, I had two.”

Castiel doesn’t believe what he’s hearing.

“You have another brother? Is he like you?”

“No, Sam had a normal human life. He was 4 years my junior and I compelled him to forget about me and Adam when he turned 18. I didn’t want him to have this life. His funeral was back in 1940.”

“I’m so sorry Dean. It must be awful to watch people you love grow and die while you stay the same.”

They have been walking this whole time and stop to rest on a stone bench that is at the end of the property.

“It’s just something I’ve grown used to.”

Castiel sits next to Dean as the vampire relives the events that led up to his meeting with Jimmy.

Mystic Falls, VA

1864

Adam, Dean, and Sam run out their front door, Dean holding a football.

“Sammy, go long.” Dean yells to his younger brother.

“Sammy is the name of a 12-year-old. I’m 13 now. It’s Sam.”

“If you say so Sammy.”

Dean enjoys the brotherly banter between him and Sam. It was still taking him some time to get used to not being the oldest brother and being in the middle wasn’t his favorite thing, but as long as he had Sam by his side, he could face anything.

Adam was 7 years Dean’s senior and was the result of an affair their father John Winchester had not long after he married their mother, Mary. When Mary died of consumption 10 years ago, John no longer had to hide Adam away and had invited the eldest Winchester son to come live with them. It took some getting used to, but Dean grew to love his oldest brother just as much as his younger brother and couldn’t imagine life without either one of them by his side.

The brothers are throwing the ball around when they hear a familiar voice from the front door. Jimmy steps outside. He was a young man, the same age as Dean, their father took in when his entire family perished in a house fire. Dean still thinks John is only being hospitable because Jimmy comes from money, but Dean doesn’t care what the reason is. He had never in all his young life come across someone as handsome as Jimmy Novak.

“Do you mind if I join you?” Jimmy asks.

“Only if you think you can keep up. Have you played before?”

“I guess you will just have to find out.” The other boy says as he snatches the ball from Dean and runs around the yard.

Adam steps up next to him. “That is clearly a guy who wants to be chased.”

Dean wasn’t sure if he heard his brother correctly. Maybe Dean wasn’t as secretive with his feelings as he thought he was. He had kissed a few girls previously and had even had sex with one, but never felt a spark like he was told he should. It wasn’t until he first laid eyes on Jimmy that it dawned on him that it wasn’t the particular girls that he kissed that he wasn’t interested in. He just wasn’t interested in girls in general.

The nice thing about Mystic Falls is that who you kiss is your business as long as it’s done in the privacy of your bedroom. John Winchester, however, forbade Dean from giving in to his desires and wouldn't allow him to entertain any thoughts he had about boys. He said it was unnatural and a disgrace. The fact that Adam had picked up on Dean’s attraction to Jimmy without judging him or scolding him just made him love his brother even more.

Dean wasn’t aware at the time that Adam was also harboring feelings towards Jimmy until both boys were running after the shorter boy, Sammy teasing them in the background. The months went by with Jimmy flirting with the two eldest Winchester brothers and Dean couldn’t believe how much of a tease he was. Dean and Adam slowly began to grow apart the more they vied for the blue-eyed boy’s affection.

The three of them are walking along the path at the back of the property the week prior to the 1 st Founder’s party. Jimmy has his hands behind his back as he walks in between the brothers.

“So, which one of you gentlemen are going to accompany me to the party? Being the new guy in town, I can’t go by myself and I'm not interested in any of the women in town.”

“I would be honored.” Both brothers speak at the same time. Dean looks at Adam who is staring at Jimmy as they walk, not even paying attention to his younger brother.

“I guess I will just have to choose then.”

Jimmy walks ahead of them and Adam looks at Dean once the other boy is out of hearing range.

“You’re not going to win. I have him wrapped around my finger. Just give it a rest little brother.”

Dean doesn’t have a chance to respond before Adam is walking ahead of him.

It turns out Jimmy made his decision and picked Dean to accompany him to the party. Adam stands in the corner pouting as he has to babysit Sam, even though Sam swears that he doesn’t need a babysitter. Something changes between the eldest Winchester brothers that night and Dean hadn’t expected it to get so messy.

When they get back to their house that evening, Dean washes up in the bathroom and when he gets to his room, he finds Jimmy sitting on his bed. Dean looks up and down the hall to make sure nobody is around before shutting and locking his door. Jimmy walks over to him and pulls him close before giving him a kiss.

“We probably shouldn’t do this.” Dean says.

“Why not? We’re both 17, and of legal age to have sex. Homosexual relationships, while frowned upon, are not forbidden.” Jimmy nibbles on Dean’s ear. “It’s not like either of us are virgins.”

That’s all the confirmation Dean needs. Both boys take off their shirts and make their way to bed. Dean sits on the bed with Jimmy on his lap. They rut their bodies together and in between kisses, Dean confesses. “I love you, Jimmy.”

Jimmy starts to breathe heavily, and Dean thinks he hears the other boy growl. Dean looks at his face and is shocked to see fangs protruding and before Dean knows what’s happening Jimmy is biting into his neck. He is confused by this sudden turn of events and ends up passing out from the shock of it all.

Dean opens his eyes to the sun shining in through the window and he can hear voices talking. He remembers the events of last night and Jimmy’s teeth in his neck. He sits up sharply in the bed, and looks towards the mirror to see Jimmy looking back at him as Alicia helps him with his tie.

“Leave us please.” Jimmy says to Alicia, his assistant nodding and exiting the room as if she isn’t scared that she is friends with a monster. Jimmy starts walking towards Dean and Dean tries to scoot away.

“Your face. It looked like a demon.” Dean says.

Jimmy looks him in the eyes and Dean listens to every word. “But you aren’t afraid.”

“No, not afraid.”

“And you aren’t going to tell anyone about me.”

“No, I’m not going to tell anyone.” Dean would never tell anyone about Jimmy. He doesn’t even know what he was worried about. He loves Jimmy and he knows Jimmy would never hurt him.

Jimmy leans forward to kiss him, placing his palm against Dean’s cheek. He smiles at the other boy. “You, me, and Adam are going to have so much fun. I have so much planned for the three of us.”

Present Day

“Jimmy was sleeping with both me and Adam and had compelled both of us to not tell the other and to not tell anyone that he was a vampire. He wanted the three of us to live together for eternity, but it didn’t end up as he planned. He died and then Adam and I ended up being stuck together. When Adam was human, he wasn’t as devious as he is now. His love for Jimmy has consumed him all these years and he has never forgiven me for his death.”

Castiel doesn’t even know what to say to that. He can’t imagine loving someone for that long and holding a grudge for that long. He watches as Dean reaches down and picks up a piece of cloth from under a rock, pulling a ring out that looks similar to his own.

“What’s that?” Castiel asks.

“It’s Adam’s daylight ring. I have to give it back to him.”

Dean must be out of his mind. After everything he just told Castiel and now he wants to give Adam the one thing that will allow him to walk around in the daylight.

“You can’t be serious?”

“I have to. If I don’t, he’ll come after you. What Adam wants; he usually gets.”

Castiel reluctantly agrees as they get back into his car and drive back towards Castiel’s house. While they’re driving, Castiel can’t stop thinking about the mind compulsion. How many times had Dean done that to him?

“Did you ever do the mind compulsion thing with me?”

“No, I would never do to someone else I cared about what Jimmy did to me. The ring I gave you contains an herb called vervain. It protects you from compulsion. I wanted you to be safe and I wanted you to know that you are free to make your own choices. Please don’t ever take it off, that way, no matter what you decide, you will know that you made the choice of your own free will.”

Castiel nods in agreement. He still doesn’t know what he’s going to do. He likes Dean, but he was still scared about what being with him would do. Will he really be safe?

When they get to his house, Castiel sees Inias’s truck sitting outside. Why would he be here? Dean follows Castiel inside just in time to witness Hester push Gabriel, a show of strength Castiel has never witnessed from her before.

“What the hell?” Castiel asks as he runs to his brother.

“Are you okay, Gabriel?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Castiel pulls Gabriel to his feet, and he hears Dean tell Hester that everything will be okay.

“Get her upstairs. She’ll be fine.” Gabriel takes her upstairs and Inias follows behind. Castiel corners Dean in the kitchen.

“What’s going on Dean?”

“She’s transitioning, but she doesn’t know what’s happening yet.”

“Transitioning? What, you mean like a vampire?”

“Yes, Adam must have done something.”

“How do you even become a vampire?”

“You have to die with vampire blood in your system and then you have to feed on human blood within 48 hours or you die permanently.”

Castiel places a hand over his mouth in shock.

“Oh, my god.” Not even thinking about Hester, the reality sinks in that if Dean hadn’t become a vampire, he would have died when he was 17. Even with how confused he is right now, that makes Castiel a little sad knowing that Dean was dealt an unfair hand.

“How did you die?”

“That’s a story for another day, if you’ll let me tell you later.”

Castiel was about ready to answer that he still wasn’t sure when he heard Gabriel and Inias yelling Hester’s name as she ran out the front door.

“What happened now?”

“I don’t know. One minute we were kissing each other and then she started freaking out.” Gabriel answers.

“I can track her.” Dean whispers in Castiel’s ear.

“Go.” He says and hopefully Dean gets to her in time for Gabriel’s sake.

Once they leave, Castiel and Gabriel start cleaning up the kitchen, Gabriel fidgeting and Castiel telling him that everything will be okay. He isn’t sure why he didn’t realize sooner that Gabriel was interested in Hester. It’s just a bit awkward considering Castiel and Inias used to date. The doorbell rings and both brothers run over to answer it.

Castiel opens the door to see Adam on the other side. He tries to shut it, but he isn’t strong enough, which makes sense since Adam is a vampire.

“Gabriel, go upstairs.” Castiel orders.

Gabriel knows better than to argue so he does as he’s asked. Adam must notice the look of fear on Castiel’s face.

“You’re scared of me.” The vampire states. “I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Dean finally confessed.”

“What do you want, Adam?”

He pushes past Castiel and walks into the house.

“Have you seen my brother?”

“He’s out looking for Hester.” Castiel says.

“Oh, don’t look at me all judgy like that. She was a self-loathing addict. I did her a favor and she’s going to thank me someday.”

“Did you thank Jimmy?” Castiel says spitefully.

That wipes the smirk off Adam’s face. “Got the whole life story I see.”

“I got enough.”

“I highly doubt that.” Adam turns to leave, but before he walks out the door, he states. “You should really be careful who you invite inside your house.”

Then he’s gone and Castiel is left standing there more annoyed than he was an hour ago. He checks on Gabriel and finds him in bed asleep. He must be exhausted from the events of today. Castiel decides to sit on the porch and waits for Dean to show up, not looking forward to seeing him and telling him that he has made up his mind.

Dean shows up an hour later with blood on his shirt.

“Oh my god, what happened?”

“Don’t worry. It’s not my blood.” Dean pauses before continuing his sentence. “I’m sorry, Cas, I tried to stop her, but she fed.”

“So, that means…she’s a vampire now?”

“Yes, but I will find her, and I will show her how to live like me. I will make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone.”

Castiel is angry. If Dean had never come here, Adam wouldn’t have come, and everything wouldn’t be so messed up right now.

“What am I supposed to tell my brother, what am I supposed to tell Inias?”

Dean doesn’t answer, but Castiel doesn’t need him to. His mind is already made up.

“Look, Dean, I said that I would give you today and I did. I trust that you would never do anything to hurt me, and I will keep your secret, but I can’t be with you. I’m sorry. I wish things were different.”

Castiel leaves Dean standing on his porch with tears in his eyes. Castiel closes the door behind him, and he can’t stop himself from crying, leaning against the door and sliding down until he’s sitting on the floor. He was finally happy after 3 months of being sad and now it’s ruined. He cries there on the floor until his tears stop flowing not knowing where to go from here.

Chapter Text

Dean walks home with tears streaming down his face. He had hoped that he would be able to explain everything to Castiel and he would accept him. He didn't know why he thought he would get to have him even with him knowing that he was a vampire. When he gets into the house, he finds Adam sitting on the couch and Dean doesn't understand how he can sit there so nonchalant after destroying so many lives in the matter of a day.

"Oh, don't look at me like that." Adam says. "I did her a favor. Her life was a mess."

"Whatever Adam. She's our problem now. We need to go find her so that we can help her."

Adam stands up and walks past Dean. "If you say so brother." 

They end up tracking Hester to the school and catch her about ready to tear into Lee's neck. Dean pulls her off him and when Lee is about ready to run away, Adam gets in front of him. 

"Forget everything you saw. We were never here." Adam compels him and the three vampires run back to the Winchester Boarding House.

They give Hester a blood bag once they arrive back at the house and take turns watching her while she sleeps so that she doesn't wake up and decide to take off on them when they aren't looking. Dean does his best to avoid his brother otherwise. He was tired of cleaning up Adam's messes and this was just another example of that. 

The next morning Dean has Hester call Inias to let him know that she is okay so that way nobody will think she is missing.

"I'm bored." She tells the brothers when she hangs up. "What are we supposed to do all day?"

" You are supposed to learn to control your cravings so you don't end up killing someone." Dean states. "We have blood bags that you can use until you are able to feed on a person without killing them."

Adam chimes in. "That's so boring. It's better that she starts as soon as possible so she can get used to it."

"Until she has her cravings under control, she could end up killing someone, Adam. This is the best way."

"You know I can hear you right?" Hester adds.

"I need a drink." Adam says before leaving the room and heading downstairs. Dean tries to continue his chat with Hester, but his hearing picks up Castiel's voice from downstairs. He's at the front door talking with Adam.

"Wait here, please. I'll be right back." Dean tells Hester before walking down the stairs to Castiel calling his name.

"I'm here Cas."

"Where's Hester?" Castiel asks, obviously forgetting his manners of proper greetings. 

"She's upstairs."

"Half the town, including my brother, are looking for her. What am I supposed to tell them?"

"She already called Inias. He knows that she's safe so they should stop looking soon."

Dean can tell that Castiel is annoyed with this whole situation and Dean wishes he could get him to understand that Dean is doing everything he can to fix the situation.

Hester comes down and Castiel does his best to seem concerned about her, but Dean can sense that there is some past drama between the two. Dean goes to the cellar to grab another blood bag for Hester since she seems to be on edge and when he comes back up he finds Castiel pinned to the wall with Hester's hand around his neck. Dean runs up to them and pulls Hester off of Castiel.

"What the hell is going on here?" Dean demands.

"Why don't you ask him." Hester says before storming off back upstairs. 

Castiel is holding his throat and trying to catch his breath. Dean walks up to him and places his hand on his shoulder, Castiel moving his shoulder as if he doesn't want Dean to touch him. 

"Are you okay, Cas?"

"No, I'm not okay. A couple weeks ago I was just a normal kid grieving his parents and now I have vampires threatening me because you and your brother decided to come back to town. This never would have happened if you never came here."

"I can't apologize enough.” Castiel’s words sting more than Dean wants to admit. “ What did she say to you?"

"I told her to stay away from Gabriel and then she started choking me. I don't want her near my brother if there's even a chance that she can hurt him."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen."

"You keep saying that Dean, but things still keep happening. Just fix this, please." Then he's out the door without even as much of a good bye to Dean.

Dean doesn't know how he's going to fix this. He had made a mess of things by coming back here. If Adam had only stayed away none of this would be happening right now. He doesn't bother going to school today. It's not like he needs to attend for the learning and he doesn't think Castiel would want him there. Not long after the sun sets, he hears Adam and Hester walking towards the front door. He cuts them off before Adam turns the handle.

"Where do you two think you're going?"

"Come on Dean. Live a little. We can't keep her cooped up in here like Anne Frank. I figured now is a good time to show her some of the perks of being a vampire."

Dean knows this is a bad idea, but he also knows he can't stop his brother from doing something when he has an idea in his head. That's evident by all the destruction he's caused lately. The least he can do is accompany them to make sure he doesn't screw up anymore.

"So, what are you going to show me?" Hester asks.

Adam uses his vamp speed to run a circle around her and she seems surprised and fascinated by it all. Dean had the same reaction the first time he had run at the speed of light practically. It was very freeing knowing you were one of the fastest creatures on the Earth and could outrun anything. 

"How do you do that?" She asks.

"Just start running and it should happen naturally." 

She puts a smile on her face and then takes off in a blur, Adam and Dean standing there dumbfounded like the little boy who let his pet duck take a swim in the water, surprised that it took off and left him. Dean feels super dumb right now.

Dean stands there giving Adam his best bitch face because he saw this coming a mile away.

"Yeah, my bad." Is all Adam says before Dean runs off in search of Hester.

He runs all over town, picking up her scent first at her house and then past Castiel's house and it finally stops at the school where they are having the annual Halloween party. He scans the area and notices Castiel standing in a corner talking to Inias. Dean's heart stops for a minute because Castiel is dressed like Constantine and damn if he doesn't look hot in his getup. Dean never thought that a trench coat would look so fucking sexy on someone. He pushes the thought away, focusing on his objective. He needs to find Hester before she does something stupid.

He eventually finds her roaming the halls, looking as if her mind is racing. He pushes her into an empty room when nobody's looking.

"What the hell?" She says.

"You shouldn't be here right now. You're still new and crowds are not good for you."

"I have it under control. I know what I'm doing."

"Really? So you mean you aren't having any headaches, your stomach isn't in knots right now, your emotions aren't all over the place like if someone looks at you the wrong way you will rip their head off?"

She just keeps staring at him, not answering.

"That's called hunger and it will only get worse until you learn how to control it. Let me and Adam help you."

"Whatever. It's not like you're going to leave me alone anyway."

The two of them walk towards the exit of the school and run into Castiel.

"Thank goodness I found you. I was worried. I can't find Gabriel anywhere."

"Let's get out of here." Dean says just as Inias walks up.

"What's going on here?" Inias asks as he notices Dean's hand on Hester's arm.

"Thank god, Inias. He won't leave me alone." Hester lies and Dean could strangle her right now.

Inias gets in his face and Dean knows that he's just looking for an excuse to kick Dean's ass. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that Castiel and Dean dated for like a millisecond.

"You need to leave her alone or I'm going to kick your ass."

Castiel puts his hand on Inias's shoulder to try to calm him down. Before Castiel can defend Dean's actions the three of them notice that Hester is gone.

"Where did she go?" Castiel asks as he walks further down the hall. Dean tries to follow but Inias holds him back. Dean has had enough and pushes him against the wall.

"I'm trying to help her."

Thankfully Inias believes him and lets him go. Dean lost Castiel in all the commotion so he walks through the crowd trying to single out any sound he can of Hester. It's hard to find her with all the noise, but then he suddenly hears a commotion outside in the parking lot. He opens the door just in time to see Castiel flying through the air and landing in a pile of pallets as Hester pushes him away, then she disappears. 

He helps Castiel get up and tells him to get Gabriel out of here. Dean picks up a piece of wood and starts searching under the buses and cars in the lot for any sign of Hester. She jumps off one of the buses and grabs hold of Castiel, sinking her teeth into his neck, Castiel crying out in pain. There's no way out of this. Dean shoves the stake through her heart and watches as her veins protrude and her skin turns gray as she dies, collapsing onto the ground. Gabriel starts screaming her name and Dean pulls him into a hug, unsure of how he is going to explain this to the younger Shurley brother.

Castiel is standing over Hester in shock and asks Dean to get Gabriel out of here. Dean dials Adam and explains the situation, hoping he will take care of Hester's body while Dean takes Gabriel back home.

He's able to get him settled enough in his room and then Dean waits on the porch for Castiel to come home. He can't help but be hurt by the look on Castiel's face when he walks by. Dean sits on the porch swing and listens as Gabriel cries to his brother about losing someone else. Dean knows all too well what it's like losing someone you love having done it a million times. Castiel meets Dean on the porch once Gabriel stops crying.

"Can you take away his pain? Can you make him forget?"

"I promised myself I wouldn't do that anymore."

"I don't want him to hurt anymore. Can you please just do this for me?"

Dean can't help but melt at the look Castiel is giving him. It's one of desperation from a boy trying to keep his brother safe. Dean steps closer to Castiel.

"What do you want me to tell him?"

"I want you to tell him that Hester left town and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her. He's going to miss her, but he knows it's for the best."

"Consider it done."

Dean leaves Castiel sitting on the porch as he walks up to Gabriel's room and compels the boy to forget everything he saw tonight. Dean knows what it's like to lose a first love and he wishes things could be different.

"It's done." Dean tells Castiel when he walks back outside. Dean gets ready to leave since he knows he's not welcome anymore, but Castiel starts talking. 

"There's a part of me that wants you to take away my memories. A part of me that wants to forget that I ever met you."

Dean chokes back a sob. "I can do that for you, if that's what you want." 

Castiel shakes his head. "As much as I want that, I don't want to forget because I don't want to forget the way I feel about you." Castiel walks into his house and leaves Dean standing there with the smallest sliver of hope that he has a chance to reconcile what his brother helped screw up.

He goes home and sits by the fire with a book, unaware that he fell asleep until he's woken up by strange noises in the house. He looks in on Adam and he's sound asleep, so Dean knows it's not him. He has the feeling that there is someone else in the house and it's confirmed when he hears giggling and then he's knocked on his ass from behind. He rolls over and looks up to see a vampire with fiery red hair leaning over him snarling and showing her fangs. He has never been happier to see his best friend.

"Charlie, what are you doing here?"

Charlie helps him to his feet and pulls him into a hug.

"What, does a girl need a reason to see her best friend, other than his birthday?"

Even after all these years she still finds time to visit him on the special days. They end up sitting up all night talking and gossiping, and Dean manages to spill the beans about Castiel. Charlie finds the photo of Jimmy and looks as if she wants to tear it to shreds.

"As long as Castiel isn't an asshole like Jimmy he's already dreamy in my books."

Dean snatches the photo from her hands. "First off, you didn't even know Jimmy and second, you're gay, so I know you don't think any of them are dreamy."

"I might be gay, but I still have eyes. I can think someone looks good without being attracted to them. I’m sure you’ve checked out my ass a few times, which you should, because it’s a nice ass."

Dean rolls his eyes, but doesn’t correct her. He does find that some women have nice attributes even though he’s not attracted to any sexually.

"Look, are you going to be okay here while I run a few errands?" 

"Well, it's not like I can go anywhere without a nifty daylight ring like you and your brother have." She holds up his finger. "Unless you want to trade for my mood ring."

"You know it doesn't work that way." He knows she's only joking, but thank goodness for the witch that came up with the daylight ring spell ensuring that it would only work on the vampire it was made for. It would be a disaster if vampires tried to steal daylight rings just to walk around during the day. He gives her a kiss on the forehead and lets her know that he'll be back already excited to introduce Castiel to his best friend of 145 years.

Castiel gives Dean a call. He is kicking himself for revealing that he has feelings for him even after everything that has happened, but it's true. You can't help who you fall for and Castiel definitely fell for Dean. He just needed to know how to get over him somehow. 

"Hello?" Dean asks. Castiel thinks he hears a woman's voice in the background before Dean shushes her, but they aren't dating, so even if there is a woman there, it's no big deal, even though Dean told Castiel he was gay.

"Hello, Dean."

"Hey, Cas, it's good to hear your voice."

"I was just calling because we are on our way to Sheriff Mill's office. She has some questions about Hester's disappearance."

"Okay, I'll be over."

Castiel doesn't wait for Dean to arrive before he goes into the Sheriff's station located in the middle of the town square. Inias is already there and Castiel tells Gabriel to wait while he talks to the sheriff, wanting to get this out of the way. He knocks on the door.

"Come in." Castiel hears Sheriff Mills call from the other side of the door. He walks in and sits down on the seat in front of the desk, Jody smiling at him like she has since he was a young child. She had been a friend of the family since him and Amanda were in diapers.

"How are you Castiel?"

"I'm fine, Sheriff Mills."

"I called everyone here, so that I can try to piece together what happened to Hester Donavan. When was the last time you saw her?"

Castiel had already worked out the story he would tell in his head. She was turned into a vampire by a psychopath and staked through the heart by my sexy would be boyfriend would probably grant him time in a padded room, so he lies.

"She came over to talk to Gabriel and then ran out of the house like she was on something. Inias said that she called to say she was okay and Gabriel said she left town, but not to look for her because she just needed some space. I haven't seen her since then."

Sheriff Mills has been taking notes the entire time that they have been talking. She seems to be buying his story, so she tells him that he's excused and calls Inias in next. By the time it's Gabriel's turn, Dean has arrived, but they don't say much. They just share longing looks at each other from across the room. He needs to give himself space from Dean, he just doesn't know how.

Castiel and Gabriel get ready to meet Aunt Lydia at her car, when he stops to talk to Dean.

"I don't think the Sheriff suspected anything. Jeremy had no memory of it other than what you made him believe."

"That's good, right?"

"No, Dean, nothing about this is right. Inias and Gabriel will never know what happened to Hester. They don't know that she's dead and never coming home. I keep telling myself that everything will be okay, but I can't be with you. When people get close to you they die."

"Please, Cas, can we just go somewhere to talk."

"No, Dean, just please leave me alone. Don't try to reach out to me. I just need to forget about you."

He walks off before Dean has a second to protest what he just said.

When they get back home, Castiel collapses on the couch and is joined by Aunt Lydia.

"Why are you so grumpy?"

"Boy trouble, you?" Castiel asks.

"Same. I fell for Arthur's accent again and he dumped me again. At least he got creative and did it by email this time."

"Do you two want to keep it down in there? I'm trying to study." Gabriel calls from the other room.

Castiel and Aunt Lydia exchange glances. Gabriel studying? The kid has been emo ever since their parents died.

"What do you think, alien possession?" Lydia guesses.

"Or maybe some sort of Trickster took over his body." Castiel jokes.

"I can hear you." Gabriel states matter of factly.

Castiel and Lydia exchange glances again and Castiel knows he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth even though his brother is behaving strangely all of a sudden.

That night when he goes to sleep, as much as he tries not to, he dreams about Dean, about Dean's lips against his, how much he had been looking forward to going a little further with Dean, feeling their naked chests pressed together. He can't have that though. It's all very complicated.

The next morning, he's woken up by a knock on his bedroom door.

"Castiel?" Patience says from the other side of the door.

"Come in." 

Patience walks in and gets comfortable on the bed next to Castiel and he only now realizes that he's been an awful friend because he hasn't talked to her in awhile. He's been so caught up in the vampire drama.

"I know I haven't been around lately and I'm sorry." Patience says before Castiel has a chance to apologize. "Grams has been helping me work out some stuff."

"What stuff?"

Patience gets up and closes the window and picks up one of Castiel's pillows and cuts into the side of it until the feathers fall out.

"What are you doing?" He inquires.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone." She says as she places all the feathers from the pillow on the bed and then sits across from Castiel. "I'm not supposed to share this with anyone."

Castiel has had his fill of secrets, but he wants to know what's going on with his friend so he agrees.

"Okay, I promise." 

"Alright, there are no windows open and no breeze, right?"

"Right." 

Then, the most amazing thing happens. Patience holds her hand out in front of her and one of the feathers begins moving, without her even touching it. It's suspended in the air and Patience has the biggest smile on her face. She drops her hand, along with the feather and then just stares at Castiel. Then, all at once without any movement from Patience at all, all the feathers begin floating in the air and dancing around Castiel and Patience.

"Everything grams has been saying all these years is true, Castiel. I'm a witch."

Castiel can't believe his ears, but he can certainly believe his eyes. He pulls Patience into a hug and the feathers fall back on the bed as she loses her concentration. 

"I'm so excited for you Patience. Your secret is safe with me."

They clean up the mess that was made with the feathers and Castiel can't help but wonder if knowing that Patience is a witch is a good thing or a bad thing. They lie down on the bed looking up at Castiel's ceiling painted with clouds.

"So, if your grams wanted you to keep it a secret, why did you tell me?"

"You're my best friend, Cas. I can't keep anything from you."

Castiel can't help the feeling in the pit of his stomach listening to those words, because keeping secrets is what he's been doing and he isn't sure if he can do it anymore. He tells Patience that he needs to run an errand so that he can go talk to Dean. He needs to ask his permission to share the biggest secret of all time with his best friend.

He gets to Dean's house and rings the bell, a female voice that he's never heard before telling him that it's open. He steps inside only to see a redhead wearing nothing but a towel who is looking at Castiel as if she had seen a ghost. 

"Oh my god." The girl whose name he doesn't know says. "How...what...who are you?"

"I'm Castiel. Who are you?"

"Charlie. I'm Dean's friend. He's in the shower. Did you want to wait for him?"

Castiel can't believe how stupid he was. The whole time he has known Dean, he swore that he was gay, but the woman standing in his house with nothing but a towel on while he's in the shower would tell him otherwise. He had actually contemplated maybe giving Dean another chance, but it seems as though he's already moved on.

"No, that's okay. I'll just get going." Castiel finally answers the question that was asked.

"I'll let him know you stopped by."

"No, please don't." Castiel feels embarrassed enough. He doesn't need Dean to know he came by. He drives home as fast as he can and curses himself for even attempting to care. He doesn't even have the energy to do anything else the rest of the day, running up to his room and flopping down on his bed until his eyes close and sleep takes hold. 

He's awoken later by the sound of knocking on the door. Aunt Lydia and Gabriel must not be home, so he answers it, wishing he hadn't once he notices that Dean is standing there with his stupid beautiful face full of stupid beautiful freckles.

"What are you doing here?" Castiel asks more rudely than he had intended.

"Charlie told me that you stopped by. She said that you seemed upset."

So that's the game he's going to play, not even acknowledging that he has moved on and forgotten all about his feelings for Castiel. He crosses his arms across his chest.

"Charlie, right. The girl in the towel." He says disdainfully.

Dean seems surprised at first as if he doesn't know what Castiel is talking about. 

"The towel?"

"Yes, the towel."

"Cas, I think you have misunderstood the situation. Charlie isn't exactly your typical girl. She's 350 years old. And gay just like me which I thought you knew."

“You mean, she’s a vampire, too?”

“Yes, she’s my oldest friend and even if we both weren’t gay, there would never be anything romantic between us. She’s like a sister to me.”

“Oh, well, she kept staring at me. It was weird.”

Castiel steps back some to let Dean into his house.

“Well, I’ve talked about you a lot. Maybe she felt like she knew you,” there is a slight pause and Castiel isn’t sure if he should speak, but Dean says something again. “So, why did you come by?”

Castiel has had time to think and he isn’t even sure if he wants to tell him why he stopped by. His feelings haven’t changed and he doesn’t want to lead Dean on.

“It was a mistake.”

Dean closes the space between them and steps into Castiel’s personal space and Castiel hates that Dean is a few inches taller because he will always have the upper hand.

“Cas, talk to me,” Dean says in a soft voice that makes Castiel want to pull him into a kiss right then and there.

“I can’t. Dean, I can’t and that’s the problem. I’m keeping all these secrets from everyone. I can’t even tell my best friend. Do you know how hard that is?” Dean nods in understanding. “It’s like I need to talk to someone, but the only person I can talk to is-you-and-” he doesn’t even finish the sentence, hoping Dean will understand what he’s trying to say.

“I want you to know that I will always be here for you. You can come to me about anything. Okay?”

“Well, thankyou for coming by.”

Dean turns to walk away and just when Castiel thinks he might have a moment’s reprieve, he looks back.

“Hey, do you need a ride to The Roadhouse tonight?”

This is a change of pace. “Are you going to Amanda’s party?”

“Charlie’s making me and it’s my birthday.”

“Really? Wow, um happy birthday, then.” Castiel knows leaving would be a bad idea. “Actually, I think I’m going to stay in tonight.”

“Okay,” Dean says barely above a whisper. “Have a good night.”

Castiel smiles as he watches Dean walk away before shutting the door. Castiel goes up to his room to write in his journal and realizes that nothing is going to make him happy. It doesn’t matter what choice he makes, he’s always going to want Dean. He changes into his favorite pair of jeans and his blue t-shirt that makes his eyes pop and he drives over to The Roadhouse.

The place is busier than he expected it to be. He moves through the crowd until he spots Dean and Charlie at the pool table laughing and having fun the same way Castiel and Patience might joke around with each other. He feels a longing, but he’s afraid of what taking that first step might do to him. He’s pulled out of his thoughts and his mood shifts the moment he notices Adam catching him staring at Dean.

“Dean smiles,” he says as he walks closer to Castiel. “Alert the media.”

“You haven’t given him a lot of reasons to be happy lately.”

“Oh, you’re right. Poor Dean. Persecuted throughout eternity by his depraved brother.”

Castiel sighs. He’s tired of speaking with Adam and he wishes the vampire would just leave him be.

“Do you think it’s tiring, being so self righteous,” Adam adds, still standing too close to Castiel for his comfort.

“It flares up in the presence of psychopaths,” Castiel states matter of factly before walking away.

“Ouch, well consider this psychopath's feelings hurt.”

Castiel would turn around and continue this conversation, but he’s tired of dealing with Adam and his bullshit so he keeps walking. He walks around trying to find at least one of his friends with no luck. He’s able to procure a soda from the bar when he hears a female voice behind him.

“Ahh, the famous Castiel.”

“Towel girl.”

She smiles at that. “I’ve been called worse. Here.” She hands him a shot glass with who knows what in it.

“I didn’t know that you guys could drink.”

“Oh, yeah, it helps curb the cravings, but,” she leans closer to whisper. “It makes for a lot of lushy vamps.”

Castiel chuckles at that. “You know, I’ve never seen Dean drunk. He always seems so-”

“Uptight?” She finishes his statement for him.

Castiel nods. “Yeah, but not with you.”

“Well, that’s the benefit of knowing someone for over a hundred years. You can just be yourself.”

“Yeah, he can’t be himself with me.”

“Well, not yet. The first step was him telling you. The rest comes with time.”

“You seem so sure.”

“The love of my life was human. She went through what I imagine you’re going through-denial, anger, etcetera, but at the end of the day, love really did conquer all,” she looks at Castiel with a sly grin. “Are you going to drink that?” she asks, pointing at Castiel’s shot glass.

“Oh, uh, go for it,” Castiel says as he hands it to her and watches her chug it. “I’m scared,” he confides.

“But, you’re here, cause you’re crazy about him. I get it, okay, I mean, what’s not to love? If I didn’t think of him as my brother and if I actually swung that way, I probably would have jumped his bones a long time ago,” That does get a laugh out of Castiel. “Listen, take it from someone who’s been around for a long time. When it’s real, you can’t walk away.”

They chuckle because Castiel is starting to see that she might be right about that. She turns to walk back towards Dean.

“Hey, Charlie?” She turns and looks at Castiel. “It was really nice meeting you.”

“Did we just become best friends?” Charlie responds with a smile and Castiel gives her a grin.

Charlie rejoins Dean at the pool table. Castiel hangs back for a bit just observing and when Charlie walks away, Castiel makes his move. He walks over when Dean isn’t paying attention and grabs a pool stick. 

“Hello, Dean.”

“Hiya, Cas,” Dean says with his toothy grin. “You came.”

“I couldn’t miss your hundredth and-” he tries to do the math in his head with no luck. “And whatever birthday.”

Dean smiles and Castiel’s heart melts. Why he thought he could stay away from this is beyond his comprehension. They get ready to start a new game and Castiel is excited to have Dean show him how to play pool, kind of like they do in the movies when they notice Sheriff Mills and her deputies walk up to the bar where Adam and Charlie are talking. Castiel can see Sheriff Mills inject Charlie with something and drag her off.

“Oh, my god.” Dean says.

“What is it?”  Castiel asks.

Dean drags Castiel out the side entrance so they can get a better view of what’s going on. When they make it outside, they hide on the side of the building and notice Charlie flash her fangs as she breaks free from the hold the deputies have on her. She pushes them away and they both go flying across the parking lot. Castiel is impressed with her strength.

She walks towards Sheriff Mills who is firing bullets at her and they aren’t even slowing her down. Castiel will have to remember to stay on Charlie’s good side. Right before Charlie gets close enough to sink her fangs into Jody’s neck, Adam comes from nowhere and drives a stake into Charlie’s heart. 

Castiel gasps and Dean covers his mouth so that nobody will hear them. He can sense the turmoil coming from Dean as he watches his oldest friend fall to the ground, her skin turning gray which must be a sign of a vampire’s death, since the same thing happened to Hester. Castiel holds tight to Dean as they watch Adam and Jody load Charlie’s body into the trunk of his car and drive away.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Dean says as he walks towards the direction of his car. “I’m going to kill him.” 

Castiel chases after him. “Dean, no, please don’t do this. It will haunt you if you do.”

Just before Dean has a chance to step into his vehicle, some invisible force sweeps both of them away and drags them into the woods. Once Castiel gets his bearings he looks over at Dean, who is hugging a very much alive Charlie.

“Charlie, what the hell?” Dean says, a tear streaming down his cheek.

Castiel just stands to the side, not wanting to interfere. 

“That fuckwad of a brother of yours must have forgotten his manners. I made a deal with a witch 50 years ago. She gave me 9 lives and I  come calling when she needs my protection for something. Your brother just made me use one of those free lives. It’s okay, though. I snapped his neck and buried him 6 feet under. It will take him a while to dig himself out.”

“Wait, you snapped his neck? So, that mean’s-” Castiel asks.

“Vampires heal. Snapping our neck isn’t a permanent death. It’s only temporary until our spine fuses back together.”

“I have so much to learn.” Castiel thinks out loud. 

Dean is excited that his best friend isn’t dead, but he also has the mundane task of dealing with his brother and he doesn’t want to involve Castiel too much for fear of him getting hurt.

“Cas, why don’t you go home. I’ll give you a call later when I have all this figured out.”

“Are you sure, Dean? I don’t mind helping.”

“It’s fine. I think it’s better if I deal with this on my own.”

Castiel reluctantly walks away and Dean tries to ignore the glare that his best friend is giving him.

“You two should just fuck and get it over with.”

“Charlie!!” Sometimes the mouth on her is too much.

She shrugs. “You know you want to.”

“What I want doesn’t matter. If Castiel isn’t ready, I can’t force him. Plus, he’s only 17.”

They continue their conversation in the car on the way back to his house. 

“Technically, so are you. You’ve just been 17 a lot longer than him. Last time I checked, 17 is the legal age of consent, in case you were wondering.”

“We’re not discussing this anymore.”

She must take the hint because she doesn’t speak the rest of the drive. He also has to remind her of his cardinal rule when she tries to change the channel. He smacks her finger and she raises her hands up defensively.

“I know. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts her cakehole.”

“Damn right.”

When they get back to the house, they find Adam in his room covered in dirt. He gives Charlie an evil glare. She vamp speeds to him and shoves a stake through his stomach.

“Try to kill me again and the next one will be through your heart,” she says through gritted teeth. “I’ll catch you later, Dean. Stevie’s probably wondering where I’m at.” 

Just as quickly as she rolls into town, she vanishes. Adam pulls the stake out of his stomach.

“I guess she holds a grudge.”

“Fuck you, Adam.”

Dean walks past his brother and into his room, slamming the door in his face. He must get the picture because he doesn’t bother Dean the rest of the night. He ends up sleeping in the next day and missing the entire school day. He still rolls out of bed and drives over to the school to meet up with Castiel anyway. He needs to know that the other boy is okay.

He’s sitting on a picnic table when he notices Castiel walk out the front door with his usual mussed hair making him look sexy.

“Hey,” Dean says as stands up to greet the boy.

“You weren’t in class. I was worried.”

“I’m sorry. I slept in by mistake. Charlie left last night and I was trying to avoid Adam and must have forgotten to set my alarm.”

“Is everything okay with your brother?”

“For now,” Dean hates what he’s about to do next, but he needs to if he’s going to keep Castiel safe. “I really only came here to tell you that I won’t be coming back to school. I need to stay away for a while.”

Castiel just glares at him. “Do you need to stay away from school or from me?”

Dean doesn’t know how to answer that. He wants to be honest with Castiel about how he really feels, but he also doesn’t want to hurt him, so he thinks it’s best if he just walks away. Castiel must take his lack of an answer as an answer.

“Fine, I got it. Spend the rest of your life being a coward. See if I care.”

Castiel storms off before Dean has a chance to say anything. At least it’s better if Castiel is angry with him. Maybe it will make things easier. He watches Castiel until the other boy turns the corner and then Dean walks towards his car. He isn’t sure where he wants to go. He just knows he doesn’t want to go home.

He ends up driving two hours outside of town to one of his usual haunts, a vampire feeding bar with consenting human blood bags. He stumbled across this place by accident one day and he only comes to places like this when he’s truly desperate. He was pleasantly surprised to find a bar full of Twilight wannabe’s who know about vampires and enjoy being fed on. 

He sits at the bar facing backwards scoping the place out, trying to find the perfect person. He’s only there for about 10 minutes when a brunette walks up to him with lust in her eyes.

“Are you looking for some fun?”

“Only if you’re offering,” he says.

She leads him back to one of the private rooms and he bites into her neck, letting her blood course through his body. His heart quickens and his adrenaline spikes the more he feeds. When he’s had his fill he lays his head back against the couch, and he feels her hand sliding up his thigh. 

“You know, I’ve never had sex with a vampire before,” she tells him.

“Well, you’re going to have to find another one, sweetheart. You just don’t do anything for me. I appreciate the blood supply though.”

Dean doesn’t give her a chance to argue with him. He walks out the front door, and drives back towards his house. He’s about 10 minutes away when he gets a call from Castiel. He doesn’t know why he thinks he will be able to stay away from the other boy. He’s got it bad for him and he’s just putting off the inevitable. 

When he gets to Castiel’s house, he’s inside with Patience and meets Dean on his front porch.

“Thanks for coming. I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t important.”

“I know that.”

“It’s about Adam.”

“What about Adam?”

“He threatened Patience.”

“Why would Adam threaten her?”

“She has this pendant. Amanda got it from Adam and she gave it to Patience and now Adam wants it back. He’s tormenting her.”

“Over a pendant?”

“It’s not just any pendant. It has to do with Patience’s heritage. It used to belong to one of her ancestors who lived here during the civil war.”

Castiel pauses and looks at Dean like something just clicked into place.

“When you and Adam lived here.”

Dean was tired of keeping things from Castiel, and he was tired of having to expose more of the truth to him, but the more information he keeps from him, the harder it’s going to be.

“Her name was Alicia. She was Jimmy’s personal assistant, and a witch.”

Castiel gasps, “You know?” Dean nods. “About Patience?”

“The first night that you invited me over for dinner I made the connection.”

“And now Adam knows and for some reason, he wants that pendant.”

“What does it look like?”

“It’s an antique iron setting with…”

“With an amber crystal. I know it. It belonged to Jimmy. Alicia gave it to him, which means that..”

Dean can’t finish the sentence. He can’t tell Castiel what he suspects. He’s already disclosed too much.

“What?” Castiel asks when Dean stops talking.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Let me talk to Adam.”

“Will he tell you?”

“I won’t give him a choice.”

Dean leaves and drives over to the Roadhouse where he’s sure that his brother is drinking and looking for his next victim. He’s not wrong when he shows up and sees him sitting at the bar.

“Can I get a coffee please?” Dean asks the bartender as he slides into the seat next to Adam.

“So what’s with the bottle?” Dean asks, noticing the entire bottle of rum sitting in front of his brother.

“I’m on edge. Crash diet, you know? I’m trying to keep a low profile.”

“You could always just leave. Find a new town to turn into your own personal gas and sip.”

“I’ll manage. You know you don’t have to keep an eye on me.”

“I’m not here to keep an eye on you.”

“So, why are you here?”

“Why not?” 

Dean picks up the bottle and heads over to the dart board. It’s been some time since he’s hustled Adam and he’s hoping to get some answers.

They’re off to a great start as Dean takes the lead. He’s become an expert at this game and not even another vampire can beat him at it.

“Lucky shot,” Adam says after Dean gets a bullseye for the third time.

“More like a carefully honed skill over many decades.”

“You’re beating me.”

“Well, yeah, because I’m better than you.”

“I’m onto you. Reverse psychology. I mean it’s a little transparent, but I admire the effort. Seriously, what game do you think you’re playing?”

“That’s a funny question, considering I have been asking you that for months.”

Dean can tell that he’s not going to be able to get Adam to budge this way, so he decides to call his bluff.

“Remember when we used to play football before Jimmy ruined our lives?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Adam asks.

“Whaddaya say we toss around a ball for old times sake?” 

Adam just rolls his eyes, but he still follows Dean to the football stadium anyway. They throw the ball back and forth a few times, using their vamp speed to try to outrun the other, until Dean tackles Adam and they’re laying on the grass, looking up at the stars, trying to catch their breath.

“You know you’re not fooling me little brother. What is this all about?” Adam finally asks.

“It wasn’t real, Adam; our love for Jimmy.”

Adam just scoffs as if he doesn’t want to hear what Dean has to say.

“He compelled us. We didn’t have a choice. It took me years to sort that out to truly understand what he did to us.”

“Nope, we are not talking about this tonight, Dean.”

Adam starts walking away and Dean figures now is his chance.

“What do you want with Jimmy’s crystal?”

Adam turns around to look at him. 

“How do you know about that?”

“Come on. You knew Cas would tell me.”

“How do you know it was Jimmy’s? Alicia gave it to him on his last night. I was with him. You weren’t.”

“I was the last one to see him, Adam.” Adam has a look of betrayal on his face but Dean doesn’t give a shit. “Now what do you want with Jimmy’s crystal?”

“He didn’t tell you?”

“We had other things on our mind.” He knows it’s a low blow, but he just wants to get to the truth.

Adam vamp speeds over to Dean until he’s inches away from his face.

“I can rip your heart out and not think twice about it,” Adam says.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

“I have a bigger surprise, Dean.” He walks away and then turns after about 10 steps. “I’m going to bring him back.”

Dean thinks Adam has lost it this time. He’s never heard of any vampire coming back from the dead, especially not one that was burned alive over 145 years ago.

Dean follows Adam as he walks towards the parking lot.

“How can you bring Jimmy back?”

“Before Jimmy and the others were killed in the church, do you remember what it was like in this town?”

“Yeah, I remember the fear and the hysteria.”

“The townspeople were killing vampires one by one. When they came for Jimmy, I went straight to Alicia. I said I’ll do anything, name your price, just protect him. She did.”

“How?”

“She did some kind of spell with the crystal. While the church was burning, we thought Jimmy was burning in it. He wasn’t.”

“I saw him go inside.”

“There’s a tomb underneath the church. The spell sealed Jimmy in that tomb, protecting him.”

“Are you telling me that Jimmy’s alive?”

“Well, if that’s what you want to call it. He’s been trapped in a mystical holding cell for the last century and a half, but you’re an expert on starving a vampire, so how do you think he’s doing Dean? Did you know that witches can use celestial events to draw energy into their magic? Me either, but in order to give the crystal its power Alicia used the comet that was passing overhead and in order for that crystal to work again…”

“The comet had to return.”

“Downside, long time in between comets and a couple of hiccups along the way with the crystal, but the comet passed and I got the crystal and then Amanda got the crystal and now Patience has the crystal and here we are.”

“Why would Alicia do this for you?”

“Because she knew they were going to come for her too and she made me promise that her lineage would survive.”

“I remember, you saved her children.”

“Yeah, it’s the only thing keeping me from ripping out that Patience girl’s throat to get my crystal back. Oh well, deal’s a deal.”

Before Dean has a chance to respond, he hears his phone ring. He picks it up to hear Castiel’s voice on the other end and he’s breathing heavily like he’s scared of something or running from something.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Patience.”

“What happened?”

“Alicia is possessing her. She said something.”

“What did she say?”

“She said, I won’t let him have it. It must be destroyed. And then she just left.”

“Okay, where do you think she went?”

“I don’t know,” there is a slight pause and then Castiel adds, “Fells church, by Stull cemetery. That’s where she took Patience in her dreams. We have to help her, Dean.”

“Okay, just stay there. I’m going to go find her.”

Dean hangs up the phone and turns around to see that Adam is gone. He’s so stupid. How could he forget that his brother has vampire hearing and probably eaves dropped on his entire conversation. He’s probably going after Patience.

Dean opts to run to his destination instead of driving. He loves his Baby, but he’s much faster than her, although he’ll never tell her that. He makes it to the cemetery to find Adam impaled against a tree. Just like the old days, he must have done something to piss off Alicia. Dean pulls Adam loose from the tree and he glances over by what’s left of the burnt church to see Alicia in Patience’s body drawing a sigil in the ground with a stick. She looks up at him.

“Dean.”

“Hello, Alicia.

“These people don’t deserve this. They should never have to know such evil.”

“What do you mean by evil?” Dean asks as he steps closer.

Adam stands up, “Alicia, I swear to god, I’ll make you regret this.”

“I won’t let you unleash them into this world,” Alicia directs her statement to Adam.

“Them?” Dean asks. Alicia just glares at him so Dean looks to his brother for an answer. “What part of the story did you leave out Adam?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Alicia, tell me what you did?” Dean asks her since his brother is no help.

“To save him , I had to save them .”

“You saved everyone in the church?”

“With one, comes all.”

“I don’t care about them, I just want Jimmy,” Adam says.

“I don’t know why I believe a single word that comes out of your mouth. This isn’t about love, is it? This is about revenge.”

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive,” Adam says as he tries to loosen Dean’s grip on him.

“Adam, you can’t do this.”

“Why not!? They killed 27 people and they called it a war battle. They deserve whatever they get.”

“27 vampires, Adam,” Dean corrects. “They were vampires. You can’t just bring them back.”

“This town deserves this.”

“You’re blaming innocent people for something that happened 145 years ago.”

“There is nothing innocent about these people,” Adam says as he finally breaks free of Dean’s grip. “And don’t think for a second it won’t happen again. They already know too much and they’ll burn your little grandwitch right next to us when they find out,” he says as he points to Alicia. “Trust me.”

“Things are different now.” Alicia tells him.

“Don’t do this,” Adam says with a pleading tone.

“I can’t free them. I won’t.” 

She lifts her hands in the air as she says, “Incindia.” 

She is standing in the middle of the sigil that she drew as flames lift up around the edge of the circle. She has the crystal in her hand and holds it out to show Adam she means business. Dean can hear his brother pleading with her, but Dean is distracted when Castiel runs up yelling his friend’s name.

Dean grabs Castiel to prevent him from getting too close and they watch as Alicia throws the crystal in the air and it explodes into a thousand pieces. She lowers her head and the fire dies out around her. When she lifts her head, Dean can see that Alicia has left and Patience is standing there confused.

Adam charges at Patience, biting her in the neck which causes her to scream in shock. Dean pulls him off and Patience falls to the ground, unconscious, but thankfully still breathing. Dean places his ear against her chest just to make sure.

“She’s alive, but barely. I can save her.” Dean takes a bite out of his wrist and places it against Patience’s mouth so that his blood can enter her bloodstream. When she wakes up and starts gagging, Dean removes his wrist and watches as the wound on her neck starts healing.

Castiel helps Patience to her feet and they stand next to his car as Dean walks over to his brother sitting next to a tree.

“Jimmy never compelled me. I knew everything, every step of the way. It was real for me.” Dean is surprised to see Adam looking so defeated and he almost feels bad for him. “I’ll leave now,” he continues.

“I’m sorry that things didn’t turn out differently, but you know this is for the best even if you don’t see it now.”

Dean walks back to where Castiel and Patience are standing and he catches the tail end of their conversation, Patience just staring at him as she tries to piece together what happened.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Dean tells her.

Patience still looks at him with a look of terror in her eyes, so Castiel tells her that everything will be fine as he helps her inside his car and walks back over to Dean.

“Is she in danger of becoming…”

“No, she has to die with my blood in her system, so keep an eye on her tonight and make sure nothing happens and once it leaves her system, she’ll be fine.”

“I’m gonna tell her the truth.”

Dean nods,”You sure?”

“I can trust her. I need someone to know, someone to talk to. I can’t live in secret.”

Dean gets choked up. “You shouldn’t have to.”

“You saved her life. I’m sorry, Dean. I thought that I couldn’t be with you, but I can. You don’t have to push me away. I can do this.”

“I can’t,” Dean says as he fights back the tears. “I have to leave, Cas. Too many people have died. Too much has happened.”

“What? No. I know you think you’re protecting me, but…”

“I have to. Coming home was a mistake. I can’t be a part of your life anymore.”

“Don’t go, Dean. Please, you don’t have to. This is your home. Please, don’t go.”

Dean leans in and kisses Castiel on the lips, tears streaking down his face, mixing in with Castiel’s tears.

“Goodbye, Cas,” he says and ignores Castiel’s pleas as he walks away.

He vamp speeds back to his room and destroys everything in it as he thinks of what he’s leaving behind. He can no longer deny that he’s in love with Castiel, but fate just doesn’t want them to be together.

Chapter Text

Castiel has a difficult time sleeping over the next few days. He is worried about Patience and he can’t handle that he won’t be with Dean. He is in love with someone who doesn’t want to take a chance on him and that is something he’s having a hard time dealing with. The only positive thing to come out of all this is Gabriel being in better spirits since Dean compelled him to forget about Hester and all the drama that went along with that. Castiel catches him drawing in his sketchbook as he walks by his room on the way downstairs.

Castiel finds Aunt Lydia packing up her bag to leave for school, and he has to share the exciting news with her.

“Gabriel has his sketchpad out.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope, but don’t say a word. The minute we encourage him, he’ll put it away.”

“As a psychology major, I can agree with that.”

Castiel checks his phone, in hopes that he will see a missed text from Dean, anything to let him know the vampire at least cares, but there’s nothing.

“Any update on you and Dean?” his aunt asks

“He knows how I feel, but he’s leaving anyway. Not much I can do about it, I guess.”

“Why is he leaving?”

“Don’t know, it gets more confusing the more questions I ask, so I’ve stopped asking.”

They walk outside together and Aunt Lydia continues the conversation.

“Yours leaves, mine comes back.”

“Arthur?”

“Yep, he showed up here last night, but I’m proud of myself for not letting him past the front door.”

“I hope you slammed it in his face.”

“Medium slam.”

“Well, just ignore him and maybe he’ll get the picture this time.”

“One can hope.”

“I’ll see you later, Aunt Lydia.”

“Have fun at school.”

They get into their respective cars and Castiel meets Patience outside the school at their usual spot. 

“How are you holding up?” Castiel asks as soon as he sees her.

“I’m doing better. Still a little freaked out about the whole ghost possession and the fact you were almost dating a vampire, but I can’t really say anything seeing as though I’m a witch, so…”

“It took me some time to get used to it all. It kind of makes me miss when I was just a teenager trying to get out of doing the dishes.”

“Same.”

They make it into the building and Castiel catches a glimpse of Amanda and Inias talking and laughing with each other and Castiel’s somewhat confused considering they couldn’t stand each other a couple weeks ago.

“Did I miss something?” Castiel asks Patience.

“They’ve been hanging out.”

“Kinda weird, don’t you think?”

“She needs someone nice like him, as opposed to a homicidal vampire like Adam.”

“Fair point,” they make it to their lockers. “I’ll catch you at lunch.”

“Okay, see you then.”

Castiel makes it through another boring day of school and, as he’s walking to his car, he sees Dean sitting on the bench near the parking lot, looking just as hot as he remembers and Castiel is powerless to feel any sort of anger towards him.

“Hiya, Cas.”

“Hello, Dean.”

“We need to talk.”

Castiel nods because he doesn’t care what they need to do as long as he can spend some more time with Dean before he leaves. He follows Dean to his car so they can have some privacy.

“Are you still leaving?” Castiel asks because he needs to know if he’s going to have to grieve all over again.

“I was going to, but we just found out that there is another vampire in town. I can’t leave until we figure out who it is.”

“Do you have an idea of who it could be?”

“None, but it must be somebody new because they just left a body out in the open which means they’re either sloppy or they’re trying to send a message.”

“And you’re sure it’s not Adam?”

“Well, I’m never sure about Adam, but he’s been trying to keep a low profile lately, so it just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Adam’s tracking them right now. I just wanted to warn you so you know to be careful.”

“Thank you, Dean.”

Castiel leans a little closer hoping for some sort of connection, but Dean just stares at him.

“I have to go,” is all Dean says.

“Of course,” Castiel answers and then Dean is driving away as if he was never there to begin with. Castiel tries to ignore the tear sliding down his cheek as he drives home. He finds Gabriel sitting at the kitchen island drawing in his sketchbook. Castiel isn’t sure what to think of the werewolf that he’s drawing, but as long as he’s getting back into his hobby, Castiel can’t really complain. 

“Are you going to career night at the school tonight?” Castiel asks his brother.

“I don’t know.”

“I think you should go. Your drawings are really good. Just something to think about.”

Castiel grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and takes the stairs two at a time up to his room, checking out Tumblr on his phone until he receives a text from Patience telling him that she’s heading over to the school now. When Castiel ends up back downstairs, Gabriel is no longer there. He must have decided to go to career night after all. He doesn’t see Patience anywhere when he finally makes it to the school, but he catches a glimpse of Inias, so he figures he might as well catch up with him.

“Still want to be an astronaut?” Castiel asks him and Inias just gives him a chuckle.

“I can’t believe you remember that.”

“I can remember the tinfoil that you wore on your head.”

“I was 8.”

Castiel sees Dean out of the corner of his eye and he can’t help but notice how Inias loses his smile.

“I guess we’re done talking now. Your beau is here.”

Inias walks away before Castiel can tell him how wrong he is. Dean walks over and Castiel can’t ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

“I’m guessing you’re not here to plan the path for your future?”

“No,” is all Dean says, but it’s enough.

“You’re watching out for me.”

“I hope that’s okay.”

Castiel doesn’t know what to say to that, so he just walks away to check out some random booth full of random fliers he cares nothing about. Why does life have to be so hard? Why can’t he just be with Dean without everything being so complicated?

He can feel Dean next to him now and Castiel feels like he’s on fire. The connection he feels with Dean is suffocating sometimes and he wishes he could have more.

“I did want to be a doctor, before all this, but I couldn’t because…”

“The blood?”

“Yeah. I have dabbled in a few things, but I was never able to stick around anywhere for too long.”

“Why’s that?”

“People would start to notice that I wasn’t aging, so I would have to leave.”

“And how long can you usually stay somewhere before you have to leave?”

“Just a few years, sometimes less.”

Castiel nods his head and swallows around the lump in his throat. 

“What are your plans for the future? What career do you have in mind?” Dean asks.

Castiel just glares at him and tries to disguise the hurt in his voice, but fails.

“I’m not in the mood to talk about my future, since you’ve made it pretty clear that you don’t want to be in it.”

“Cas.”

“No, just save it Dean. I’m tired of listening to your excuses. You say you’re protecting me, but I don’t need your protection.”

Castiel hears the clicking of heels and looks to his left to see his Aunt Lydia walking up to them.

“Hide me,” she says.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing, just another British invasion.”

“Arthur’s here?”

“Wait, Arthur Ketch?” Dean asks and Castiel and Lydia both nod. Dean walks out into the hall, so Castiel and Lydia follow him.

“Dean, what’s going on?” Castiel asks when he finds Dean.

“Lydia, are you dodging me?” Arthur asks in his douchey British accent.

“It’s a form of self-preservation,” she says.

“Castiel, why don’t you and Lydia go somewhere else?”

Castiel isn’t sure why Dean would be asking him to leave, but then he gives him a slight nod towards the direction of Arthur and that’s all the confirmation Castiel needs to tell him that his aunt’s former lover is the new vampire.

“Come on, Aunt Lydia, let’s go.”

They walk towards the front entrance.

“When Arthur came to the house, what did he say?”

“Not much, just his usual flattery that didn’t work on me. He kept insisting that I let him in.”

Fuck, he is the vampire, just as Castiel suspected.

“Okay listen to me very carefully. Do not under any circumstances ever talk to him again.”

Lydia looks like she’s seen a ghost and Castiel hates that he can’t tell her the truth, but he gets a pass when Mr. Bass, Gabriel’s history teacher, walks up to them.

“Hey, Castiel, Lydia.” Mr. Bass greets them. Castiel doesn’t miss the ear to ear smile on his aunt’s face when she sees him.

“Hello, Mr. Bass,” Castiel says.

“Hi, Aaron.” Lydia says with a huge grin.

They begin flirting with each other and Castiel doesn’t know if he has the stomach for it when they start giggling like a couple of lovesick teenagers, so he excuses himself from the situation. He steps outside and sees Dean talking on the phone, so he walks over to him and when Dean hangs up, Castiel asks if there is anything he would like to share.

“It’s a long story, but Arthur was there the night Hester was turned. Adam ripped his neck out. Somehow Arthur must have had vampire blood in his system when Adam killed him and now he’s back declaring war.”

“Well, we have to stop him somehow. Can’t you kill him?”

“Yes, but we have to find him first. Let’s see if anyone has seen him.”

They walk back into the school and Castiel spots Inias.

“Hey, have you seen the news guy, Arthur Ketch?”

“Yeah, I saw him leave with Amanda in the passenger seat. He must be giving her a ride home.”

“Stay here,” Dean tells Castiel before he disappears.

Castiel tries to keep himself busy while Dean is gone, but he can’t help worrying about Amanda and hopes that she’s alright. He doesn’t know what he would do if he lost another friend. He’s talking to one of the girls on the cheerleading squad when he sees Dean walk back into the building, so he rushes over to the vampire.

“Amanda?”

“She’s okay,” Dean says as they start walking together. “I took her home. She was shaken up, but all she knows is Arthur attacked her.”

“Where’s Arthur?”

“Adam’s dealing with him.”

“As in…”

Dean nods. “You saw what happened tonight, right? I mean, you understand why we can’t be together, you see it?”

“Yeah, I’m starting to see a lot of things, Dean. Let me give you a ride home.”

“Okay, yeah that’d be nice. Thank you.”

They get into Castiel’s car and it’s the longest drive of his life. Just being in the car with Dean, having the feelings he has, and not being able to do anything about it is killing him inside. 

He stops in front of Dean’s house, but before the vampire can leave, Castiel has to get something off his chest.

“You asked me what I wanted to be earlier. I wanted to be a writer. My mom encouraged me from the moment I could read. She bought me my first journal, enrolled me in every writing contest my school had, she was my biggest cheerleader, and then she died, and I can’t see myself being a writer anymore. That was something her and I shared. I know that you think you brought all this bad stuff into my life, but it was already there. I was drowning in it.”

“This is different,” Dean says with glistening eyes.

“It doesn’t make it any less painful,“ Castiel says through watery eyes.

“I know it’s hard to understand, but I’m doing this for you.” Dean says before stepping out of the car. Castiel is too stubborn to accept that answer so he gets out of the car too.

“No, you don’t get to make that decision for me. If you walk away it’s for you, because I know what I want. Dean, I love you.”

Castiel wishes that he wasn’t staring at the back of Dean’s head right now. He wants to look at his face. He wants to kiss him. He wants to get lost in his touch. 

Dean turns around and, just when Castiel thinks he’s going to be turned down again, Dean walks towards him and presses their lips together and all his worries melt away. Their tongues mold together like they belong and their hands are carding through each other’s hair.

“Dean, can we go inside, please?” Castiel begs in between kisses.

“Yes, Cas.”

They somehow stumble their way inside the house, with their lips still attached. They make it to the foyer and Castiel is breathing against Dean’s mouth as they kiss. Dean suddenly turns away and Castiel misses his touch. Castiel places his hands on Dean’s shoulders.

“Don’t.” Castiel doesn’t want Dean to feel like he has to hide who he is.

“Cas, I can’t.

“Yes, you can. Don’t hide from me.” Castiel places his hand against Dean’s face so that he turns towards Castiel and what he sees is beautiful. 

Dean’s veins are protruding and pulsing under his eyes and the green of his eyes is magnified by a hint of red. Castiel brushes his fingers against the protruding veins and smiles before kissing Dean again. They don’t speak as Dean lifts Castiel and carries him up to Dean’s room.

Dean takes off his own flannel shirt and t-shirt before removing Castiel’s t-shirt. Their hands roam across each other’s naked skin before they remove their pants. Castiel’s lips graze Dean’s neck as Dean walks them back to the bed, lying Castiel down on his back.

Now completely naked, Dean ruts against Castiel, their cocks brushing together. Dean reaches in the drawer next to the bed to grab the lube and squirts some in his hand before pressing his fingers against Castiel’s entrance. Dean takes his time opening Castiel up and Castiel’s cock lies weeping against his stomach as he pushes back against Dean’s hand. 

Dean lathers his cock with lube and slides inside Castiel effortlessly. Dean thrusts inside Castiel and Castiel wraps his legs around the vampire. Dean kisses Castiel’s neck and there’s a part of him that wants the vampire to bite him just so he can feel it. He wants to get lost in Dean and as his orgasm builds at the base of his stomach, he hopes he can have it all.

When they are both sated and lying in each other’s arms, Castiel thinks it can’t get any more perfect than this. 

“Are you thirsty? Do you want something to drink?” Dean asks.

“I could go for water. Don’t be gone too long though,” Castiel says as he gives Dean a kiss before he leaves. 

Seeing as though they just had sex, Castiel doesn’t see the harm in looking around Dean’s room. He has a ton of books and journals just like Castiel, so that’s one thing they have in common. Something catches his eye on the desk, and when Castiel notices a picture, he picks it up only to see a picture of his own face with the inscription James 1864 on the bottom.

Castiel can’t believe he was stupid enough to think that Dean cared about him at all. Dean was just using him because he somehow looks like his first true love. He puts the picture down on the desk, and takes the ring off laying it on top. He doesn’t bother saying goodbye to Dean. He just gets dressed and storms out and gets into his car, not really sure where he’s going.

He’s not paying attention to the road and doesn’t see the man standing in the middle of it until it’s too late and he hits the guy. He slams on the breaks and swerves the car, but it ends up rolling over a few times, landing on the roof. The glass breaks around him and he has the wind knocked out of him. He doesn’t know what to do. He tries to unclick his seatbelt but it’s stuck and won’t come undone. He can see the man lying in the middle of the road.

His worst nightmare comes true as he watches the man contort himself so that his broken bones are fixed again and the stranger walks towards Castiel’s car, but he’s powerless to do anything since he is still stuck in his seatbelt. Just as the man makes his way over to Castiel, he runs off into the distance and then Adam scares the shit out of him when his face suddenly comes into view right next to Castiel, like he’s straight out of a horror movie.

“How are you doing there?” Adam asks, not catching onto the fact that Castiel is scared shitless.

“Adam,” he says with tears streaking down his face.

“Are you stuck?”

“It’s my seatbelt,” he says with shock still laced in his voice.

“Okay, I’m going to get you out of here. Just put your hands on the roof.”

“Alright.” Castiel does as he’s asked and Adam yanks on his seatbelt, ripping it to shreds, causing Castiel to fall onto the roof.

Adam gently pulls Castiel from the car and he has a difficult time standing up, still feeling disoriented from his near death experience, and getting knocked around during the crash. 

“Hey, Cas, look at me. Can you stand?”

Castiel is still trying to get his footing and steady himself and when he looks at Adam, his emotions rush to the surface.

“I look like him,” is all he manages to say before everything goes black.

Dean grabs a bottle of water from the fridge, still elated that he let Castiel talk him into being together. He can’t deny how much he’s in love with the other boy. When he gets back to his room, however, Castiel is nowhere to be found. He spots the picture of Jimmy sitting on his desk with the ring he gave to Castiel on top. 

Fuck, how could he be so stupid to leave that lying around? He picks up his phone to call Castiel, but it goes directly to voicemail. He leaves a message, hoping that Castiel will give him a chance to explain.

“Castiel, it’s Dean. I know that this picture must have confused you, but I can explain. I need to explain, so please, when you get this, call me.”

He hangs up and hopes that Castiel will call him. He has no way of tracking the other boy. He is restless the entire night and when he still doesn’t receive a call back from Castiel, he tries again in the morning. It rings and is finally picked up, but Adam is on the other line.

“Castiel’s phone,” Adam says in that deceptive voice he always uses when he’s up to no good.

“Where is he? Why do you have his phone? Is he okay?”

“Castiel? Yes, he’s right here and he’s fine.”

“Where are you? Let me speak to him.”

He can hear Adam offering the phone to Castiel before speaking again.

“Yeah, I don’t think he really wants to talk to you right now.”

“Adam, I swear to god if you touch him.”

“You have a good day. Bye now.”

Adam hangs up before Dean can say anything else. He sets his phone down on the table more aggressively than he should have. Without any idea what to do, he heads to the school to see if he can find Patience. She might know what to do.

He finds Patience walking across the campus to the front door, so he catches up with her.

“Patience.”

She turns to look at him. 

“Dean, hi.” She doesn’t stop walking so he quickens his pace to keep up with her.

“I haven’t seen you lately. How are you doing with everything?” Dean asks.

“I’m fine.”

“Good.”

“Are you back in school?”

“No, actually, I came here to find you. I was hoping you could help me with something, a spell.”

They stop walking and Patience just looks at him.

“Dean, look I know Castiel is okay with all of this, and I appreciate what you did to help me, but I’m not ready to dive into it all just yet.”

“I understand that, but I need your help. It’s Castiel. He’s with Adam.”

“Shit, okay, what do you need me to do?”

They walk over to one of the picnic tables that’s out of view of passersby.

“I have Castiel’s ring. I was hoping you would be able to use this to make some sort of connection. I just need to know he’s okay.”

“How do you know I can do this?”

“Because I’ve known a few witches over the years. I’ve seen what they can do.”

“I’m still new at it.”

“It’s okay, give it a shot.”

Patience places the ring in her hand and grips it tight as she closes her eyes. Dean watches as she squints, trying to focus on something in her mind. A few seconds pass and then she opens them and looks at Dean.

“There’s nothing. Nothing’s happening. Usually there’s an image or…Tell me if anyone’s looking.” 

She reaches onto the ground and picks up a leaf, placing it on the table. She hovers her hands over the leaf, but Dean doesn’t see anything happening. She looks at him distraught.

“There’s something wrong.”

“With Castiel?”

“With me. There’s something wrong with me. I have to go. I’m sorry, Dean. I can’t help you.”

She leaves without any more explanation. Dean doesn’t know what to do. Castiel doesn’t have his tracking on his phone, so Dean can’t find him that way. He just needs to know that he’s okay, that Adam isn’t trying to harm him.

He tries to reach out to him again. The phone rings and it’s picked up.

“Cas, is that you?”

“I’m here.” Dean is elated to hear the other boy’s voice. He has been going insane with worry.

“Where are you?”

“You lied.”

“Not until I explain, please.”

“So, you didn’t lie?”

“Just tell me where you are so that I can come get you.”

“How am I connected to Jimmy, Dean?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that?

“It’s the truth.. Listen.” Castiel hangs up the phone. He can be so stubborn sometimes. Dean runs his fingers through his hair. He’s on edge. He’s trying so hard not to lose control. He has one more ace up his sleeve and he really hopes it works because he’s out of options. He drives over to Patience’s grandmother’s house and hopes that she won’t slam the door in his face.

She answers the door right away as if she had been expecting him.

“Hi.”

“Can I help you?”

“I’m Dean. I’m a friend of Patience’s.”

She just stares at him, so he extends his hand to shake it, hoping she accepts and she shakes his hand, but doesn’t let go of the cold facade.

“I was hoping that she might be here.”

“She was, but not anymore.”

“Do you know where she went?”

“No, but you do.”

“I’m sorry?”

“She came to me because she wasn’t able to perform magic. I told her she needed to face down her fear, whatever it is that’s keeping her blocked from accessing her power. I’m sensing now that you know exactly why she was scared.” she steps closer to him, but still remains in the threshold of her door.

“You know what I am and yet you offered me your hand, which means that you wanted me to see that I can trust you.” she tells him.

“Can you?”

“I trust you’ll keep her safe. Better be on your way then. I’m not going to invite you in. I’m sure you understand why.”

“Of course, thank you for your time.”

She closes the door and he walks back to his car. If Patience is scared of something, he has one guess where she might be. He drives back to Stull cemetery, where she had been possessed by her ancestor and bitten by a vampire. 

He parks Baby as close to the church as he can and as he walks, he notices a big hole in the ground. He jumps down and is greeted by Patience screaming hysterically since he almost landed on her which would cause anyone to startle.

“Dean, you scared the crap out of me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“The ground gave way. I fell.”

“It’s okay. Let’s get out of here.”

“How?”

“Just close your eyes.”

He pulls her into a hug and jumps up until they are back on solid ground, Patience trying to catch her breath.

“How did you find me?”

“Your grandmother told me what you were trying to do, so I figured you were here since it wasn’t a pleasant experience for you.”

She nods. “I could hear them in there, behind the door. Are they in pain?”

She must be talking about the vampires.

“In the beginning, yes, but not anymore. They’ve starved to the point of desiccation.”

“But, if they have blood…”

“That’s not gonna happen. Patience, they can’t get out. Alicia saw to that when she had you destroy the crystal. You’re safe.”

He’s surprised when she gives him a hug and he can feel her tension subside. 

“Come on, I’ll take you back to your grandmother’s house.”

When they arrive, Missouri opens the door before they even make it onto the porch. 

“Well, look who’s returned from battle?” 

She opens her arms and Patience gives her a hug.

“Can I talk to your friend for a minute?”

Patience nods and then walks into the house.

“I appreciate your help, Dean.”

“You’re welcome, Missouri.”

She smiles. “I wasn’t sure you remembered.”

“October, 1969.”

“I was barely a teenager.”

“And you were leading what was probably the only anti-war sit in within miles of Mystic Falls. You know, when you spoke, people were mesmerized. I know I was.”

“Until the cops showed up.” They smile at each other and then the conversation gets serious. “You took a big risk coming to see me earlier, letting me read you, realize who you were. Could have gone in a completely different way.”

“Well, your family has a very long history of keeping my secret. I knew that I could trust you if you believed that I was worthy of your trust.”

“Patience knows, doesn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“Please understand that our loyalty can only extend  so far. This town won’t be easy on any of us if they figure it out, and I’ll protect my own before anybody else.”

“I know that.”

“As long as we’re clear. Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight, Missouri.”

The next day, Dean is sitting at the desk in his room, moping, hoping that Castiel will eventually return his call or at least let him explain and then he looks up to see the other boy standing in his doorway as if just thinking about him made him materialize there.

“Hi.” 

“Hi,” Dean says as he stands up.

“You could have told me.”

“I wanted to tell you.” Dean says.

“You said, no more lies, only the truth. I can handle the truth, Dean. As crazy as it is, I can handle the fact that you are a vampire and you have a vampire brother and my best friend is a witch. I can accept the fact that the world is a much more mysterious place than I ever thought possible, but, this, this lie I cannot take. What am I to you? Who am I to you?”

“You are not Jimmy. You are the opposite of everything that he was.”

“And when did you figure that out? Before you kissed me? Before we slept together?”

“Before I met you.”

“What?”

“The first day of school, when we met, it wasn’t for the first time, Cas.”

“Then when was it?”

“May 23, 2009.”

“But, that was…”

“That was the day your parent’s car went off the bridge.”

Castiel’s eyes begin to water.

“You were there?”

“Every couple of years, I come back here to see Zach and see my home and last spring I was out in the woods by the old Wickory Bridge and I heard the accident, all of it. I was fast getting there, but not fast enough. The car was already submerged. Your dad, he was still conscious. I was able to get to him, but he wouldn’t let me help him until I helped you.”

Castiel starts crying, tears streaming down his face. “Oh my god. When I woke up in the hospital, nobody could figure out how I got out of the car. They said it was a miracle.”

“I went back to them, but it was too late. I couldn’t..I couldn’t save them. When I pulled you out, I looked at your face and you looked like Jimmy. I couldn’t believe the resemblance. After that, I spent months making sure that you weren’t him. I watched you. I learned everything that I could about you and I saw that you were nothing like Jimmy and I wanted to leave town, but Cas, I couldn’t, I couldn’t leave without knowing you. I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you. I wanted to, but you were so sad.”

“Why do I look like him?”

“Cas, you’ve been through so much.”

“Why do I look like him, Dean? What are you not telling me?”

“It didn’t make any sense to me. You were a Shurley. He was a Novak, but the resemblance was too similar and then I learned the truth. You were adopted, Cas.”

Castiel glares at him with a look of shock. He sits down on the bench by the bed.

“How do you know this?” Castiel asks as Dean sits next to him.

“Your birth certificate from city records. It says Castiel Shurley, Mystic Falls General, but there’s no record of your mother ever being admitted, there’s no record of her ever being pregnant.”

“What else do you know?”

“For me to go any further, I would have had to look into the Novak family and I couldn’t do that. It’s too much of a risk. If someone would have found out I was asking about Jimmy. Listen to me, it doesn’t matter. You are the man that I love. I love you.”

Castiel smiles as he wipes the tears from his cheek and he leans in to kiss Dean, placing his hands in his hair and then Castiel rests his head on Dean’s chest.

It takes about an hour of leaning on Dean before Castiel feels that he is calmed down enough to finally go home. He’s devastated by the news, but there’s nothing he can do about it. He walks into his front door, ready to go upstairs, but is stopped by his Aunt Lydia who lets out a sigh of frustration.

They had already talked on the phone and she is royally pissed that he disappeared, but it’s not like he can tell her that he was kidnapped by a vampire and couldn’t come home sooner.

“I don’t set a lot of rules, Castiel, not with you. I trust you to tell me the truth. Where were you and why did you lie to me about it? I thought that we were closer than that.” she tells him.

“Now is not the time you want to talk to me about lies,” he says as he starts making his way up the steps.

“Don’t do that,” Lydia grabs his arm to stop him from going up the stairs. “Don’t turn this back on me. I didn’t do anything.”

“Okay, question, am I adopted?”

Lydia just stares at him

“I trust you to tell me the truth too, Lydia. How could you not tell me? I thought we were closer than that,” he says, making sure she hears the sarcastic tone in his voice.

Castiel runs up the steps.

“Cas, I didn’t–they asked me not to.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” he says, not even bothering to look back at her.

The next evening, Castiel is thankful that Lydia is already gone when he comes downstairs so he doesn’t have to talk to her. There is a knock on the door as he’s getting a glass of water, and Castiel answers it to see Dean on the other side. He pulls him upstairs to his room.

When they are in Castiel’s room, he pulls Dean closer for a kiss.

“I missed you,” he tells the vampire.

“I missed you too, Cas, and as much as I would love to explore where this is going, I actually came here for an important reason.”

“Okay, what’s up?”

They sit on the bed as Dean talks to Castiel.

“Do you remember anything about the man that was on the road when your car crashed? Adam told me that’s where he found you.”

“I wish. I never really saw his face. He was wearing a hoodie. All I remember is that there were these black boots coming towards me.”

“I brought some vervain with me,” Dean says as he stands up and grabs the box Castiel hadn’t even noticed Dean holding when he came in. “For you and Lydia and Gabriel and I made some bracelets for your friends. You can put it in jewelry and you can even put it in your food and drinks, but as long as it’s in you or on you a vampire can’t control you.”

Dean places his hand against Castiel’s cheek and kisses him gently.

“I don’t want you just to wear it, I want you to ingest a little bit everyday. If it’s in your system, it will weaken a vampire if they bite you and they won’t be able to hurt you.”

“I’ll be okay Dean.”

“I mean it, Cas. I can’t lose you. Please just do this for me.”

Castiel can see the worry in Dean’s eyes, so he agrees.

“Alright Dean, if that’s what you want.”

“It is. Until we find out who this other vampire is and what he wants we have to be careful.”

Castiel can hear the doorbell ring and Gabriel yells that the pizza is here.

“I’ll be back,” Castiel tells Dean as he grabs his wallet and runs downstairs to see the pizza guy standing inside the door with the pizza.

“Hello,” he says as he hands the guy a twenty dollar bill. “Keep the change.”

“Thanks, and have yourself a good night.”

Castiel ignores the man’s strange demeanor as he helps himself to some pizza, Dean coming down and tells him that he will see him later.

At school the next day, Castiel begins passing out the vervain filled jewelry to his friends. He wasn’t surprised that Amanda was so touched by the gesture. She has gotten better over the years, but she’s still a little self-centered. 

“This is so sweet,” she tells him as she accepts the necklace that he hands her. “What’s the occasion?”

“No occasion, just a friend gift.”

“Are you trying to fulfill your role as a girl’s gay best friend?” 

“Something like that,” he says with a grin.

“Why are you being so mushy all of a sudden anyway?”

“Well,” Castiel begins, “I noticed that you’ve been avoiding me and if it’s about Inias, you don’t have to worry about it. I’m totally fine with it.”

“I was going to talk to you about it, I swear. I just didn’t know how you would react.”

“Amanda, you have nothing to worry about. I’m with Dean now. I’m totally over Inias.”

“Yeah, but he’s not over you. You know that right?”

“He knows I’m with Dean. He knows he needs to move on.”

Castiel is aware that Inias might still be holding out hope that he and Castiel will get back together, but there’s nothing more that can be done. Inias just needs to take a hint. 

Castiel meets up with Patience that evening at the Roadhouse to update her on the new info that he’s adopted. 

“I can’t believe you’re adopted,” Patience says when Castiel recounts the whole story to her.

“I never saw it coming and it gets weirder. I looked at my birth certificate. It lists Miranda and Grayson Shurley as my birth parents. None of it makes any sense.”

“Which is why you should ask Lydia.”

Castiel groans. He isn’t ready to go down that road yet.

“First of all,” Patience continues. “The Castiel I know would always want the real truth, good or bad”

“And second of all?”

“You just found out your boyfriend is a vampire, so unless your birth parents are aliens or God even, how bad could it be?”

He knows she’s right, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.

“Alright, look, I have to go to the store. My outfit for the decades dance is less than satisfactory, so I need to find something different.”

“Okay, I’ll pay the bill.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.”

Castiel is able to find what he wants at the store and as he’s walking back towards his car, his phone rings so he answers it even though he doesn’t recognize the number.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Castiel,” an unknown male voice says on the other line.

“Hey, who’s this?

“You hit me with your car.” Castiel would be more creeped out if that statement didn’t sound like a line straight from a corny 90’s horror movie. “Is that a new one?” Okay, now he’s creeped out because how does this guy know he has a new car?

Castiel looks around and sees the guy with the hoodie standing at the corner talking on the phone.

“You got away from me. You won’t next time.”

Castiel gets into his car and drives off without so much as acknowledging the other guy. He’s so freaked out that he ends up at Dean’s house instead of his own. When Dean answers the door, he immediately falls into his arms.

“Cas, what’s wrong?” Dean asks. 

“The vampire, he called me.”

“What?” Dean says with a hint of fear to his voice.

“I don’t even know how he has my number. What does he want with me and if he’s trying to kill me, then why call first?”

Dean walks them over to the couch. 

“It’s because we’re predators, Cas. We hunt, we stalk. It’s often as exciting as the kill.”

Castiel doesn’t know whether he should be turned on by that or scared of it. Maybe when this is over, he and Dean can do a little vampire and victim role play.

“I want you to take this,” Dean says as he hands him a pocket watch that he recognizes.

“This is Gabriel’s pocket watch. How did you get it?”

“I took it from Adam, who took it from Arthur who must have stolen it from your house.”

Castiel looks at it, but something is different about it. It doesn’t seem to be working.

“What happened to it?”

“Well, it’s not just a watch. It’s a sort of compass, but it points to vampires.”

Dean pushes the switch on it and the pointer turns around a few times and then it lands on Dean.”

“Why did my father have it?”

The Shurleys were one of the founding families and back in 1864, they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires. The compass was used to find them.”

“Did you know them?”

“Yes. I want you to keep this so that way, you’ll know if you’re ever in danger.”

Dean leans in and gives Castiel a kiss, Castiel feeling safe in his boyfriend’s arms.

“Well, I’d better get home and get ready for the dance. You’re coming right?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” Dean says.

When Castiel gets home, Lydia is already dressed in her 50’s garb. They still aren’t really speaking with each other, but at least they are being civil.

“I spoke with the insurance company. The car’s totaled. You can keep using mine for now,” she tells him.

“So, you’re coming to the dance?” Castiel asks, hoping she says yes and she’s not dressed the way she is because she’s trying to bring back the 50’s.

“Aaron asked me to help him chaperone.”

Castiel stands there for a minute, not wanting to have a useless conversation, so he turns and looks at her.

“Why didn’t you tell me Aunt Lydia?”

“Your mom was going to do it eventually,” Lydia says. “I never thought I’d have to.”

“If my mom were here right now and I asked, she’d tell me the truth.”

“You’re dad was about to leave the office one night when this girl showed up. She was 16, a runaway, and about to give birth. He delivered her baby, and he gave her a place to stay, but a few days later she disappeared, and there you were. Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby. It just wasn’t happening. All Miranda ever wanted was to be a mom.”

“But, why were my parents' names on the birth certificate?”

“Your dad was a doctor, Cas. He took care of it. They didn’t want to lose you, so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible, but if anyone ever wanted proof, they had documentation.”

“What else do you know about her, the girl?” 

“Just her first name–Becky.”

That isn’t much to go on. Becky is a fairly common name.

“Thanks,” he says before heading upstairs to get ready for the dance. He and Dean had already shared their clothing ideas so they wouldn’t look like twins, but he has the sex hair that Dean doesn’t, so he works on that to the best of his ability, putting extra gel in it like Patience showed him.

He thinks he hears a noise, so he calls downstairs to see if Lydia and Gabriel are still home, but nobody answers. Then he hears the noise again, like a clicking sound and he turns to see the pocket watch going crazy on his bed, so he calls Dean on the phone.

Castiel runs down the stairs as Adam answers the phone.

“Dean’s phone. How may I help you?”

“Where is he?”

“He’s on his way to you. He forgot his phone.”

“Oh, thank god. This compass was spinning. He must be here. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Just as they hang up, someone jumps on Castiel from behind. He turns around to see the vampire from the street getting ready to bite into his neck and Dean pulls him off, throwing him across the room. The vampire runs away before Dean can do anything else. 

“What the fuck?” Dean asks as Castiel sees him call Adam to get over here. He’s knocking on the door a couple seconds later.

Castiel is sitting on the couch with Dean while Adam is pacing behind them.

“How did he get in?”

“He was invited in. He posed as a pizza delivery guy and Gabriel invited him in while he was waiting for me to pay.”

“Well, he gets points for that. I’ll have to add that to my list of ways to get into a house. Did he say what he wanted?”

“No, he was too busy trying to kill me.”

Dean looks at Adam. “And you have no idea who this is?”

“No. Don’t look at me all broody. I told you we had company.”

“You think there’s more than one?” Castiel asks.

“We don’t know.”

“Adam, he was invited in.” Dean says.

“Then we go get him tonight.” Adam answers. “You up for it?” he says as he looks at Castiel.

“What do I have to do?”

“Let your boyfriend take you to the dance. We’ll see who shows up.”

“It’s a bad idea,” Dean comments.

“Until we get him, this house isn’t safe for anyone who lives in it.”

“I’ll do it.” Castiel says. He won’t put Lydia and Gabriel’s life at risk because of him. He looks to Dean because he can tell that Dean is worried. “I’m not a damsel in distress. I can take care of myself, plus I’ll be with the two of you, so I’ll be safe.”

The three of them arrive to the dance together, Castiel feeling short in between two 6 foot men even though he’s almost 6 feet himself. They break apart, so Dean and Adam can scope out the place and Dean is standing by a table when Patience and Amanda greet him.

“Having fun?” Castiel asks.

“No, but, this…” Amanda says as she waves her hand at herself, “took two hours, so I’m staying at least half of that.”

“What’s Adam doing here?” Patience asks.

“He wanted to come. I promise, he’ll behave.”

“What is this, like a threesome now, you and the Winchester brothers?” Amanda asks.

“No, Adam is straight, so that wouldn’t be an option even if I wanted that, but if I’m going to be with Dean, I have to be able to tolerate Adam. It’s not like I can kill him.” Not that the thought didn’t cross Castiel’s mind.

Dean walks over as they are talking.

“Do you ladies mind if I steal Castiel away for a dance?”

“Not at all,” they say in unison and Castiel takes Dean’s hand as they walk onto the dancefloor. Castiel places his arms on Dean’s shoulders.

“Shouldn’t you guys be able to sense each other?” Castiel asks as he watches Dean scan the room, looking for the vampire.

“No, it doesn’t work that way. It’s not like we’re angels or anything.”

“Wait, you’ve met an angel?”

“I’m joking, Cas. Angels aren’t real.” 

“Right, I knew that.” At this point, Castiel will believe aliens are real.

They continue dancing and then Castiel spots the mysterious vampire in the corner of the gym.

“Dean, he’s over there.”

Dean looks to where Castiel is staring.

“Get Adam. I’ll try to capture him.”

Castiel watches Dean chase after the other vampire, so he searches the gym trying to find Adam. His phone rings, so he answers it.

“Hello, Castiel. Here’s what you’re going to do. There’s an exit door behind you. You’ve got five seconds.”

“No.”

“Or your brother dies.” Castiel turns to see Gabriel standing by the punch bowl with the vampire not far behind him. “I can snap his neck so fast, I bet there’s not even a witness, now start walking.”

“Don’t you dare touch him.”

“Keep walking through the door.”

Castiel walks through the door and starts running when he notices the vampire following him. He tries to escape, but everywhere he goes there is a door locked. He ends up in the cafeteria, but he’s trapped. The only door not locked is the one he came through. The vampire catches up to him and Castiel punches him in the face, which in turn pisses him off. Castiel is thrown against the table, but he finds a pencil lying on the floor and picks it up.

When the vampire picks him up and slams him against the wall, about ready to bite him, Castiel stabs him with the pencil, which doesn’t do anything, so Castiel grabs the mop sitting in a bucket nearby and breaks it across his knee. He gets ready to stab the vampire, but the creature blocks it. Before he can bite into Castiel’s neck, Dean comes up behind him and throws the other vampire across the room.

Adam is on the other side of the room, holding a wooden handle.

“Hey dude, nobody wants to hurt you. We just want to talk.”

The vampire takes off, but Adam throws the handle to Dean who in turn uses it to stab the other vampire. The vampire drops to his knees.

“Why are you doing this?” Dean asks him.

“Because it’s fun.” 

Dean pushes the wood further into the guy's chest. “Wrong answer. What do you want with Castiel?”

“He looks like Jimmy.”

“You knew Jimmy?” Adam asks.

“What? You thought you were the only ones? You don’t even remember me.”

“Tell me how to get into the tomb.”

“No.”

Dean pushes the handle in further. 

“The grimoire,” the strange vampire says.

“Where is it?” Adam asks.

Dean continues to torture him.

“Check the journal. Jonathan Shurley’s journal. Everything you need to know is in there.”

“Who else is working with you?” Dean asks.

“No, you’re going to have to kill me.”

Dean and Adam look at each other and give a nod. Then Dean removes the stake and drives it straight through the vampire’s heart.

“How are we going to find the others now if he’s dead?” Castiel asks.

“He had to die.” Adam says.

Castiel doesn’t understand.

“Cas, he was invited into your home. We couldn’t let him live,” Dean tells him.

They clean up the body by burying him in the football field and then Dean and Castiel go back to Castiel’s house. It seems that this is his life now. 

“Are you doing okay?” Dean asks as they sit on the couch.

“Is it weird if I say yes?”

“Is it true?”

“I just feel like I should feel more scared or upset or something, but I feel exhilarated.”

“It’s the adrenaline. You’ll crash soon enough.”

“Yeah, I guess. I fought back tonight proving that I’m just as badass as you are.”

“Yeah, that certainly is a bit of a turn on. I should probably tell you that I told Adam that I’m going to help him open up the tomb, but I’m not. I just wanted you to know in case he brings it up.”

“Okay, I’ll do whatever you like.”

Castiel leans into Dean and they lie there cuddling on his couch and Castiel thinks it’s perfect.

Chapter Text

Dean hasn’t wanted to let Castiel out of his sight since the incident at the dance. He knows his boyfriend is a good fighter, but he’s still no match for a vampire at full strength, so he still worries about him. The weekend after the dance, they are lying in Dean’s bed, and Dean is pressed up against Castiel’s back, kissing his neck.

“Good morning,” Castiel says as he pulls Dean’s hand under the covers to rest on his clothed cock. 

“I can get used to this,” Dean smiles as he maneuvers his hand into Castiel’s boxers, the other boy already hard.

“Rise and shine, sleepy heads,” Adam says from his seat at the foot of the bed. Thankfully they were covered, although Dean is pretty sure Adam knows what they were about to do.

“Adam,” Castiel says.

“Oh, stop being smutty,” Adam says.

“Seriously, get out of here,” Dean gripes.

“If I see something I haven’t seen before, I’ll throw a dollar at it. Now, listen, there’s some very important business to discuss.”

“And it has to be right now?” Castiel asks sternly.

“Well, we have lots to do now that we’re all friends and working toward a common goal.”

Dean and Castiel glare at each other. Dean should have seen this coming a mile away. Once Adam has an idea in his head, he becomes obsessed. 

“So, in order to open the tomb, we need to find the journal to get the Grimoire to undo the spell. So first things first, since you are Castiel Shurley you’re on journal duty,” Adam says to Castiel.

“Since when am I helping?”

“Well, Dean is helping and you’ve taken up residence in his bed, err go.”

“You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do,” Dean tells Castiel.

“I’ll look for it today,” Castiel says as he lies back against the pillow.

“Good,” Adam says.

“How do we know that this journal will hold the location of the grimoire? Are we really going to take the word of this vampire? He seemed like a bit of a dimwit,” Dean says.

“In lieu of any other options…” Adam says.

“Okay, what exactly is a grimoire anyway?” Castiel asks, sitting up in the bed again.

“It’s a witch’s cookbook,” Adam says as if that’s supposed to help Castiel understand.

Dean elaborates, “Every spell that a witch casts is unique unto itself, so every witch will document their work.” Dean looks at Adam. “What about our mystery vampire? Dimwit vampire obviously wasn’t working alone, so whoever is out there knows who we are.”

“And I don’t like that disadvantage, so chop chop,” he says as he finally leaves the room.

“Alright, let’s go,” Dean says as he tries to stand up, but Castiel pulls him back down.

“I believe we were in the middle of something before he interrupted.”

Castiel kisses him and they make quick work of shedding their boxers. Dean grabs the lube and opens Castiel quickly, but efficiently. Castiel straddles Dean’s lap and penetrates himself with Dean’s cock, moving quickly in case Adam decides to walk in on them again. Castiel leans down and kisses Dean as they both orgasm. 

Castiel rests against Dean’s chest. 

“Promise me it will always be like this,” Castiel states.

“Of course, Cas. I’m never letting you go.”

They get cleaned up and head over to Castiel’s house to look for the journal. Castiel digs a box out of his closet and starts looking through it.

“Do you think Adam really believes us, that we’re both trying to help him?”

“I don’t think Adam knows what to believe. Trust isn’t something that comes naturally to him.”

“You know, I really think that Adam believes that everything he’s done and every move that he’s made, he’s done for love. It’s twisted, but kind of sad.”

“There are other ways to get what you want. You don’t have to kill people. Adam has no regard for human life. He enjoys inflicting pain on others. For 145 years, every single time that I have let my guard down and let Adam back into my life, he’s done something to make me regret that. I’m not going to make that mistake again.”

“So what do you think will happen if the tomb gets opened and Adam gets Jimmy back?” 

“I think that no matter what Adam promises, a lot of people will die.”

Castiel is looking at a photograph and Dean walks over.

“That’s Jonathan Shurley,” Dean says when he sees the confused look on Castiel’s face.

Gabriel walks in. “Hey, what are you guys doing?”

“I was just being sentimental and looking through some of our family's things. Dad has this old journal I was trying to find.”

“Jonathan Shurley’s journal?”

“Yeah, what do you know about it?”

“I just did a history report on it.”

“Oh, well where is it now?”

“I gave it to Mr. Bass. He wanted to see it.”

Gabriel walks up to his bedroom and Castiel looks at Dean.

“How are we going to get it back?” Castiel inquires.

“There’s no school today, so he shouldn’t be there. I’ll see if he left it at his desk. If not, then we’ll have to see where he lives.”

“Okay, just be careful.”

“I will,” Dean says as he gives Castiel a kiss before he leaves. Just as he suspected, there doesn’t appear to be anyone at the school when he gets there, so he lets himself in the back. He hears noise coming from the teacher’s locker room, so he rushes into Mr. Bass’s room. Just as he begins searching for the journal, he hears the click of a rifle and turns just in time to catch the stake that was just propelled at him.

Mr. Bass is staring at him and Dean can hear his heart pounding faster in his chest and can smell the fear. Mr. Bass goes to load another stake into his makeshift rifle and Dean speeds over to him, pushing him across the room.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Dean says. Aaron falls into the desks. “Have a seat,” Dean tells him as the teacher tries to gain his footing. Dean looks at the rifle. “What is this, compressed air? Did you make it yourself?” He doesn’t answer, so Dean just carries on with his one sided conversation. “Who are you? I’m not going to hurt you, unless you try that again.”

Dean hands the weapon back to him and sits in a chair across from him. “Now, who are you?”

“I’m a teacher,” Aaron finally says.

Dean snickers. “Are we going to have to do this the hard way?”

“I’m also a historian, and while researching Virginia, I made a few discoveries about your town.”

“So you show up like Van Helsing? Come on, tell me the truth.”

“My wife was a parapsychologist. She spent her life researching paranormal activity in this area. It was her work that led me here.”

“Where’s your wife?”

“Dead. A vampire killed her.”

“Where’s the Shurley journal?”

“What do you want with it?”

“Where is it?”

“It’s on my desk.”

“No, it’s not.”

Aaron looks over as if he doesn’t believe Dean. “It was on my desk.”

Dean doesn’t like this new information. He can’t think of who could be in town that knows about the vampires in the tomb and the journals. He’s certain that all the vampires from back then are either dead or in the tomb. 

Mystic Falls

1864

“As descendants of the founding family, they want to know that they can count on you,” John Winchester tells Adam and Dean as they are walking back from their trip to the market.

“Of course they can, is there any doubt?” Dean asks.

“I’m not sure your brother, Adam understands the importance of duty,” John says as if Adam isn’t walking with them.

“Adam left the confederacy on principle. It’s his choice and should be respected.”

“You’ll forgive me if I have trouble respecting a deserter.”

“I never asked for your respect,” Adam finally speaks up.

“Good for you, Adam, because all I have is disappointment.”

Dean tries to get this conversation back on track.

“You said this town is in trouble?”

“There have been too many deaths. It is time for us to fight back. Stop these killers.”

“Killers? What are you talking about?” Dean asks.

“We live amongst demons,” John tells them.

“You’re being cryptic now, father,” Adam instigates. “Why don’t you just say the word?”

“Vampires. They exist and they live amongst us, but we have a plan to kill them, and you’re going to help us.”

Dean just nods. He will have to warn Jimmy to make sure no harm comes to him.

Present Day

“How long have you been aware of me?” Dean finishes his conversation with Aaron.

“I learned just recently when I met your brother.”

“You met Adam?”

“Who do you think killed my wife?”

“Are you certain it was Adam?”

“I witnessed it.”

“If you’re here for revenge, this is going to end very badly for you.”

“I just want to find out what happened to my wife.”

“I thought you just said that Adam…”

Aaron interrupts. “Yeah, I saw him draining the life out of her. He must have heard me coming and they just disappeared, so did her body. They never found her.”

Dean feels bad for the guy. He really does, but he’s on a dangerous path.

“Adam can never know why you’re here. He’d kill you without blinking.”

“I take care of myself.”

“No, you can’t. I can help you, if you let me.”

Mystic Falls

1864

Dean, Adam, and Sam are walking at the edge of their property and Dean is staring at Jimmy as he plays a game of cricket with their father. Dean would love nothing more than to run away together with Jimmy, but that would be foolish. 

“Sam, why don’t you run along and ask father how long he’ll be? It’s almost time for dinner.”

“I hate being the youngest. I’m always having to run errands,” Sam grumbles as he runs over to their father.

When Sam is out of earshot, Dean and Adam can speak freely. 

“Jimmy’s good. If I didn’t know any better I would think he likes father.” Adam comments.

“Perhaps he does,” Dean says.

“He knows father would have him killed if he knew the truth.”

“What if we talked to him, explained how we feel? He could help us keep Jimmy safe.”

“Have you gone mad?” Adam asks him. “No, father would drive a stake in Jimmy himself.”

“That’s not true. We can trust him.”

Adam places a hand on Dean’s shoulder. “No, not with this. Please, promise me you won’t tell him, Dean.”

Dean looks at Jimmy who smiles back at him. “I promise.”

Present Day

Aaron agrees to not tell Adam his real reason for being here and Dean heads back to Castiel’s house hating the fact that he’s empty handed. He rings the doorbell and is surprised to say the least that both Castiel and Adam open the door.

“Well?” Adam says and Dean motions for them to come outside so that Gabriel and Lydia can’t hear. They sit on the back porch.

“It was missing when I got there and Aaron doesn’t know who could have taken it.” Dean says.

“Are you sure we can even trust that teacher? He seemed a little off when I met him at the dance.”

“Yes, he’s solid. Someone got to it before I got there.”

“Well who else even knows about it?”

Adam looks in the window at Gabriel who is sitting on the couch playing a video game.

“Adam, no. Leave him out of this,” Castiel proclaims.

Dean and Castiel are unable to stop Adam before he walks in the house to talk to Gabriel.

“So, Gabe, tell me about your ancestor’s journal.” Adam says.

“Why is everyone so obsessed with that thing?” the younger Shurley asks.

“I’m just curious is all.”

“Is there anyone else you told?” Castiel asks his brother.

“Just that Meg girl I met at the Library. I’m meeting up with her tonight at the Roadhouse.”

“Excellent, I’ll drive.” Adam says just as Castiel steps out of the room to make a phone call.

Dean meets Castiel up stairs as Adam and Gabriel leave.

“Adam is taking Gabriel to meet up with his friend.”

“Well, what if she has the journal and Adam gets it before us?”

“No worries, I convinced Aaron to give us the copy he made,” Dean says, holding the papers in his hand.

“This is why I love you,” Castiel says with a kiss.

They sit down at the bench underneath Castiel’s window and look over the papers to see if there is anything of use in there.

“Here’s a reference that he wrote about Alicia,” Castiel reads off what it says. “The Fell family believed it should be I, not them who protected the witch’s spellbook, but I feared she would haunt me from the hereafter. They mocked my fear, but it was John Winchester who…” Castiel looks at Dean. “Is that your father?”

“Yeah,” Dean says as he takes the page to look it over and continues reading it out loud,”It was John Winchester who removed my fear. He told me he would protect the secret of the spellbook. He said he would carry it to his grave.”

1864

Dean meets his father in his study hoping to talk some sense into him and try to save Jimmy.

“Dean, to what do I owe this pleasure?” his father asks him as Dean stands in the entryway.

“Did I interrupt your writing?”

“These are the dull musings of my troubled mind.”

“Great mind,” Dean says, laying it on thick.

“Still, I will carry the real secrets with me…”

“To your grave,” Dean finishes his sentence having heard it before.

“And a full grave it will be.”

John motions for his son to have a seat next to him.

“Now, speaking of troubled minds, what’s on yours?”

“I have concerns about your plan for the vampires.”

“And why is that?”

“We are making the assumption that all vampires are as evil as they have been characterized, but what if that’s not true?”

“Do you have any evidence to the contrary? Do you know of any vampires?”

“No, no, of course not, but are we to take what others say at face value? You always taught us so differently.” 

“Dean, these creatures are of the darkest parts of hell,” John tells him as he pours them both a drink. “They have the ability to control your mind, seduce your spirit. They are deadly and they must be destroyed.” John offers Dean one of the glasses of whiskey which he accepts. “Those who stand with them, those who have been a shame to their family will be destroyed as well.”

Dean can tell that there is no reasoning with his father.

Present day

“I know where it is,” Dean says. That son of a bitch had it buried with him.

Dean and Castiel drive out to the cemetery to where John Winchester is buried.

“Why isn’t your father buried in the family tomb?” Castiel asks as Dean hands him a shovel.

“It wasn’t built until well after he died.”

“Are you sure the grimoire is in there with him?”

“As sure as I can be.”

Dean pauses before he sets to work digging up his father’s bones.

“I’m sorry that you have to do this,” Castiel says.

“It’s okay. The bastard deserved what he got.”

Castiel just looks at him. Dean will have to elaborate on what caused John’s death some other time.

1864

Dean is sitting on his bed watching Jimmy make his hair flatter in the mirror. He doesn’t like it when it sticks up, he once told Dean. Dean notices a pendant sitting on the table.

“What is that?” Dean asks.

“A gift.”

“From Adam?”

“From Alicia, actually, and when will you stop worrying about Adam?”

“I want you all to myself.”

“Just as he wants me, but I’m the one that gets to make all the rules.”

“Why’s that?” Dean asks as he stares at the sliver of skin that is still able to be seen behind Jimmy’s shirt.

“Because I’m spoiled,” Jimmy says as he steps closer to Dean on the bed.

“Yes, you are.”

“And selfish.” Jimmy pushes Dean back on the bed before straddling his lap. “And because I can do this.” Jimmy kisses his way up Dean’s chest starting with his stomach and Dean has never felt more exhilarated. “And this.” Jimmy produces his fangs and bites Dean’s neck. 

Suddenly Jimmy lets go and begins to gag.

“What?” Dean asks.

“Vervain,” Jimmy says with a raspy voice.

“What?” Dean has no idea what’s going on. How would he have vervain in his system? Jimmy collapses on the floor.

Dean is checking on Jimmy when his father walks in.

“Go get the sheriff. Tell him we have a vampire,” John tells him.

“What, no,” Dean says.

“Do as I say, Dean. Nothing that you feel for him is real. He’s a vampire, Dean, a monster. I fed you vervain hoping that it would expose him.”

“How did you know?”

“Your sympathy for their plight. I didn’t raise my sons to be so weak.” John throws Dean a shirt to put on. “The sheriff, now. Go, quickly. Now, son.” 

Dean looks at Jimmy lying helpless on the floor and he doesn’t want to leave him, but he knows better than to disobey his father, so he runs as fast as he can.

Present Day

Dean and Castiel are digging as quickly as they can. They make it seem easier to dig a grave in the movies, but this is real life. With just two shovels, even for a vampire, it takes a significant amount of time and energy.

After what seems like hours, Dean finally hits the coffin. He opens it to reveal his father’s bones along with Alicia’s grimoire just as he suspected. Just as he opens it, to glance inside, he hears Adam walking up.

“Well, what do you know? This is an interesting turn of events.”

“I can’t let you bring him back,” Dean tells him. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I, for thinking for even a second I could trust you.”

“You are not capable of trust. The fact that you are here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself.”

“Of course I was going to do it by myself because the only one I can count on is me. You made sure of that many years ago, Dean.” Adam looks at Castiel now. “But, you..you had me fooled.” 

“So, what are you going to do now,” he asks Dean. “Because if you try to destroy that, I’ll rip his heart out.

“You won’t kill him.” Dean knows his brother, and he knows he’s growing fond of Castiel. He can’t be that heartless. There is a slight pause before Adam vamp speeds to Castiel and grabs hold of him from behind. 

“I can do one better.” Adam bites into his own wrist and forces it against Castiel’s mouth, the other boy powerless to do anything but swallow the blood. “Give me the book, Dean or I'll snap his neck and you will have yourself a vampire boyfriend.”

“Let him go first.”

“No, the book first.”

“I’m not going to give this to you until he is standing next to me.”

“The problem is that I no longer trust that you’ll give it back.”

“You just did the one thing that ensures that I will.”

Dean drops the book on the ground and Adam slowly releases Castiel. Once Castiel is in his arms again, they walk away, leaving Adam with the book. Dean takes Castiel back to his house. Castiel finds some aspirin in his medicine cabinet and takes it.

“Are you okay?”

“Adam was right. This is my fault.”

1864

Adam and Dean watch as they load Jimmy on the back of one of the wagons. Adam is getting ready to go after them.

“Adam, stop. I’ll help you. We’ll get him back.”

“Help me?” Adam pushes Dean away. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough. You promised you wouldn’t tell him.”

“I didn’t think this would happen.”

They watch as the vampires are driven away and Adam walks away from Dean.

“You did this. This is your fault.”

Present Day

“I put my faith in my father and Adam put his faith in me and I destroyed that. This is my fault.” Dean tells Castiel. Castiel places his hands on Dean’s cheeks.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t forget that.”

“Let me get you some more water.”

Dean walks downstairs where he’s greeted by Lydia who informs him that he’s not spending the night.

“I know. I just wanted to get Castiel some water before I go.”

Gabriel walks into the room with a confused look on his face.

“Where’d she go?” he asks.

“Where did who go?” Dean asks.

“Oh, she went to the bathroom.” Lydia looks at Dean. “His friend Meg is visiting.”

Dean’s heart drops. It didn’t dawn on him earlier when he heard the name, but he has a bad feeling when he realizes he met someone named Meg a long time ago.

1864

Dean watches as Adam walks away and he sees Jimmy’s friend Lillith come around the corner with her daughter Meg.

“What’s happening?” he hears Meg ask Lillith.

“Get Alicia. Stay hidden. I’ll get us out of here.” Lillith tells Meg.

Meg runs off and Lillith goes to the post to grab a horse.

“Lillith.” Jonathan Shurley says as he sees her.

“Jonathan,” Lilith exclaims.

“You see all this? The town has gone mad rounding up the demons.”

Jonathan is holding the vampire compass and it goes crazy before pointing directly at Lillith.

“Jonathan, please?” Lilith says as she begins to walk away.

“I’ve got another one over here.” Jonathan yells towards the townspeople.

Lilith tries to run away, but Jonathan shoots her in the back. Dean watches as Meg cries out for her mother, but Alicia places her hand over her mouth. They round up Lillith and there is nothing anyone can do to stop them from hauling her away with the others. 

Present Day

Dean doesn’t know how he missed it before. He was so distraught at seeing Jimmy taken that he had completely forgotten that Meg was never rounded up and she has been free this entire time. He runs upstairs to check on Castiel, but he’s nowhere to be found and his bedroom window is wide open.

Castiel doesn’t know exactly what happened. One minute, he’s lying on his bed waiting for Dean to bring him some water and the next he’s waking up in a strange bed. He scopes out his surroundings and sees that he’s in a motel room. There is what is more than likely a vampire sleeping on a chair facing him. 

He puts his ninja skills into action and slowly creeps towards the door. He has to step over the vampire since his legs are stretched out and blocking his exit. When he makes it to the door, the chain is locked, so he slowly slides it over to unlock it, looking back to make sure the vampire is still sleeping and doesn’t hear him. Then he unlocks the deadbolt, but just as he moves it, he hears. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Castiel turns around and gasps as the vampire is looking at him. He stares at Castiel as he is pressed against the door and looks him directly in the eyes, making it obvious that he’s trying to compel Castiel.

“Don’t move. Don’t even try to escape. Do you understand?”

Castiel says, “I understand,” in a monotone voice, hoping the vampire will think that his compulsion actually worked. The vampire steps away and Castiel opens the door, ready to run when he’s met with a short brunette that pushes him back inside.

She grabs hold of his collar so he can’t escape.

“Seriously,” the female vampire tells the male vampire.

“I told him not to move. I did that eye thing you showed me.”

The vampire is pushing Castiel towards the bathroom as she talks to the other vampire. 

“Did you forget the lesson about the vervain? She dates a vampire, dumbass.”

Castiel is confused to say the least.

“Who are you and what do you want with me?” he asks. He’s tired of being pushed around.

“It doesn’t matter.”

She pushes Castiel into the bathroom and he calls her a bitch not really caring if she hears him or not as the vampire shuts the door. He turns the light on and searches around for a way to escape when he glances over at the tub to see Patience lying in it unconscious. 

“Patience?” he says as he rushes over to her, lifting her head, thankful when he can see her breathing. He wets a towel in the sink and dabs it across her forehead to try to revive her. She opens her eyes and looks at him.

“Cas?”

Relieved he says, “Patience, you’re okay.” and he keeps dabbing the cold washcloth on her face. 

“OMG, my date is a vam…”

“Shhh.” Castiel says as he points to his ear, which is their new signal for people with super hearing in the vicinity. He turns the water on the sink so they can speak freely.

“I’m so stupid. Here I thought there was this nice guy that liked me, but he was just interested in kidnapping me apparently. I don’t understand what they want with us.”

“It has something to do with the tomb and Alicia’s spellbook,” Castiel tells her.

“The spellbook?” Patience asks.

“Adam says it can be used to open the tomb.”

“Why didn’t I know about any of this?”

“I was hoping to keep you out of it, hoping it would never come to this.”

“Come to what?”

“They need a witch to break the spell and let the vampires out.”

Before they can continue their conversation, the douchey vampire bursts through the door to turn off the water. Castiel immediately places himself in front of Patience in case he is in there to harm them. He won’t let anything happen to his best friend.

“You’re wasting your time. I’m not going to help you.” Patience tells him.

The vampire grabs Castiel and Castiel head butts him catching him off guard and he grabs hold of Patience and heads for the door. He tries to get past the vampire bitch that is in the room, but she’s too fast and she grabs Castiel by the throat, pinning him against the wall.

“You’re lucky I need you for leverage or I would snap your neck right now.”

Patience is trying to help Castiel break free, but the other vampire has made his way out of the bathroom and tosses her onto the bed. Castiel realizes that it is useless to try to escape, so he can only hope that Dean is able to find him somehow.

“Are you ready to play nice,” the female one asks and Castiel nods so she releases him and he grabs his throat to make sure she didn’t break anything he isn’t aware of.

“Who are you?” he asks.

“I’m Meg. Your brother may have mentioned me. He and I are practically dating.”

This must be the chick that was helping him with his extra credit paper. Castiel is going to have to start walking around with liquid vervain and splashing it on people to make sure that they aren’t vampires. This is getting out of control.

Castiel sits down on the bed next to Patience.

“Patience isn’t going to open the tomb.”

Meg is standing next to the window and she looks at Castiel and Patience.

“I think she will. You see, witches can’t be compelled, so vampires have had to get creative over the years, which is what you’re here for. Either Patience opens the tomb or I rip out your heart while she watches.”

Castiel has a rule about not hitting a woman, but he doesn’t know if that same rule should apply to vampires, because he wants nothing more than to punch this bitch in the face.

“Do you really want Jimmy out that bad?”

“Trust me, no one I know wants to see him again, except Adam, the lovestruck idiot.”

“Then what is it, or who is it?”

“My mother’s in there. Jimmy couldn’t help himself. He just had to toy around with the oldest two Winchester brothers. Then when he got caught, so did my mother. I watched Jonathan Shurley take her away.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You really mean that, don’t you? Yeah, I think we’ll skip the dead mom bonding, so you can start serving your purpose.”

“Which is what?”

“Leverage,” Meg grabs Castiel’s phone from the table. “Does this belong to you?”

“Hey, give that back,” he says as he tries to reach for it, and just because he must have a death wish, he pulls her hair, causing her to scream in pain. Castiel finds himself pinned against the wall again as she produces her fangs and her eyes are red with rage.

“Stop testing me.” 

She calls Dean and Castiel can only hear one part of the conversation, but she’s basically telling him to meet her somewhere public so they can negotiate their terms. She hangs up and doesn’t bother giving Castiel his phone back, not that he thought she would. She looks at the other vampire in the room whose name Castiel still doesn’t know.

“Keep an eye on them. Remember compulsion won’t work and don’t try biting them either. I’m sure they both have vervain in their system and I don’t need you getting weak and letting them escape.”

No name vamp sits down across from them and starts asking Patience questions about her being a witch. 

“Is there anything to drink?” Castiel asks.

The vamp walks over to him. “Are you offering?” he says.

Castiel stands up. “Sure, take a bite.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” He probably doesn’t want Castiel to answer that. “I heard what Meg said. You’re probably full of vervain.”

“Why don’t you take a bite and see?”

“Just sit down and shut up.”

As soon as Castiel sits back down, the door flies open and Dean is standing there, the other vampire's skin burning from the sunlight shining through the door. Dean quickly opens the curtain to let in more sunlight and the other vampire crawls in between the beds where there is no light.

“Get outside,” Dean tells Castiel and Patience, which Castiel does right after he kicks the vampire in the nuts just because. Castiel can hear Dean talking to the other vampire before he leaves.

“When the sun goes down, leave town. If I ever see you again, I will kill you.”

Castiel pulls Dean into a hug when he walks outside.

“Comeon, let’s get Patience home. Her grandmother has been worried about her,” Dean tells Castiel as the vampire hugs him back.

Missouri greets Patience with a hug when they get to her house.

“How did you find us?” Patience asks as they sit around the kitchen table.

“Simple locator spell,” Missouri says.

“So, what do we do now?” Castiel asks.

“Now, you need to stay here,” Dean adds.

Missouri speaks up, “A prisoner, in my own home, I don’t think so.”

“I can’t protect you if you leave the house.”

“We’ll protect ourselves.”

Castiel chimes in. “We need to let him have Jimmy back. He’s not going to stop until he gets him. If we help him, maybe that ends it.”

“No,” Patience says, “He doesn’t deserve to get what he wants.”

“What other choice do we have?”

Castiel looks around the room, but nobody has an answer for that. Missouri is the one to speak up first.

“Witches being pulled down by vampire problems, as much as we try to do to stay out of it.” She looks at Dean. “I’ll open the tomb. You get your brother’s boy and destroy the rest with fire and this will be all over.”

“We still have to get Adam to agree,” Dean adds.

“He already agreed once,” Castiel says.

“Yeah, and we double crossed him, so now he’s angry.”

“He’s hurt. There’s a difference. I think I know what I have to do.”

Castiel drives over to Dean and Adam’s house and finds him in the library looking surprised to see Castiel.

“I’m going to have to change the locks. Did you stage a jailbreak?”

“Dean.”

“Ahh, brother. Ever the white knight.”

“I convinced Patience to help you.”

“I doubt that.”

“I’m not going to say I’m sorry that we got the Grimoire without you last night, because I’m not really.”

“Well, at least you're honest.”

“I was protecting the people I loved, but so were you in your own twisted way. We’re all on the same side after the same thing.”

“Not interested.”

“Yes you are because you were willing to work with us yesterday.”

“Fool me once, shame on you.”

“Look, I get that my betrayal hurt you because we have become friends as much as I don’t like to admit it. Just help us and I won’t betray that trust again.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Maybe because after hearing your story, I just want you to be happy and if that means letting you open the tomb to get Jimmy then I’ll help.”

Adam steps closer and tries to get a read on Castiel, his resolve softening.

“Don’t make me regret it,” is all he says before they head to the church together. Castiel had forgotten about the party going on. Hopefully nothing happens to put these people in danger.

Patience, Missouri, and Dean are all waiting for them to arrive and they walk down the stairs to where the door of the tomb is located. Patience and Missouri set up their spell and Castiel is mesmerized by it all.

They begin chanting in some weird language and Adam asks what language it is and Dean says it sounds Latin, but Castiel doesn’t think it’s Latin. It almost sounds like Enochian, one of the dead languages he has been interested in learning. Whatever language it is, it causes the fire around them to get bigger and the door to the tomb opens. 

“It worked,” Adam says. 

“Of course it worked,” Missouri says as if it’s offensive for Adam to suggest that she doesn’t know what she’s doing.

Dean goes up top to grab the gasoline for the fires, leaving Castiel.

“Alright, let’s go,” Adam says as he grabs Castiel’s arm.

“What?”

“You think I’m going to go in there by myself so you can seal me in,” he says as he looks at Missouri and Patience.

“Don’t take him in,” Missouri says using her stern voice. “I’ll bring the walls down.”

“You’ll bring the walls down if I don’t. You think I trust you?” 

“As much as I trust you.”

“Enough, both of you,” Castiel states. “He needs leverage,” he tells Missouri, “he needs to know you’re not going to shut the door when he gets inside.”

Adam grabs a torch and he and Castiel step inside the tomb. Castiel can hear the vampires whispering. Adam says it’s because they can sense Castiel. Even with a flashlight, it’s dark in the tomb and Adam runs ahead of Castiel, trying to find Jimmy. Castiel has made it to the back of the tomb where he can see the vampires sitting like living mummies. He trips and lands in one of their laps and it moves its eyes to look at Castiel. He stands back up and is suddenly face to face with Meg.

“You must have a taste for it,” she says as she moves closer to him. “You scream and shriek and bother to escape and you just come right back to it.”

Castiel trips over something as he’s walking backwards and he turns to see a vampire with blonde hair sitting on the floor behind him.

“Mother,” Meg says as she notices the other vampire.

“Your boyfriend did this, you know,” she tells Castiel.

“His father did,” Castiel corrects her.

“And Jonathan Shurley. I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Shurley blood that brought my mother back to life. I had Gabriel all ready to go, but…”

Castiel tries to run and he wants to tell her that he’s not even a Shurley by blood so her plan is stupid, but Meg grabs him and bites into his wrist causing him to yell. Meg places Castiel’s wrist against her mother’s lips and Castiel tries to fight back. The other vampire is able to get a taste of Castiel’s blood before Dean runs up and pushes Meg away and pulls Castiel to his feet.

“Go, I’m right behind you.” Dean says.

Castiel runs out of the tomb to see Missouri and Patience looking through the spellbook.

“Castiel, Dean…”

“He’s right behind me,” Castiel says.

Dean walks up to the entrance to the tomb, but he won’t step out.

“Dean, what are you doing?”

“It’s going to be okay,” Patience says. “We’ll fix it.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t leave,” Dean says.

“The spell’s still up. The only thing we did was open the door, we didn’t remove the spell that is preventing the vampires from leaving. We’re working on removing it though.” Missouri tells him.

Castiel looks at Dean. “You went in there not knowing if you can come back out?” Dean doesn’t answer which gives Castiel confirmation that he did know. “Oh my god.”

“I heard you yelling.”

“We can’t leave him in there. We promised him, both of us did.”

“I know.”

Missouri adds, “Even if we can break through the seal, we won’t be able to hold it for long.”

Dean disappears back into the tomb to look for Adam. Castiel is pacing back and forth as Missouri and Patience begin their chant again. The ground begins to shake and Meg and her mother step through the door.

“It’s working,” Castiel says.

“I just wanted my mother back,” Meg tells him. “Gabriel’s outside. He’s fine. We won’t touch him.”

Castiel nods. 

Patience seems to be struggling like she’s becoming weak and Castiel yells into the tomb for Dean and Adam to hurry up. Just as Adam and Dean walk through the door, it shuts and Patience and Missouri collapse to their knees. 

Castiel notices that Jimmy isn’t with them and Dean informs him that the other vampire wasn’t in there, which explains why Adam looks so distraught. They run up top to look for Gabriel, and Castiel is happy to see that he’s fine, just somewhat disoriented. Adam is standing not far away, staring into space and Castiel gives him a hug and tells him that he’s sorry. As much as Adam annoys him, he still doesn’t like to see the vampire so upset.

Castiel takes Gabriel home, and once he knows he’s okay, he drives to Patience’s house to make sure her and Missouri are alright from the spell. Missouri is in bed and Patience is pouring some water to give to her. Castiel calls Dean to check in and he says he’s keeping an eye on Adam. Just as Castiel hangs up the phone, he hears Patience yelling for him from her grandmother’s room.

“Castiel!! Castiel!!” and there are tears in her voice. He runs in and sees Patience sitting on the edge of the bed and Missouri is lying still.

“She’s not breathing, she’s not breathing,” Patience cries, panicking. 

Castiel’s heart breaks as he picks up the phone to call 911 with his friend crying in the background. Castiel tells the operator that they need an ambulance and gives him the details they need before he hangs up and rushes to Patience’s side. 

His friend is pushing him away as he tries to talk to her. 

“No, we have to help her,” she says as she searches through the spellbook. “Grams, don’t leave me.”

Castiel pulls Patience away from the bed and wraps her in his arms as she sobs and yells for someone to help. Castiel cries along with his friend and the only thing he can think is this is all his fault somehow. Missouri is dead all because Castiel fell in love with a vampire.

It’s been one week since they opened the tomb and since Missouri passed away. Dean sometimes forgets that witches who don’t use their magic frequently become drained easily when they perform big spells. Back in 1864, Alicia didn’t have this problem since she used magic everyday. Jonathan Shurley wasn’t the inventor that everyone thought him to be. Every single one of his inventions is powered by the magic of a Banes witch.

Castiel has been trying to reach out to Patience since her and her father left after the funeral. They are visiting other relatives from what Castiel tells him. Dean can’t help but feel responsible. It was his involvement with Missouri that roped her into helping with the spell. He doesn’t think he will be able to forgive himself anytime soon, if at all.

He’s standing in Castiel’s room catching up with him since he hasn’t seen him much since the tomb incident. Castiel has new information about his birth mother.

“So, Lydia was able to dig up some more info on my birth mother. She searched the records and found that she was going by the name of Becky Peterson. Lydia couldn’t find anyone by that name, so she looked further and found a yearbook from 1993.” Castiel presses a few buttons and shows Dean a picture on the computer. “It turns out her name was Becky Rosen and her best friend is Trudy Peterson. Lydia found an address for her.”

“Wait, you said her name was Becky?”

“Yeah, that’s where it really gets weird. Aaron Bass, Gabriel’s history teacher, told Lydia that his wife was from around here and her name was also Becky, but she died.”

Well, shit, things are getting more interesting. Dean doesn’t know how to wrap his head around this information.

“Aaron’s wife might have been your mother?” he asks.

“It can’t be true, right? I mean the coincidence alone is just crazy. I have the address for her friend Trudy.”

“You want to talk to her?”

“I don’t know. If it’s true and they are the same person, then that means my birth mother is dead and I don’t know if I can handle that.”

“Cas, did Lydia tell you anything about Aaron’s wife? About how she died?”

“Just that she was killed and the case was never solved.”

Dean tries to hide his expression, but Castiel must catch on to it.

“You knew that already?” Castiel asks him.

“The night at the school when he attacked me, he told me some things about her death. It seems like too much of a coincidence for it to be the same person.”

At least Dean hopes it’s not the same person, because that means either Adam is responsible for Castiel’s mother’s death or her becoming a vampire which is still up for debate if that is what actually happened. 

“Look, if you go see this Trudy person, I can come with you.”

“Thank you. I just don’t know yet what I’m going to do.”

Dean steps closer and puts his arms around Castiel’s waist and gives him a kiss.

“I better get going. I don’t want to leave Adam alone for too long.”

“How’s he doing anyway?”

“He’s…adapting…in his own way.”

Sure enough, when he gets home, Adam is having a feeding party with three sorority girls. Dean can see all the bite marks from across the room. He walks over and turns off the radio.

“Boo, buzz kill Bob is home,” Adam whines.

“Can we talk?” Dean asks. His brother’s self loathing is getting on his nerves and he has some serious questions about one Becky Rosen.

“Yeah.”

“Without the human blood bags?”

“Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of them. They’re really good at keeping secrets,” Adam says with a wink.

Dean stands his ground and Adam finally gives in and compels the girls to have a seat on the couch so the two vampires can talk.

“You’re worried about me. That’s nice. Don’t be. There’s no need. I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve spent the last 145 years with one goal. To get into that tomb. I succeeded. Granted, Jimmy wasn’t in there to be rescued, but why dwell?”

“Well, since you put it that way, there is something I have to ask you. There was a woman you may have known a few years back named Becky in North Carolina at Duke.”

“You want to discuss the women in my past? Seriously?”

“You killed her?”

“What’s your point?”

“I just want to know if you remember anything about her?”

“That’s like a needle in a haystack, Dean.”

“Well, think hard. It’s important.”

Adam leans in and whispers in Dean’s ear. “Nothing is important, not anymore.” He backs away and starts walking back towards the couch where the girls are waiting. “Now, let’s partake in a little sorority girl action. I’m sure Castiel won’t mind.”

Dean is feeling a little parched. He hadn’t had a chance to stock their blood bag supply, so he decides to indulge. He joins his brother on the couch and grabs one of the girl’s wrists and takes a bite. He lets her blood course through his veins and the euphoria that comes with it. When he has had his fill he erases her memory and leans his head against the couch. 

“See, doesn’t that feel better, brother?”

“Yes, but this conversation isn’t over,” Dean says.

He leaves Adam to wallow in his grief with his sorority girls and checks his phone when he hears it ringing.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Dean, it’s Aaron, Aaron Bass.”

Dean steps outside so that he is out of range of his brother’s super hearing.

“What’s up, man?”

“I was wondering if you could meet me? Something has come up and I need to share it with you. I’m not sure who else I can talk to.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in a sec.”

Aaron asks Dean to meet him at the town square. He’s probably still unsure about meeting Dean in a private place. 

“Thanks for meeting me,” Aaron says when he arrives. “Somethings come up.”

“Lydia told you,” Dean guesses.

“Yeah.”

“So it’s true. Your wife, Becky, is Cas’s birth mother?”

“What does Castiel know?”

“About your wife?”

“About everything. About you, your brother?”

“He knows what I am and he knows you know about the vampires.”

“Does he know about Becky and Adam?”

“No, I couldn’t tell him. Not until I was sure.”

“You said you’d help me.”

“I asked Adam without saying too much. He doesn’t remember.”

“Ask him again.”

“Adam is not stable right now.”

“You know he murdered my wife or at the very least made a meal out of her. When has he been stable?”

“I’m telling you not to push this.”

“Give me a reason not to.”

“Your survival. How's that for a reason? I’ll handle it, but for now I need you to let it go.”

“Is that what you’re going to tell Castiel? Let it go?”

Dean steps closer. “Leave Cas out of this.”

“I need to know what happened. I think you would too.”

Dean sighs. This is one stubborn son of a bitch. 

“I need something more than just your wife’s name. A picture or something I could show Adam.”

Aaron gives him a picture of a blonde woman who looks like she’s had too much espresso and Dean walks away. When he gets home he finds Castiel talking to Adam, who is still wallowing in self pity over the fact that Jimmy left him high and dry. Blah, blah, blah.

“Hey, sexy,” Dean says as he walks over to Castiel and gives him a kiss, Adam making gagging noises as he walks out of the room.

Castiel wraps his arms around Dean’s neck, deepening the kiss.

“So, I went to see Trudy Peterson,” Castiel tells him, Dean a little surprised that the other boy went alone. “I know, I’m sorry, I didn’t plan it.”

“How was it?”

“She has vervain. She knows about vampires, Dean. It can’t be a coincidence.”

Dean nods. “It isn’t. This is Aaron’s wife,” Dean tells Castiel as he hands over the picture that Aaron gave him. 

“This is her, this is Becky.” Castiel says after getting a glimpse of the woman in the photograph. “He gave this to you?”

“Everything he knows about vampires, he learned from her. He believes that she was killed by one.”

“Oh my god.”

“Listen, Cas, there’s alot about Becky that Aaron can tell you, but I need you to hold off a little while before you talk to him.”

“Why?” Castiel asks, sounding annoyed.

“I know that it’s a lot to ask of you, but, will you do that, for me?”

Castiel just nods, but Dean would feel better if he actually said yes.

“I’m meeting Lydia at the Roadhouse for the bachelor auction. Are you going to be there?”

“Of course, there’s nothing more I’d like to do with my free time than watch my brother being auctioned off. I can’t believe this town still does all the fundraising they did when I was young.”

“Yeah, well you kind of get used to it.”

Castiel gives him a kiss on the cheek before leaving and Dean searches for his brother so he can have a chat about Becky.

Adam is putting his jacket on when Dean catches him walking from his bedroom to the library.

“Hey, I need to talk to you about something,” Dean says as he hands Adam the picture. “This is the woman I was asking about earlier. Becky from North Carolina. Remember her now?”

“Who wants to know?” Adam asks after glancing over it, Dean picking up on the recognition on his brother’s face.

“I do.”

“Who else wants to know?”

Dean puts the picture back in his pocket. “Did you kill her?”

“Sorry, I don't know her.” Dean knows he’s full of shit, but he also knows that he’s not going to get any more information out of him right now.  Adam leaves ahead of him to the Roadhouse and Dean stays behind for a little, not wanting to get there too early. 

When he does finally arrive, the Mayor’s wife Amelia Richardson is interviewing Bachelor #5 who just happens to be Adam. Dean spots Castiel sitting at a table with Lydia and he waves. 

“Adam Winchester, we don’t have much on you,” Amelia says into the microphone.

“Well, I’m tough to fit on a card.”

“Do you have any hobbies or like to travel?”

“Oh, yeah, LA, New York, a couple years ago I was in North Carolina, near the Duke campus actually. I think, I think Aaron went to school there.”

Adam looks at Aaron who is standing next to him on the stage and Dean doesn’t like where this conversation is going. He knew Adam wasn’t telling the truth.

“I know your wife did.”

Dean looks at Castiel and sees him focusing on the stage where Adam is talking and standing.

“I had a drink with her once. She was a great girl. Did I ever tell you that? She was delicious.”

Dean isn’t able to make it to Castiel before he stands up from the table and walks outside. Dean follows.

“Cas?”

“He killed her?” Castiel asks as soon as Dean says his name. “Adam was the vampire that killed her?”

“I don’t know if that happened. Aaron said they never found a body.”

“Oh my god, Dean…” Castiel is on the verge of hyperventilating and Dean is trying his best to calm him down.

“I know. I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I wanted to know more before I placed that burden on you.”

“I was feeling sorry for him, hoping that this whole Jimmy thing would change him. I’m so stupid.”

“He doesn’t know about the connection to you. I thought about confronting him, but he’s already so on edge.”

Castiel is speaking sternly now. “Why are you protecting him?”

“Because you’re not the only one hoping that he might actually change.”

Castiel’s face softens and then his eyes scrunch up as he looks past Dean.

“That man,” he says and Dean turns around to look,”I saw that man outside of Trudy’s.”

He looks a bit questionable and somewhat dangerous. “Get back inside.”

They walk back inside and Castiel heads for the bathroom while Dean holds a table for them. Adam walks towards the bathroom just as Castiel is leaving and Dean knows he needs to break up whatever conflict is about to start.

“Do you enjoy rubbing that into Aaron Bass?” Dean hears Castiel ask Adam.

“What?”

“Just when I was starting to think that there was something redeemable about you…”

“Cas,” Dean says before he can say anything else.

“Am I missing something here?” Adam asks looking from Dean to Castiel and back again.

“Did I forget to mention earlier when we were talking about my birth mother, the one that gave me up? Her name was Becky. Go ahead. Reminisce about how you killed her.” 

Castiel walks away and Dean just looks at Adam who tries to seem sympathetic, but Dean doesn’t care. His only loyalty is to Castiel right now.

“Let’s get you home,” Dean says as he follows behind Castiel. When they get outside, the strange man is standing on the street in front of them.

“I have a message for you,” he says.

“What?” Castiel asks.

“Who are you?” Dean inquires.

“Stop looking,” the man says cryptically.

“Stop looking for what?” Castiel wonders.

“She doesn’t want to know you. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Becky?” Castiel asks quietly.

“You need to stop looking. Do you understand?”

“She’s alive? Does that mean that she’s a…”

Dean doesn’t miss the way the man just stands there as if he’s been instructed to only get Castiel’s confirmation.

“Cas, he’s under compulsion.” Dean adds.

“Do you understand?” the man asks again.

“Yes, I do.”

“Good, I’m done now.”

Without flinching, the man steps back and is immediately hit by a car and run over a few times. Dean runs over and checks for a pulse. When he notices that the man doesn’t have a pulse, he and Castiel flee the scene.

Dean takes Castiel back to his house and gets him settled in.

“Are you going to be okay?” Dean asks.

“I think so,” Castiel says as he lies down in his bed. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Dean says with a kiss to his forehead before he heads home to find Adam sitting on the couch drinking bourbon and staring at a dead Aaron Bass on the floor.

“What happened?” Dean asks as he rushes over. “What did you do?”

“He attacked me. I was just defending myself,” Adam says as if he’s a victim.

“Adam.” How his brother can be so unforgiving with human life, Dean will never understand.

“All I did was tell him the truth. HIs wife didn’t want him anymore. It’s not my fault he couldn’t handle it.”

“Like you’ve been handling Jimmy.”

“I’m handling it fine,” Adam lies. “You know what? Becky came to me. She found me.”

Dean looks at him not picking up on any deception, so Adam must be telling the truth.

“If she’s related to Castiel, that means she’s related to Jimmy. Maybe Jimmy sent her to me.”

Oh for fuck’s sake. Is Adam really this delusional?

“Stop it. You don’t have to keep looking.”

“It can’t be a coincidence Becky sought me out.” Adam puts his glass down and points to Aaron on the floor. “I assume you’ll take care of this.” Then he leaves.

Dean sits on the floor and just looks at Aaron’s lifeless body. How many people have to die before his brother realizes that he’s a jackass? Then, out of the blue Aaron’s fingers begin to move and he sits up, taking a deep breath like he had been holding it for five minutes. Dean doesn’t know what the hell to think.

“What happened?” Aaron asks. “What’s going on?”

“You were just…” Dean can’t wrap his head around it. “Did Adam turn you?”

“No, I went after him and then he stabbed me.”

“No, this doesn’t make sense. You must have vampire blood in your system. Maybe somebody slipped it to you.”

“No, it’s uh, it’s something else.”

“How?”

Aaron looks at the gawky ring on his finger. “Becky.” He sits, staring into space before speaking again. “This ring protected me.”

“That’s impossible.”

“I know, but she said it would protect me from all the things that go bump in the night.”

Dean looks at the ring on his finger. He’s never heard of a ring protecting someone from death. Maybe this was just another one of Alicia’s inventions. Even in death, she still won’t let them be free.

Chapter Text

After Dean leaves, Castiel sits on his bed looking at the photo of him and his parents and then he glances down at the cell phone sitting on his bedside table. He didn’t tell Dean that he had grabbed it from the street. It must have fallen out of the man’s pocket. He picks it up and then goes to the list of recent calls. He hesitates before clicking redial on the last number and then he places the phone up to his ear as it rings.

“Was there a problem?” a woman’s voice on the other line asks, but Castiel is too shocked to answer. “Did you find her? What’s going on?”

Finally finding his voice, Castiel says, “Becky?”

The woman hangs up and Castiel is torn. His mother is out there living her dead life, and apparently wants nothing to do with him.

Castiel meets up with Dean at his locker the next morning. Dean must sense that something is off because he has that concerned look on his face. Castiel doesn’t want to tell him about the call, though.

“You seem tense. Are you still upset about last night? You know I would never let anything happen to you,” Dean says as he leans against the locker next to Castiel’s.

“I know. I just don’t know what to think of it all. I just found out that my birth mother is a vampire and I can’t get it out of my head that she’s out there and knows I’m alive and doesn’t want to have anything to do with me. It would be nice to just have a day where we don’t have to deal with any vampires.”

“All vampires?” Dean asks mischievously.

“Not all vampires, there’s still one I don’t mind seeing every day.”

He gives Dean a quick kiss on the cheek and they walk off towards class.

Amanda surprises Castiel later by pulling him and Dean aside to ask if they want to all hang out later.

“I’m thinking maybe we could have dinner at the Roadhouse, maybe a late movie,” Amands says.

“You mean like a double date?” Dean asks.

“Two couples out on a Friday night, yeah sure, double date,” Amanda says not so enthusiastically as if she’s only doing this because she wants to prove that she and Inias are dating.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Castiel asks, not quite sure if he wants to go on a double date that involves his current boyfriend and his very recent ex-boyfriend.

“Why not? We all haven’t gone out together before and I don’t want it to be uncomfortable for us. The couple dynamics have changed and there’s been a little awkwardness between you, Inias, and me and I just think it’s important that we get over it,” Amanda says.

“I don’t know.”

“You know. I think that sounds like a great idea,” Dean says. “A nice evening out with friends. Sounds fun.”

“A double date it is,” Castiel says, only needing a little convincing from Dean.

“Okay, great. We will see you tonight,” Amanda says as she walks away.

Later, after school, Dean shows up to Castiel’s doorstep with flowers. Dean gets more charming and Castiel falls a little more in love the longer Castiel knows him. 

“Aww, you got me flowers? Thank you,” Castiel says as he pulls Dean into the house and presses his lips against the vampire’s lips.

“I figure it’s a date. Why not do it right?”

Castiel walks to the kitchen to grab a vase to put the flowers in.

“Have you ever been on a double date before?”

“Of course. ‘72, it was Heff and one of his playmates and I was with one of the Cartwright twins.”

“I don’t know how to respond to that,” Castiel says as he links his arm through Dean’s and they walk out the door.

They drive over to the Roadhouse in Dean’s sexy car and begin their awkward date. 

“So, Inias, how do you like working here?” Castiel asks when it becomes evident that someone needs to get a conversation going before he pokes himself in the eye with a pen just to relieve the stress.

“It’s not that bad.The wait staff tips out pretty good. They can’t keep a bartender to save their lives. I actually put my mom up for the job.”

“How’s that been, having Naomi back?” Castiel asks, even though he knows it’s a sensitive subject for Inias. His mother is hardly ever around and her parenting skills leave much to be desired.

“You know, same old Naomi. She’s trying, sort of.”

“Naomi and my mom were best friends growing up,” Castiel tells Dean. “That’s how Inias and I first met. We shared a crib together.”

“You’re kidding,” Dean says.

“No, we’ve known each other our whole lives,” Inias says as he looks at Castiel. “We both came out of the closet together.”

Amanda sighs and Castiel isn’t sure what her problem is. She needs to get over her insecurities. The four of them hear laughter coming from the bar and see Lydia, Naomi, and Adam getting drunk. That’s a version of the Three Stooges if Castiel ever saw one.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Inias proclaims, shaking his head. They try to finish their meal without focusing on their parental figures having fun by the bar. When they’re done, Dean suggests a game of pool and Castiel is certain it’s only because he knows he will win. They are halfway through their first game when Castiel feels as though he can cut the tension with a knife.

“Well, at least they’re having fun,” Amanda snarks while glancing over at the bar to indeed see that the three adults are still causing a scene.

“They’re drunk,” Castiel points out.

“Remember when Castiel’s parents busted us here after Homecoming,” Inias remarks.

“Oh my god, yes,” Amanda laughs.

“We were wasted,” Castiel adds. “It was the first time I ever got drunk. I blame Inias.”

“His parents got seated in the next booth.”

“Oh, and Inias had me pretend that I was choking so we could get away.”

“Except, his dad was a doctor, so he jumped up to save him.”

“And, I ran, slipped on the wet floor and bit it, in front of everyone. Do you remember that? Three stitches, a hangover for days, and I was grounded from seeing this one for a week,” Castiel says pointing to Inias.

“I’m going to go to the restroom,” Amanda announces out of the blue and as she walks behind Castiel, she whispers, “Castiel, a word.”

Amanda pulls him into the women’s restroom and before Castiel can remind him that he has a penis and not a vagina and shouldn’t be in here, Amanda lays into him.

“What the hell are you doing?” she comments rather loudly.

“What are you talking about?”

“The point of this was to show Inias how much you care about Dean, not to hopscotch down memory lane.”

“I was just trying to make conversation.”

“Try less.”

When she turns to leave, Castiel grabs her arm.

“No, you don’t get to yell at me, and then leave before I can talk. Don’t put your insecurities onto me. It’s not my fault that Inias and I used to date. If you’re so worried about losing him, show him what he would be losing. Stop using me as an excuse to not get close to him.”

“Whatever,” is the only response she gives before she leaves and Castiel follows behind her. As Castiel is walking back to the pool table, some random guy grabs his arm.

“Jimmy,” he says as if he recognizes Castiel.

“I’m sorry. You have the wrong person,” Castiel says just as Amanda tells him to “come on.”

“My mistake,” the man says as he lets go of Castiel’s arm. When Castiel makes it back to Dean, Dean places his arm around Castiel’s waist.

“How’s everything going?” Castiel asks.

“Inias is cheating,” Dean teases.

“No need, I’m awesome,” Inias says.

Castiel pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts typing a text.

“Everything okay?” Dean asks as he looks at Castiel.

Castiel doesn’t want the guy on the other side of the bar to know that anything is amiss, so he just looks at Dean and smiles, “Everything is great.”

By now, he’s done typing, and as discreetly as possible, shows his phone to Dean.

The man over there just called me Jimmy

Dean looks in the area of where the man was, but now he’s gone. Maybe he caught on that Castiel was warning Dean. They decide to call it a night and head back to Dean’s house. Dean tells Castiel that he’s worried, but Castiel is tired of dealing with all this so he convinces Dean to just let it go until tomorrow. 

The four of them are walking around the inside of Dean’s house, Inias in awe of how big it is and Amanda feeling like she has been here before, which Castiel is pretty sure has to do with the fact that she was here before and was compelled to forget. When they make it back around to the foyer, Castiel wants to claw his eyes out at the sight he is presented with. Naomi has her legs wrapped around Adam as they are making out and it looks like they are seconds away from getting naked.

“Mom?” Inias asks.

“Adam?” Amanda says.

“Oh my god, Inias,” Naomi says as she puts herself together and grabs her purse to leave. She has a look of embarrassment on her face as  Inias shoves her out the door with him so they can leave, and Castiel offers to take Amanda home. 

Dean walks them outside.

“Call me when you get home, so I don’t worry,” Dean says. 

“I will,” Castiel tells him before kissing him a couple times because once is not enough.

When he makes it home, he gets settled into bed and gives Dean a call as promised.

“I had a really great time tonight,” Castiel tells him.

“I did too.” Dean says. 

“I love you.”

“I know,” Dean says with a giggle. They hang up and Castiel falls asleep with thoughts of Dean on his mind.

Just as Dean hangs up with Castiel, someone crashes through the window and knocks him to the ground. Another person does the same to Adam. Both brothers get back on their feet and then Castiel is left staring at Adina and Daniel, two of the vampires that were supposed to have been burned back in 1864. Dean doesn’t have a chance to contemplate why they are standing in their living room before Adina is attacking him again.

The unfortunate thing with them having already been vampires in 1864 is that they are older than Dean and Adam, therefore making them stronger, but they are a threat to Castiel, so that fuels the fight in Dean. Adina catches him off guard and stabs him in the stomach with a piece of glass. She is just trying to weaken him, but he is able to push her across the room as he removes the glass from his stomach. He’ll be able to heal, but he’s not at full strength as long as he’s wounded.

Adina is on him again, holding a stake, aiming at his heart, but he uses his strength to flip them and he manages to get the stake from her and stabs her in the heart with it before she has a chance to hurt him again. Once she lies there dead, Dean stands up to go help Adam, but Daniel notices his dead girlfriend on the floor and runs out the window.

“What the fuck?” Dean asks. “Weren’t those vampires from the tomb?”

“Yeah, about that,” Adam says. “I may have received a visit from Lillith the other day. She said she would help me find Jimmy if I helped her gather info on how to infiltrate the council. She plans on regaining her home here.”

Dean would like to say this information surprises him, but it will always be about Jimmy. Adam will burn down the entire world if it means he can have Jimmy back. 

“Why do you think she will help you get Jimmy back? She’s been in the tomb for over a century.”

“Like she pointed out to me, she and Jimmy were best friends when they rolled into town. They would sometimes fake a relationship when Jimmy was in an area where he couldn’t be gay. She said she knows where all his hideouts are. It shouldn’t take her long to track him.”

“Unbelievable.” Dean no longer wants to continue this conversation, so he walks out of the room.

“Aren’t you going to help me burn Adina’s body?”

“You can figure it out. You always do,” Dean says as he continues on his way to his room, not bothering to look back. 

When Dean wakes up the next morning, it's to Castiel giving him a kiss. That’s the best wake-up he’s had in a long time. They go downstairs to find Adam boarding up the window where Daniel broke through last night.

“So, what’s your diabolical plan to fix the mess you started?” Dean asks.

“I say we go to the house Lillith and her gang of misfit vampires are hiding out and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night.”

“And then what, turn to the rest of the house of vampires and say ‘oops, sorry.’”

“I can’t believe you made a deal with her,” Castiel comments.

“It was more of a helpful exchange of information. It’s not like I had a choice. She’s…scary and super old. She could squash me like a fly if she wanted to.”

Castiel and Adam begin a back and forth banter of how Adam is a jackass and even though Dean tends to agree they aren’t getting anywhere by arguing. 

“Okay, this isn’t very productive. We’re going to figure out a way to deal with the vampires, yeah?” he asks Adam.

Adam just gives them a snarky look as he makes his exit from the room.

“I’m sorry, he just makes me so cranky,” Castiel says as he falls into Dean’s open arms.

“I know, he makes everybody cranky,” Dean says as he runs his hand up and down Castiel’s back.

“So, what are we going to do?”

“Adam and I are going to handle everything, I promise.”

Castiel looks up at Dean. “Well, what about me? I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

Dean cups Castiel’s face with his hands. “That’s exactly what you’re going to do, because that’s what’s going to keep you safe.”

“Which means nothing if you’re not safe, too,” Castiel says as he wraps his hands around Dean’s wrists.

“What do you mean? I’m perfectly safe. I have Adam, the self serving psychopath on my side.”

Castiel just groans as he tucks himself back against Dean’s chest. “That’s comforting,” he says sarcastically.

They stand there holding each other until Castiel has to leave. Dean grabs a hoodie from his room, since it’s raining outside and he walks past Adam who is rewinding the Grandfather clock they have in their study.

“Hunting party?” his brother says.

“I’m weak from Adina stabbing me last night. The blood bags won’t cut it. I need to find a fresh vein somewhere to get my strength back up.”

“Alright, as long as you don’t pick a local. They’re all probably full of vervain.”

“I’m aware, Adam. I’m going to my usual spot.”

Dean runs into the woods, so he’s out of sight of anyone when he takes off at vamp speed, but something seems off. It’s raining heavily now and the sky is overcast. He turns around and there are a couple vampires standing not far behind him. When he turns around again, he’s faced with Daniel stabbing him in the stomach with a stake and the vampires with him inject Dean with vervain. As Dean passes out in his weakened stake, he only hopes that Castiel knows how much the vampire loves him.

He eventually wakes up in a strange room with a bunch of vampires from 1864, but he’s still too weak to attempt to escape. At least he’s not too weak for his vamp hearing to work. He can hear Adam banging on a door.

“Lillith, open this door or I swear to God, I’ll bust through and rip your head off,” he hears his brother yell from outside the house.

“Lillith’s not home,” Daniel is heard saying. “Beautiful weather. Not a ray of sun in the sky.”

Dean remembers now that the majority of the vampires from 1864 didn’t have daylight rings like Jimmy, Lilith, and Meg. The stormy weather was their perfect chance to catch Dean in the middle of the day.

“Where’s my brother?” Adam asks.

“Belphegor,” Daniel yells and Dean is yanked up from his seat and pulled into the hallway by two vampires where he can see Adam standing outside as he talks to Daniel.

“You are dead,” Adam says when he catches a glimpse of Dean in his pathetic, weakened state. He tries to come through the door, but isn’t able to pass the threshold. That means that whoever owns this house is still alive and under their compulsion to let in who they tell her to, which explains why Dean is inside.

“Whoa, I’m sorry. You haven’t been invited in. Mrs. Butters?”, he says just as a woman walks over to his side.

“Yes, Daniel, honey?” she says.

“Never let this bad man in,” he says as he looks at her.

“I’ll never let him in,” she confirms. She leaves and Daniel continues his chat with Adam.

“145 years left starving in a tomb thanks to Jimmy’s infatuation with you and your brother. The first few weeks, every single nerve in your body screams with fire, the kind of pain that can drive a person mad. Well, I thought your brother might want to get a taste of that before I killed him. Belphegor.” Daniel commands.

Belphegor stabs Dean in the stomach with a knife and he’s too weak to heal himself, so he just bleeds and collapses as the vampires try to hold him up.

“You have a nice day,” Daniel says to Adam before he shuts the door again.

They drag Dean down to the basement as he continues to bleed from his open wound. He hopes whatever they have planned for him will be over quickly, but he has a feeling it won’t be. They tie his hands together with a rope covered in vervain and attach it to a pulley system in the ceiling so they can suspend him in the air if they so choose.  They tie his ankles together as well, so he isn’t able to move.

“Why are you doing this? It’s not my fault Jimmy was obsessed with us. We were compelled.”

“Yeah,” Daniel says as he pulls on the rope with gloved hands, causing it to dig into his skin and burn. He screams out in agony, “But he’s not here to punish, so that just leaves you.”

Daniel pulls Dean’s head back and holds his eye open as he drips vervain into his eye. Dean feels like his body is on fire and it would be great if his body would let him pass out from shock, but he’s not that lucky.

“Hey, this isn’t right,” a voice in the corner that Dean recognizes says.

“He killed Adina,” Daniel says to the guy that Dean can see and recognize as Alfie, a soldier from 1864 that Lillith turned into a vampire to keep him from dying. “One of us, Alfie, and don’t you think for a second he wouldn’t kill you if he had the chance. Lillith says we’re not here for revenge, right? I say, that’s exactly what we’re here for.”

Just as Dean’s other wound finally stitched itself back together, Daniel makes another one as he slices a gash from one side of Dean’s chest to the other.

“Him and his brother and anyone else that gets in our way..”

Before Daniel can finish his sentence, Alfie runs up to Daniel and pulls him back. 

“This isn’t right.”

“You’re gonna want to let go of me,” Daniel yells as he grabs hold of Alfie’s neck.

“Ms. Lilith won’t like this,” Alfie says.

“Ms. Lilith is no longer in charge. Tie him up and stake him down,” Daniel orders the other two vampires as he pushes Alfie towards them.

They tie Alfie to a chair with vervain ropes and drive stakes through both his legs to render him immobile. Daniel gets a couple more jabs into Dean before he leaves and Dean is left just hanging there hoping his death will be less painful.

“Thankyou for trying to help me,” Dean says barely above a whisper to the other captive vampire, his voice not working the way it should in his weakened state.

“They just needed somebody to blame,” Alfie tells him. “Someone to punish.”

Dean nods off for some time, and is awoken to the sound of the door flying open, Castiel running towards him.

“Cas, you shouldn’t be here.” Why in the hell would Adam let Castiel come to a house full of vampires, especially when he looks like the vampire they are all pissed off at?

“He was supposed to stay in the car,” Adam tattles as he walks in right behind Castiel. He walks over to Alfie and gets ready to stab him with a stake, but Dean stops him.

“No, not him. He tried to help me.”

“Whatever,” Adam says as he gets ready to untie Dean. “Let’s get you down.”

“There’s vervain on the ropes.”

“Castiel,” Adam says, pointing to the ropes. Castiel yanks the rope free from the pulley system and Adam is there to catch Dean. Castiel removes the rope from his wrists and legs and Adam is telling them to hurry up. Dean doesn’t want to leave Alfie in the chair to get tortured, so, with Castiel’s help they remove the stakes from his legs and unbind him from the chair.

Adam tells Castiel to get Dean out to the car and Dean hates that he’s so useless right now. Adam stays back to distract the other vampires from chasing after them. By the time they get outside, it’s dark and Dean is struggling to put one foot in front of the other. Thankfully, Castiel, even in his human state, has the same build as Dean, so he can hold him up as they go.

“Can you make it,” Castiel asks. He must notice how much Dean is struggling. Dean’s legs give out on him though and he falls, taking Castiel down with him, the other boy cutting his hand on a rock and Dean really regrets not feeding sooner because once the smell of Castiel’s blood reaches his nostrils, he’s ready to rip into Castiel’s neck. He’s able to fight the urge, just barely, as Castiel lifts him up again so they can make their way to the car.

They finally make it, and Dean gets into the passenger seat while Castiel climbs into the driver’s side. Just when Castiel goes to put the key in the ignition, the window next to Dean breaks and Daniel is pulling him through it. Daniel knocks him to the ground and he tries to find the strength to fight back as the other vampire punches him, but the only thing he can do is plead for Castiel to leave and save himself.

Daniel lifts him in the air and says,”This is for Adina.”  and then he stabs him in the stomach, “and this is for the tomb.” Just as Daniel is prepping to stab Dean through the heart, Castiel yells “no” and jabs Daniel with a syringe full of vervain.

Dean falls to the ground, his consciousness waning. Distantly, he can hear Castiel calling his name, but he’s fading. He just lies there unmoving. Then, the sweetest tasting blood to ever exist is brushed against his lips. The demon inside him that he has kept hidden for 145 years is awakened and Alicia’s words come back to him. 

The doppelganger's blood will be your undoing

Dean didn’t know what that meant at the time and it didn’t even register when he first met Castiel, but now, as the taste of Castiel’s blood reaches his taste buds, he knows that it means Castiel’s blood will strip him of his humanity and he will become the demon his father had warned him about when he was still human.

“Castiel, please run.” So far, he’s only had a little taste. There’s still time to correct the damage.

“No, Dean, you need your strength. My wrist, drink from my wrist. I trust you.”

The demon is working its way to the surface and Dean won’t be able to hold it back any longer. Castiel needs to leave before it's too late. 

“Cas, please, you need to leave.” 

“No, Dean, you need to fight. He’ll kill us if you don’t.”

At the end of the day, either Dean becomes a monster or he has to watch Castiel die and he will always choose Castiel’s life over his own, even when he has no humanity left. He grabs Castiel’s wrist and sinks his fangs into his skin. The doppelganger's blood courses through his veins. Castiel’s mouth is open as he tries to maintain himself while Dean drains him of his blood.

The monster inside Dean is ignited and, that moment before he completely drains Castiel of his blood, he lets go, allowing Castiel to scamper off to hide. Dean lies on the ground, getting his breathing under control and looking into the sky through new eyes. The last of whatever soul he thought he had gets buried deep beneath the surface as he waits for Daniel to come to him.

When Daniel hovers over him with a stake, Dean jumps up, snarling and pushes Daniel against a tree. He stabs him in the heart and watches as he dies, but he doesn’t stop there. He stabs him repeatedly as he growls at the vampire that would dare threaten his very existence. He feels something tugging on his arm, and he turns, and growls and raises his hand to stab the person behind him, only to be confronted by Castiel.

The boy’s heart is beating fast and his breathing is erratic as he looks at the ground instead of Dean. Dean recognizes this as fear and he would never do anything to hurt the other boy, even in his demonized state.

“Cas?” he says softly, hoping that he will know Dean won’t harm him. Castiel’s heart slows down as he steps closer to Dean and allows the vampire to pull him into a hug. 

Adam and Aaron, who had joined in the rescue efforts finally make their way to them, and they drive back to the house, after dropping Aaron at the school to grab his car. Castiel doesn’t say much as he walks up to Dean’s room waiting for Dean to get cleaned up in the bathroom. Dean finds his boyfriend standing in front of the mirror with a look of doubt on his face. He turns to look at Dean.

“How are you doing?” Castiel asks.

“I’m okay. The wounds have mostly healed.”

“Good,” Castiel says, void of emotion.

“Cas?”

“Yeah?”

“What you did today, coming to help me, you could have been killed.”

“I know.”

“And what I did, I’m sorry that you had to see it.”

“I’ve just never…you were like this whole other person and it’s my fault. I made you..”

“No, you didn’t make me do anything. You were saving my life and I was saving yours. Everything is going to be okay.”

Dean can feel the want inside him, the pull to be close to Castiel. Castiel steps closer and Dean kisses the other boy, Castiel moaning against Dean’s mouth. They divest each other of their clothing and Dean lifts Castiel’s naked body up so Dean can lay him gently on the bed. 

Dean preps Castiel and begins a slow pace of thrusting inside his boyfriend, Castiel’s eyes dark with lust. Castiel’s blood is calling out to him, and as if he can sense what Dean wants, Castiel produces his neck for Dean to bite. Without slowing his pace, Dean leans forward and sinks his teeth into Castiel’s neck, Castiel tightening his grip against Dean’s back.

“Dean…..yes.”

Castiel tastes just as delicious as before and Dean knows this is dangerous territory, but he doesn’t care. He needs the doppelganger's blood and he’s giving it willingly. The euphoria of Castiel’s blood mixed with Dean’s impending orgasm has him producing his fangs as he leans back and continues thrusting into Castiel, the other boy moaning beneath him.

“Cas, almost there, fuck….” he shouts as he spills inside his boyfriend. His body is on fire from the mix of Castiel’s blood with his own and he pulls out of Castiel ignoring his protests as he gets something to clean them up with. Dean has never felt more alive with Castiel’s blood so sweet pumping through his veins. 

Just as Dean leans in to try to get another bite, Castiel’s phone rings.

“Hello?” 

Dean can hear the conversation on the other line. Amanda was on a back road since the normal route was flooded and when her car got stuck, she was trying to find cell reception. She slipped down the hill and discovered Hester’s corpse that was unearthed in the storm. Everyone is over at Inias’s house. Sheriff Mills had to go over to break the news.

“Go, I’ll be here when you get back,” Dean tells him.

“Okay, love you.”

“Love you too.” 

When Castiel leaves, Dean finds himself meandering towards the blood supply they keep in the refrigerator downstairs. He knows what he’s craving isn’t in it, but he has to get Castiel’s blood out of his system before he goes on a murderous rampage. 

He’s on his sixth bag when Adam finds him and Dean looks at him with murder in his eyes.

“Well, this can’t be good,” is all Adam says as he takes the blood bag from Dean’s hand.

It’s been a week since Hester’s funeral and Castiel is thankful that Gabriel is not drowning in his grief like before.

Castiel gets ready for school and is waiting impatiently for Gabriel.

“Hurry up, Gabe, we’re going to be late for school,” Castiel yells upstairs and then he opens the door to find the bane of his existence standing on the other side.

“Castiel.”

“Uncle Chuck,” Castiel says as he stares at his father’s brother standing on the other side of the door lowering his hand that was just about to knock on said door. “Hi.”

“Lydia.” Chuck says to his aunt standing next to Castiel.

“Chuck, you made it.”

“I said I’d be in by noon.” he tells her as he steps through the door, Castiel moving aside to avoid being trampled on.

“Oh, but what you say and what you do are typically two very different things.”

Gabriel chooses that moment to walk downstairs.

“Uncle Chuck, what’s up?”

“Hey,” Chuck says as Gabriel continues on his way out the door.

“I had some business in town. I thought a visit was in order,” Chuck says.

“How long are you staying?” Castiel asks, leaving out the part where he wants to tell him he doesn’t want him here at all.

“I don’t know yet.”

“Okay, I’m going to go to school. I’ll see you later.”

Dean texted Castiel that he wouldn’t be in school today. He still needed some time to recover from the torture he experienced, so Castiel chats with Inias at his locker since he doesn’t have anyone else to talk to at the moment.

“So, my Uncle Chuck stopped by this morning and he said his visit is open ended. I don’t know if I like that,” Castiel tells Inias.

“Uncle Chuck…I never really liked that guy,” Inias says.

“Does anyone?”

“I’m here for moral support if you need me.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll suffer this one alone. You’ve been through enough.”

“Thank you by the way, for everything you did at Hester’s funeral and the memorial. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Of course, Inias. So, is Amanda still baking for you guys around the clock?”

“She finally went to her dad’s, which is a good thing because my mom was going to strangle her if she dropped off more lasagna.”

They are walking past Mr. Bass’s room when he calls Castiel into his office.

“I’ll catch you later,” Castiel tells Inias.

Castiel walks into the room and Mr. Bass closes the door.

“What’s up, Mr. Bass,” Castiel asks as he settles against one of the desks.

“I made a copy of a paper that Gabriel wrote for me. I think you should take a look at it.”

Castiel takes the offered paper and the title reads Fact or Fiction: The Truth About Vampires in Mystic Falls

“Gabriel wrote this?” Castiel asks.

“He’s very clear that he didn’t think it was real.”

“I really hope you’re right because I’ve done so much to protect him from all of this.”

Mr. Bass places the paper back on his desk and lets out a small sigh.

“So, how do you deal with it?”

“What do you mean?”

“All the lies and the secrets? You have to lie to everyone who’s important to you.”

“It’s not safe for them to know the truth, so, yes, I keep it from them, but it’s only because I love them.”

Mr. Bass nods. “I think Dean is a good guy, but, at the end of the day, he’s still a vampire.”

“I know it’s hard to understand, but Dean’s different. He would never do anything to hurt me.” 

Aaron looks at Castiel as if he doesn’t believe him, but Dean has had plenty of chances to harm Castiel and he hasn’t. They love each other and sometimes love is all you need.

Later that night, Castiel is upstairs in his room with Dean trying to avoid his Uncle Chuck. There’s just something about that guy that he doesn’t like.

“Why would he write a report on vampires?” Castiel asks Dean after telling him about the interaction he had with Aaron earlier. “Do you think he’s starting to remember?”

“I took away those memories for good. You don’t have to worry about that. Why don’t you just ask him?”

“I can’t.” 

“Why not? If he doesn’t know anything, then it’s just an innocent question.”

“I don’t even know how to talk to him anymore. We used to be a lot more open with each other, but now with all these secrets just piling up…you know I haven’t even told him that I’m adopted yet.”

“Then, maybe it’s time you start opening up to him again. I’m not saying you should tell him everything, but at least try to find out what he does know and be prepared for it.”

“What about you? How are you doing?”

“I’m doing good. Still trying to recover from the whole vampire napping event and you seeing me lose control.”

“I’ve missed you.”

“It’s only been a few days.”

“It feels like a lifetime.” Castiel leans in to give Dean a kiss.

“I’ve missed you too.” 

They deepen their kiss and Dean pushes Castiel back on the bed. There’s a fire to their kiss as Dean rolls them around, almost as if he’s trying to get closer. They are playing a game of tug and war over who’s going to be on top and Dean finally wins as he pins Castiel against the bed. 

Dean begins breathing heavily, and Castiel thinks it’s because he’s just turned on by the closeness, but then Dean is growling, a noise Castiel hasn’t heard from him yet.

“Dean, what’s wrong?”

Dean lifts his head and Castiel is shocked by what he finds. Dean’s fangs are protruding, his eyes are more red than green, and he’s looking at Castiel like he’s something to eat. 

“Dean?” Castiel says, his voice laced with fear.

Dean begins trembling and growling as if he’s having a war inside his head. Then, as if someone pushed him, he flies back against Castiel’s wall, as he tries to get his breathing under control, Castiel sitting on the bed with his heart pounding in his chest wondering what’s going on.

Before Castiel has a chance to gain control of the situation, Dean vamp jumps out of Castiel’s window like he’s running from something, leaving Castiel sitting there in shock. He thought Dean was okay after everything that went down, but clearly he’s not. If there’s one thing he’s learned since being with Dean, it’s that he just needs to give him his space. It doesn’t put his mind at ease though as he gets ready for bed, unable to sleep with worry for Dean heavily weighing on his mind.

The next day, he texts Adam to ask if he can come over. Somewhere along the way, Castiel and Adam had become friends. He uses that term loosely because he still, on the best of days, wants to drive a stake through the vampire’s heart, but at least he knows how to tolerate him now.

“Oh good, you’re here,” Castiel says as he answers the door.

“You ask, I come,” the vampire states as he walks through the door and Castiel drags him upstairs so they can talk away from where Gabriel can hear.

Adam finds himself comfortable enough to pick the Grumpy Cat from Castiel’s bed and lie down with shoes and all as if he owns the place.

“Did you know that your uncle has been kicking it with the founder’s council?”

“The council full of founding families that not only knows about the existence of vampires, but is trying to kill them all? The one you infiltrated because they didn’t do their research well enough to learn of the existence of daylight rings? That council?”

“Yep.”

“Perfect. We’ll just add it to the list of how everything’s falling apart.”

Adam points to the corner of the room where Castiel’s broken lamp still lies on the ground because he hadn’t cleaned it up yet.

“What happened right there?”

“Uh, nothing,” Castiel really doesn’t want to get into this with Adam right now, but he might have to. “Look, I’m worried about Dean. He says that everything is okay, but he’s clearly struggling. I didn’t even know anything was wrong. Do you know what’s going on with him?”

“Dean is a very complex person if you haven’t noticed. When he’s ready to share, he’ll let one of us know. I’m guessing coming close to death spooked him a little.”

“I’m just worried about him.”

Adam gets up from the bed as he talks and starts snooping through Castiel’s drawers, no sense of privacy whatsoever. “Well, you don’t need to be. He’s fine.” Adam pulls out Castiel’s bright orange boxers that he bought for Halloween one year. “Really?” Adam says as he holds them up.

“Give me those,” Castiel says as he shoves them back in the drawer and shuts it. “Forget I even asked for your help.”

“Fine by me.” Adam says as he leaves, Castiel even more confused than when the vampire arrived. 

He figures now is as good a time as any to have a discussion with Gabriel to find out how much he knows about all this stuff or if he knows anything at all. He opens his brother’s bedroom door as he knocks.

“Hey,” Castiel says.

“What’s up?” Gabriel asks from where he’s sitting at his desk.

“Do you have some time to talk?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Not here, come on, let’s get out of the house.”

Gabriel reluctantly agrees, but they end up driving out to the park and walking along the river as Castiel tells his brother that he’s not really his brother, at least not by blood.

“I just can’t believe mom and dad never told you that you were adopted,” Gabriel says after listening to Castiel’s story.

“I’m sure they would have eventually,” Castiel says more for himself than Gabriel.

“Why were you worried about what I thought?”

“I don’t know. It’s weird. Going your whole life thinking you’re related by blood to someone.”

“Does it bug you that we’re not?”

“No, Gabe, you’re my brother. That’s all that matters,” Gabriel smiles and Castiel decides to change the subject. “So, Mr. Bass tells me that you’re doing great in History now.”

“Yeah, yeah, he’s really been helping me out. He gave me some extra credit and stuff.”

“He liked your vampire paper.”

Gabriel pauses for a minute before answering. “He thought I had a clever angle.”

“What drew you to that subject matter?”

“I don’t know. Boredom or maybe I’m just as nuts as the long line of Shurley crazies,” he jokes.

“The Shurley’s aren’t crazy.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not one.”

Gabriel smiles at him to show Castiel that he’s joking.

“Ouch,” Castiel says before punching him in the shoulder to feign as if he’s been offended.

“Alright, enough messing around. We need to get back home so we can get ready for the founder’s party tonight,” Castiel tells him.

“Sometimes I wish we weren’t one of the founding families. I get tired of having to attend all these events.”

“You and me both.” Castiel tells him as they drive back home to get ready. 

The first person Castiel searches for is Dean and he finds him over at the bar, not keeping a low profile it would seem as he’s three sheets to the wind already even though he’s supposed to be pretending to be 17.

“Hey,” Castiel says as he walks over.

“Hey,” Dean says as he pulls him close and gives him a kiss.

“Are you drunk?”

“Uh, okay, I know it’s a little weird, but I just wanted to let loose a little, it takes the edge off.”

“You’re totally that drunk high school guy at the party sneaking boos.”

“I totally am, yeah.”

“So, how worried do I need to be?”

“You don’t have to be worried. It’s not like I can get drunk, alcohol just makes me a little tipsy.”

Dean pulls him out on the dance floor and Dean swirls him around, causing Castiel to accidentally bump into another guy dancing.

“Whoa, watch it,” the guy says as he looks at Castiel.

“Sorry, my fault. I’m clumsy,” Castiel laughs, hoping the guy will see it for the accident it was.

“Then get off the dance floor,” the man says, clearly trying to be an assbutt.

“Excuse me?” Castiel asks, surprised at the man’s rudeness.

“There’s no need to be a dick,” Dean says, coming to Castiel’s defense even though he didn’t ask for it.

“Whatever,” the man says as he tries to leave, but Dean grabs his arm to stop him from going anywhere. Then, Castiel notices him compelling the other guy. “I think you need to apologize.”

“Sorry,” the guy says as he looks at Castiel. 

Just when Castiel thinks that Dean is going to let the guy go, he grabs him again, startling Castiel.

“Now say it like you mean it,” Dean compels the man.

“I’m really, really sorry,” the man says to Castiel in a robot voice.

“Dean, it’s fine.”

“Now, walk away,” Dean says as he pushes the guy away.

“Are you okay?” Dean asks Castiel as he brushes his hand against Castiel’s cheek as if he didn’t just spew toxic masculinity all over the dance floor. Castiel just nods to prevent provoking him any further.

“I’m fine. I’m going to grab a drink. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, just don’t stay away too long,” Dean says, giving Castiel a tender kiss to the lips. 

Castiel finds Adam standing by the bar and he walks over to get his attention.

“Have you seen what your brother has been up to?” Castiel asks Adam.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Adam says.

“What do you mean?”

“Gabriel is asking the sheriff too many questions about Hester’s death, like why she was buried if it was ruled an overdose. If he wasn’t wearing vervain, I would just compel him.”

“No, no more compelling. I’m sure erasing memories would turn someone into a robot after a while. You don’t know how to think for yourself anymore.”

Castiel spots Gabriel walking into the study, so he follows to check in with him. He doesn’t need Gabriel getting dragged into all of this.

“Gabe,” Castiel says as he sits next to his brother on the couch. “I heard about your conversation with Sheriff Mills.”

“No one is trying to figure out what happened to her. They’re all willing to believe that she Od’d.”

“The coroner’s office confirmed it. If that’s what they said happened…”

“Is that what you believe?”

Castiel doesn’t know how to answer that.

“What do you think happened?” he asks Gabriel.

“I think somebody killed her and buried her body and I don’t think we should write it off because it’s easy.”

“They’re just doing what they can to move on.”

“The truth is the only thing that’s going to help people move on.”

“Gabe, just let it go, okay? Whatever it was, she’s gone now.”

“Whatever it was? So you don’t think it was an overdose?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Is there something you’re not telling me? Why aren’t you looking at me?”

“Stoppit, that doesn’t mean anything.”

“If there was something else, you would tell me, right?”

“Of course I would.” 

Castiel hates lying to Gabriel, but it’s the only way to keep him safe. When he thinks he has Gabriel settled enough to leave him, he walks back out into the party to try to find Dean. He bumps into Inias instead.

“Who knew I was missing all this fun at the founder’s parties?” he asks Castiel. Inias’s family isn’t one of the founding families so he usually doesn’t attend these functions, lucky him.

“This is rare.”

“Is it bad that I’m enjoying myself?”

“No, it’s great that you’re enjoying yourself.”

“I need some air, did you want to join me?”

Castiel spots Dean still standing at the bar and he opts to follow his friend just to avoid the awkwardness.

“Sure.”

“You haven’t seen my mom, have you?”

“Uh, no, not in a while.”

They walk outside and Castiel would give anything to be a vampire in order to take away the memory of what Inias is about to witness. Naomi is in the corner of the balcony kissing Lee, who also seems to be enjoying himself.

Inias walks over to them and grabs Lee by the shoulder, pulling him off of Naomi.

“What the hell are you doing, man?” Inias says.

“Inias.” Naomi says.

“Mom!!”

Lee has his arms up in surrender. “Dude, calm down.” 

Inias swings his arm and punches Lee in the face.

“Inias,” Castiel yells. He knows this is not going to end well.

Lee grabs hold of Inias and punches him back, causing him to fall backwards against Naomi who falls down, knocking over the table full of glasses which crash down around her. Lee and Inias must not notice what happened because they continue fighting. Lee has Inias on the ground and is punching him repeatedly. 

“Lee, stop. You’re hurting him.” 

Castiel never realized how strong Lee is and how angry he can get. He’s worried that Inias is going to be severely injured if they don’t stop. Castiel tries to break them up once Lee starts choking Inias, but Lee won’t budge.

Aaron walks by and is able to pull Lee off of Inias and has him pinned against the wall. It’s like Lee became this whole other person, but Aaron is able to bring him back to himself. The mayor comes over to talk to his son. 

Castiel is trying to help Inias. His nose is bloody and he’s trying to get his breathing back under control. Castiel sits him down on one of the chairs so he can look him over. He has cuts on his cheeks as well as the bloody nose and Castiel thinks he should probably go to the hospital so they can look him over.

“Where is she?” Inias says.

“I don’t know.”

Castiel doesn’t really care where Naomi is right now. He just wants to make sure Inias is okay.

“Maybe we should get you to a hospital so they can look you over. You might need stitches.”

“I’m fine Castiel. I just need to find my mom.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”

Inias stands up and walks back inside before Castiel can stop him. Since he can tell he’s not going to be any help with Inias, Castiel tries again to find Dean. He walks out into the parking lot calling his name. He checks his phone to see if maybe Dean texted him and sure enough there is a message that Dean wasn’t feeling well so he left early.

Castiel ends up hitching a ride with his Aunt Lydia. Hopefully whatever is going on with Dean will work itself out soon. When they get home, Castiel stops by Gabriel’s room to check on him. He says he’s fine, but Castiel doesn’t believe him. He just hopes that Gabriel will open up to him soon.

Castiel takes his jacket off and throws it on his bed. When he faces the mirror, he catches Dean’s reflection in it. 

“Oh my god, you scared me.” Castiel tells him.

“I’m sorry and I’m sorry that I ran off earlier.”

“What happened? Is everything okay?”

“No.”

“Talk to me.” Castiel closes the door so they will have more privacy. “Dean, tell me.”

“I tried so hard to keep it together tonight, and it was working. Ever since I fed on you, I have been falling apart. I have this hunger inside of me that I have never felt before. I’m not telling you this to scare you, but I promised that I would never keep anything from you, so that’s why I’m telling you.”

“It’s okay. I need you to tell me these things.”

“I don’t want you to see me like this. I don’t want you to know that this side of me exists. I’m a monster, Cas and I’m trying so hard to keep it away from you.”

“You’re going to get through this. I’m going to help you pull through. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”

Dean stands up and walks towards the door. “I’m too afraid of what I can do to you, Castiel.”

“I’m not. Dean, I’m not afraid of you.”

Castiel places a tender kiss against Dean’s lips and he can feel Dean giving in.

“I love you so much,” Dean says.

“I love you too.”

Castiel doesn’t know if he’s just plain crazy or if there is some sort of aphrodisiac in Dean’s fangs, but he invites the vampire to bite him again.

“If you need to get another taste Dean, I trust you’ll know when to stop.”

Dean looks at him with fire in his eyes, and Castiel can see the vampire relax as he bites into Castiel’s wrist. Castiel rests his head against Dean’s chest as his boyfriend feeds on him and he realizes that this is probably all kinds of toxic and fucked up, but if it’s what he needs to do to keep Dean sane, then so be it.

Chapter Text

As Dean bites into Castiel’s wrist again, he feels a weight lifted along with an unwavering sense of euphoria. He’s tired of fighting how sweet Castiel’s blood tastes and how good it makes him feel. As long as Castiel is okay with him giving in to this side of himself, he’ll do it and hopes he doesn’t lose control. His heart is pounding as Castiel’s blood courses through his body combining with his own blood and making him feel whole again. 

There is a knock on Castiel’s door. Dean disappears through the window before he is caught in Castiel’s room and rushes back home, falling against his bed with a smile on his face.

Dean decides that now is as good a time as any to head back to school. The next day he and Castiel walk to class together and Dean is surprised to see Patience walk through the door. She has been out of town visiting family in the aftermath of her grandmother’s death. Dean isn’t sure why Castiel hadn’t mentioned that she was back in town. 

Dean smiles at her as she sits down, but she just looks at him, forcing a smile as if she would be happier to be anywhere else but here. Something seems off. Dean thought they had been becoming friends, but maybe he misread the situation.

After class, Dean and Castiel meet up with Amanda and Patience who are talking about Amanda’s nervousness over the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant. It’s some lame beauty pageant the town has every year as just another fundraising scheme. With all the fundraisers this town has every year, Dean is curious to know where that money is actually going. It’s probably lining the pockets of the Council so they can continue to hunt vampires.

“Patience,” Castiel says as they walk up to Patience and Amanda.

“Hey, how are ya?” Dean asks.

Patience doesn’t answer. She just stares off into the distance as if she doesn’t want to be here. Amanda decides to fill in the silence.

“I begged Patience to fill in for Inias as my dance partner. He had to work today.”

“Patience, do you have a minute?” Castiel asks.

“We only have 30 minutes for the rehearsal.”

“It’ll only take a minute. Please?”

They walk into the hall and Amanda stands over with the other contestants who are waiting to start their rehearsal. Dean decides to eavesdrop and use his vamp hearing to try to get a feel for what is bothering Patience.

“Patience, you have to tell me what’s wrong,” Castiel says.

“It’s not worth talking about.”

“What do you mean it's not worth it? You’ve barely said ten words to me and you won’t even look at Dean.” There is a slight pause and then Castiel continues talking. “Is that what it is? Is it Dean?”

“Listen, Cas, I can’t just pretend like everything is okay. Everything my grams did was to protect us from those vampires in the tomb and now they’re out, which means she died for nothing.”

“I’m so sorry, Patience. What can I do to make it better?”

“That’s just it. There’s nothing you can do. I blame him, Cas, him and Adam and I’m not going to put you in a situation where you have to choose sides. I’m just having a hard time with it.”

Dean’s heart is breaking for Castiel. It’s Dean’s fault that Patience is being distant with Castiel and he doesn’t know what he can do to fix it. When Castiel and Patience are done with their conversation, Castiel tells Dean he will see him later before Dean has a chance to apologize. 

Dean doesn’t hear from Castiel for two days. He is going insane with worry that he might be losing him as well as withdrawing from not having his boyfriend’s blood. He can’t tell Adam what he’s going through, because he will just make a big deal out of it.

The founder’s council is on high alert with the tomb vampires being in town and Chuck Shurley is somehow connected to Becky and being very cryptic about how much he knows about the town. It would not be smart for Dean to go off the rails right now. The demon inside him is clawing its way back to the surface, so he drives a few towns over to feed on the locals there. 

It’s still not enough. He needs Castiel’s blood. It’s like a drug to him and he wants to pull his hair out and claw at his skin just to get rid of the itch. He’s coming apart at the seams when he runs into Castiel at the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant to show his support for Amanda. Dean pulls him into an empty room and attacks his lips with his own mouth.

“I missed you, Cas.” 

“I missed you too Dean. I’ve just been caught up with everything going on with Patience. You seem jittery. Are you okay?”

“I’ve just been craving you. I know that seems weird.”

“It’s not weird. When this is over, maybe we can go back to your house and fool around a little.”

“Can I just have a little taste now?” 

Dean pulls Castiel closer, ready to bite into his neck.

“Not here. I can’t go out there with a bite on my neck, especially with all the council members here. Later, okay?”

Dean just nods as Castiel walks out to be with his friends. Dean is spiraling as he tries to get his craving under control. He bumps into one of the contestants as she’s leaving the bathroom and the demon inside takes over at the smell of her blood. He snatches her up and runs outside where there are no witnesses.

“Where are we going?” the girl asks him after Dean compels her to follow him.

“I don’t know.”

“I’m in the ceremony,” she says.

He stops walking and looks at her. “Not now, you’re not.” He looks her in the eyes as he compels her. “You’re going to let me feed on you and you won’t remember a thing.”

“I’m going to let you feed on me,” she repeats.

Dean sinks his teeth into her neck, but it doesn’t taste the same. It’s not like Castiel’s. He keeps feeding, hoping to get the same sensation, but he still feels empty. The demon inside him is screaming for his boyfriend’s blood and he’s the monster that everyone assumes he is as he continues to drain an innocent girl of her blood.

He removes his fangs from her neck, but she doesn’t look scared and it’s only then that he realizes he told her not to be. He needs her to be scared though. He’s afraid he might kill her if she doesn’t run.

“Run,” he compels her. “You need to be afraid.”

She takes off into the woods, but Dean hadn’t anticipated how exciting it would be to make chase, so that’s exactly what he does. He catches up to her since he is much faster, and as she screams and tries to break free, he sinks his teeth into her neck again, letting the warm blood seep through his veins. 

“Dean!!” He hears Castiel calling to him and he turns to see him and Adam running up to Dean. He turns around to look and he just finds himself filled with disgust for how Castiel is looking at him. Dean doesn’t know what to say. He just looks at the two of them staring at him as he feels the blood dripping from his mouth. 

Adam walks up to him to try to bring him back to his senses, but he just wants to get away as quickly as possible. He doesn’t want Castiel to see him like this anymore. Adam places his hand on Dean’s arm to try to ground him, but Dean pushes him off and watches as Adam goes flying into a tree.

“Dean, stop!!” Castiel cries. Dean ignores him as he walks over to Adam. 

Then, out of nowhere, his head feels like it’s going to explode. His blood vessels are bursting and it’s the worst pain that he has ever felt. He tries to gain control of his senses, but he can’t think through his pounding head. He glances over as he drops to his knees to see Patience glaring at him, her eyes focused on his brain.

The pain stops as he comes back to himself, but he can’t face Castiel right now, so he runs off to his house, hoping the boy will be able to forgive him someday. He makes it to his room and is trying to get his breathing under control when he notices Castiel standing in the doorway.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Dean tells him.

“I know.”

“Is this where you tell me you want to break up with me?”

“No, of course not.”

“Maybe you should. I almost killed that girl today and I don’t know if I can control myself around you anymore.” 

“It’s okay, Dean. I trust you.”

Castiel steps closer.

“Don’t come any closer. I don’t want to hurt you,” Dean says.

“I trust you, Dean.”

Castiel steps even closer and Dean wants to make his boyfriend see the danger that he’s in. He slams Castiel up against the wall and just as he’s ready to sink his fangs into his boyfriend’s neck, he feels something stab his side. He looks down to see Castiel holding a syringe filled with vervain. The vervain floods his system and everything goes dark as Dean collapses to the floor.

Castiel is sitting on the floor of the basement outside the cell they locked Dean in and he wonders what the fuck is wrong with him. Dean could have killed him last night because he’s a vampire and Castiel is sitting here waiting for him to wake up to tell him he’s not going anywhere because he’s an idiot in love.

If he’s going to die, he’d rather it happen at his boyfriend’s hands than by some other disaster. He’s not going to lie by saying it’s not exhilarating when Dean is feeding on him. It brings him to a new plane of existence. He doesn’t even know how to describe the feeling other than to say it’s euphoric. There’s no other feeling like it.

“Cas?” a gritty voice from the other side of the cell speaks, pulling Castiel out of his thoughts.

“I’m here, Dean.” Castiel stands to look inside the cell and catches a glimpse of Dean lying on his side on the cot looking back at Castiel.

“I’m sorry I’m a monster. I wasn’t always this way.”

“You’re not a monster, Dean. I don’t believe that for a second.”

“You might change your mind when you hear what caused me to become a vampire in the first place.”

“Then, tell me and let me be the judge of how I feel.”

1864

Dean and Adam are crouched in the woods as they watch them round up the rest of the vampires to take to the church.

“We have to get to the church. They’re waiting,” they hear Jonathan Shurley say.

“Circle around that way. I’ll distract them,” Dean tells Adam as they attempt to rescue Jimmy.

“Over here, there’s another one,” Dean yells to them. “Please, help me.” 

Dean leads them away from the wagons so that Adam can attempt to rescue Jimmy. He loses them as they run off into the woods further and meets Adam at the wagon. He knocks out the guard and Adam uses the keys to open the wagon containing Jimmy.

He’s lying inside with his mouth muzzled and his arms tied. He looks weaker than Dean has ever seen him. They must have put more vervain in his system. The brothers scoop him up and place him on the ground and begin to untie him. 

“Hurry, Adam. We don’t have much time.” 

Just as Adam gets the last of the ropes untied, Dean hears a rifle being fired and his brother falls to the ground, a bullet wound in his back.

He runs over to his brother as he’s taking his last breath. 

“Adam, no, please,” Dean says. 

He hears the men returning so he runs over to grab a rifle that had been abandoned by the guard that was knocked out, but just as he raises it to fire, someone ends up shooting him in the stomach. He’s lying on the ground as he loses blood and he looks over at Jimmy, who is still right where they left him.

“The last thing he hears is Jimmy say, “I love you, Dean,” before the men place him back into the wagon and then his eyes close forever, or so he thought.

His eyes open again and he’s leaning against a burnt out building. He doesn’t know what to think as he opens his bloody shirt, only to see his skin whole. It’s as if he was never shot and he’s wearing a strange ring on his finger with the Winchester family crest  on it.

“Jimmy had me make that for you weeks ago,” Alicia says as she walks up behind him.

“Where am I?” Dean asks her.

“The quarry, just north of town. My brother and I brought you here last night. We found you dead in the woods.”

“Where’s Adam?”

She nods towards the water and Dean looks over to see his brother sitting at the edge shirtless as he looks out at the water.

“Am I a….”

“Not yet. You’re in transition.”

“But how? I never..”

“You had Jimmy’s blood in your system when you died.”

“No, I never..”

“He’s been compelling you to drink it for weeks, Dean.”

“Adam?”

“No compulsion was necessary. Adam drank from Jimmy willingly.”

Dean joins his brother by the creek.

“I woke up last night and I didn’t know where I was,” Adam says. “I went to the church and I watched them drag him inside and they set fire to it and the whole church went up into flames. They killed him, Dean. He’s gone.”

Dean grabs a bucket of water so they can wash the blood from their shirts as they talk. 

“I think Jonathan Shurley has told father by now. I hope Sammy is okay. I can’t imagine what he must be going through to hear that we both died,” Dean says

“At least someone cares that we’re gone. Father betrayed us. I doubt that he cares as much as Sam does.”

“He thought he was protecting us, Adam. He thought he was protecting this town.”

“The sun hurts my eyes,” Adam says as he holds his hand up to block the sun from glaring at him.

“That’s part of it. Muscle aches, the sick feeling. Alicia says it’s our bodies pushing us to feed, to complete the transition.”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“Is that your choice then, to die instead?”

“Isn’t it yours? This was all to be with Jimmy. He’s gone. I want it over.”

Dean doesn’t know how to respond to that. He didn’t even agree to this, but now that he’s faced with the decision, he isn’t sure which one to make.

When night falls, he decides to go back home to at least say goodbye to Sam. He doesn’t want his brother to be sad. He might say goodbye to his father as well. His hearing is already heightened as he stands at the edge of his property, so he listens to the voices inside.

“You did great, Mr. Shurley.

“Thanks, Mr. Winchester. This won’t take much longer. I want to make sure the founder’s archives are accurate.”

“Be sure you document the loss of civilian life at the church.”

“They were hardly civilians, Mr. Winchester.”

“As far as anyone needs to know, they were.” Dean has stepped closer and is now standing next to the house as his father continues to speak. “As the record keeper for the council, what you write will be passed down through generations. Certain details should only be kept between you and me.”

“For example?” John Shurley asks.

“My sons. They will be remembered as the innocent victims of the Battle of Willow Creek, not for their shame.”

“Certainly, Mr. Winchester.”

When Dean hears Jonathan Shurley leave the room, he steps inside to find his father sitting at his desk, writing in his journal. When he sees Dean standing there a look of shock and fear crosses his face.

“Dear God,” he says.

“Even in our death, you only feel shame?”

“You’re one of them now.”

“No, father, I came to say goodbye.”

“I watched you die.”

“You were there when we were shot?”

“I pulled the trigger myself.”

Dean can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“You killed your own sons? What does Sammy think? Does he even know?”

“You leave Sam out of this. You and Adam were both dead to me the moment you sided with the vampires. I only thank God that your mother isn’t alive to see the disgrace you’ve become.”

“I haven’t turned yet. I don’t want to. I’m going to let myself die, Father, please.”

“Yes, you are.”

John grabs a wooden stake he has hidden near the chimney and Dean can’t believe that his father is this uncaring. As John charges at him, Dean pushes him aside and John goes flying against the wall. Dean hadn’t realized the strength he already possesses. John landed on the stake and now Dean feels guilty because his father might die because of him and Sam will be orphaned. 

“Father, I didn’t mean to,” he says as he rushes to his side to try to remove the stake from his stomach.

“Get away from me.”

“Let me help you, please.”

Dean pulls the stake out, but is suddenly overcome by the blood on the stake. Jimmy hadn’t prepared him for the sensation he would feel just being close to it. He’s in a trance as he rubs the stake across his hand, it’s like a drug calling to him, his father’s blood painting his hand red. Without thinking he licks his finger just to get a little taste, but it’s not enough. He swipes at his father’s wound and places his hand against his mouth, getting a better taste of the blood. It’s in that moment that he realizes he screwed up as he feels his body transforming. The thing he had tried to prevent, is the very thing that will more than likely be his undoing.

As his new fangs poke through his gums, he feels strangely powerful and royally pissed at the man lying on the floor, the very man who is supposed to love him, but instead took his life from him and he is now forced to lead this new life. His father’s eyes widen as Dean sinks his fangs into the man’s neck, drinking from him until he takes his last breath, effectively killing him. 

“Dean, oh my god, Dean, what are you doing?” Sam’s voice is heard from the doorway. Dean looks over to see Sam standing there, eyes wide and ready to run. Dean runs to him before he can escape and looks him in the eyes.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Sam nods and Dean thinks this vampire thing might end up being easier than he had originally thought.

“Now, go to your room and wait for me there. I’ll be back to get you once I get Adam.”

“Okay, Dean. I love you,” Sam says as he hugs Dean. Dean’s heart breaks knowing he will eventually have to say goodbye to his younger brother.”

Present Day

Castiel is still trying to process everything he heard. 

“Dean, you’re not a monster. Your dad shot you and your brother in cold blood. In my opinion, the bastard deserved what he got.”

“Yes, but I never should have turned. I should have let myself die.”

“Don’t say that. If you had died, we never would have met.”

Castiel leans in to kiss him and Dean hums.

“I know, but that doesn’t excuse everything that’s happened because I decided to drink blood.”

“I love you and I’ll be upstairs waiting for you when you decide to stop feeling sorry for yourself,” Castiel says as he places Dean’s daylight ring on the cot next to him. When he gets back upstairs, he finds Adam sitting on the couch.

“Is he still being all broody?” Adam snarks.

“No thanks to you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I’m just saying, it doesn’t help that you’ve spent the last 145 years punishing him for Jimmy getting caught.”

“So, this is my fault now?”

“No, it’s no one's fault, Adam. I’m just saying, you’re not exactly innocent. You’ve made it your life’s mission to make him miserable.”

Castiel isn’t sure why Adam looks shocked and offended to hear that, especially when it’s true. Adam stands up.

“Let me ask you a question, in all this important soul searching and all the cleansing of the demon’s of Dean’s past, did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?”

“He said there was more.”

“Yeah, that’s an understatement.”

Adam starts to walk away.

“If there’s more, then why don’t you tell me?”

Adam pauses as if he’s not going to say anything, but decides to give in and tell Castiel the parts that Dean left out.

1864

Adam is sitting under the night sky waiting for death to take hold when he hears Dean walk up behind him with a strange woman next to him.

“What are you doing?” Dean asks.

“Who is that?”

“I brought her for you. She’s a gift.” Dean looks at the girl and tells her to have a seat next to Adam. Adam is confused at his brother’s behavior. He seems different somehow.

“What have you done, Dean?”

“Adam, I’ve been to see father. He came at me. I didn’t know my own strength. There was blood everywhere. He was dying and the blood was too strong. I needed it. I had to have it.”

“You fed?”

“Yes,” Dean says excitedly. “And it’s incredible. My body is exploding with power, Adam. I can hear things from far away. I can see through the darkness. I can move like it’s magic, and the guilt, the pain, Adam I can turn it off like a switch. Jimmy was right. It’s a whole other world out there.”

“Jimmy is dead, Dean,” Adam says as he stands up, his body weak as it’s dying. “There’s no world without him.”

Adam tries to walk away, but Dean grabs hold of him, his strength too much for Adam to fight off.

“No, you can turn that off too. You don’t have to feel that pain anymore.”

“I don’t want it.”

“You’re weak. You’ll be dead soon. You need this. You’ll die.”

“No, I can’t.”

Dean beckons for the woman to come closer and he produces his fangs, something Adam thought he would never see on his brother and Dean bites into her neck.

“I won’t let you die,” Dean tells him.

“No, I can’t.”

“Don’t fight it. We can do this together.”

Adam tries his best to fight back, but the blood is calling to him and he knows it’s pointless to resist. He places his mouth against the woman’s neck and begins to drink her blood. The feeling is euphoric as he bites harder into her neck.

Present Day

“From the moment Dean had his first taste of human blood, he was a different person. I suppose I should thank him for forcing me to turn. It’s been a hell of a ride.”

“Oh my god, he said he wanted to die,” Castiel says, feeling sorry for Adam and now better understanding the guilt Dean has carried all these years. “Now I understand why.”

Castiel goes down to the basement to find Dean gone, and his ring is still lying on the cot. Castiel picks it up, and runs outside to search for Dean, hoping he hasn’t done something stupid.

Dean walks out to the quarry behind his property, the same one he woke up in front of the day he should have died. He has carried the guilt of making Adam become a vampire all these years and he’s ready for it to end. He hopes that Castiel will forgive him, but he plans to stand here until the sun comes up and die like he should have 145 years ago. His mind takes him back to that fateful day when Adam got his first taste of blood.

1864

“How do you feel?” Dean asks Adam when he returns from his run around the woods.

“You were right. It is a whole new world.”

“We can explore it together. We will take Sam with us and when he becomes of age, we will make him forget us. I don’t want him stuck here without any family.”

“You got what you wanted. You and me for all eternity, but hear this brother, I will make it an eternity of misery for you.”

Dean watches Adam walk away, in disbelief of what he said. He hadn’t expected Adam to be upset about becoming a vampire. Even without Jimmy, he thought this would be what Adam would have wanted.

Alicia walks up after Adam departs.

“You’ve transitioned,” she states matter of factly.

“You’d have rather found me dead?”

“Jimmy saved my life once. I owed him, but that doesn’t mean I’d wish his curse on anyone.”

“It feels more like a gift.”

“That will change.”

“Why is that?”

“Because even in death, your heart is pure Dean. I sense that about you. That will be your curse, and the doppleganger’s blood will be your undoing.”

Dean doesn’t know how to respond to that. She just walks away before he can get any answers. What has he done? What curse has he bestowed upon him and his brother and what is a doppelganger?

Present Day

Dean is slowly spiraling out of control as he thinks back to that day. He’s pulled out of his thoughts by Castiel.

“Dean? Adam told me the rest of the story. I thought I might find you here.”

“I should have died that night, just like I had chosen. I should have let Adam die too. Sam didn’t deserve to be subjected to the life we gave him for five years even if he didn’t remember it after.”

“But you didn’t die, and if you die now, it’s not going to change what happened.”

“Every single person that’s been hurt, every single life that’s been lost is because of me.”

Castiel just stares at him with a worried look on his face before speaking again.

“The night that my parents died, I blew off family night so that I could go to some party. I ended up getting stranded and they had to come pick me up. That’s why we ended up in the car at Wickery Bridge and that’s why they died. Our actions are what set things in motion, but we have to live with that.”

Dean can feel his eyes begin to water.

“I made a choice, Cas, and because of that choice a lot of people were hurt.”

“You also made a choice to not hurt anyone on purpose, to reject the person that the blood made you. You made a choice to be good, Dean.”

“Please don’t do that.”

“That’s the person that jumped in the water to save the family whose car had driven off the bridge.”

“Please don’t make this all okay.”

“That’s the person who saved my life.”

“You don’t understand, Cas.”

“Then tell me.”

“It hurts me. It hurts me knowing what I’ve done and that pain–that pain is with me all the time and every day I think that if I just give myself over to the blood and not fight so hard to not hurt anyone, I can make that pain stop. It would be that easy and every day I fight that and I’m so terrified that one day I’m not going to want to fight that anymore, Cas and the next time I hurt somebody, it could be you.”

“There won’t be a next time, Dean.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Maybe I don’t, but what I do know is that you could take this,” Castiel says as he holds up Dean’s daylight ring, “throw it in the quarry and let the sun rise or you could take this ring and put it on and keep fighting.”

Castiel places the ring in Dean’s hand and gives him a tender kiss. “It’s your choice.”

Dean struggles with that choice as Castiel slowly walks away. He holds the ring in his hand and contemplates getting rid of it and he looks at Castiel walking away and can’t imagine never holding him again.

“Castiel..”

Castiel turns around and Dean puts the ring on his finger before walking towards Castiel and giving him a passionate kiss. They hold on to one another and whisper I love you’s and promises of forever. Dean doesn’t think he will ever be able to live without Castiel.

They walk back into the house together where Adam is still sitting in the library.

“Little boy lost,” the other vampire says.

“I’ll be upstairs, okay?” Castiel tells Dean.

“Okay.”

“Goodnight, Adam,” Castiel says before heading up to Dean’s room.

“Thank you,” Dean tells Adam, knowing that his brother had a hand in trying to pull him back from the edge.

“No, Dean, thank you. You’re back to your normal self and I’m the big bad brother again. All is right in the world.”

“I mean it. Thank you for helping him take care of me.”

“You brood too much. Everything on this planet is not your fault. My actions, what I do is not your fault. I own them. They belong to me. You are not allowed to feel my guilt.”

“Do you feel guilt?”

“If I wanted to, it’s there.”

Satisfied with his response, Dean gets up to walk out of the room, but Adam continues talking.

“Alicia waited until after I turned to tell me she’d been successful in protecting Jimmy with her spell. She didn’t want me to know about the tomb. She just thought it would impact my decision.”

“She didn’t want either one of us to turn,” Dean adds. “She said it was a curse.”

“Witches. Judgy little things.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want you to know because I hated you and I still do.”

Dean nods, “I know.”

“But, not because you forced me to turn.”

“Then why?”

Adam stands up and walks towards Dean.

“Because he turned you. It was just supposed to be me, Dean, just me.” Adam says as he leaves the room.

Dean doesn’t know what to do with that information. This whole time his brother has been hating him for something that wasn’t even his choice. He never asked for Jimmy to have some weird obsession with both brothers. Dean heads up to bed to find Castiel already asleep. He climbs in next to his boyfriend and kisses him gently before falling asleep next to him. 

The next day they get ready for school and Adam teases Dean as always for being a 182-year-old high school student, and Dean sticks his tongue out at his brother, like a mature 182-year-old adult.

They don’t make it very far into the door before Mr. Bass greets them, looking frantic for some reason. Instead of classes being taught today, everyone is working on the floats for the Founder’s Day Parade. Evidently, useless celebrations are more important than education at this school. 

“Hey, Mr. Bass,” Castiel greets Aaron when he walks over.

“Come with me. We need to talk,” Aaron says frantically as he walks away from the cafeteria with Dean and Castiel on his heels. They end up in Aaron’s classroom and he spills the beans about a surprise guest that made her appearance in Mystic Falls last night. 

“I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’m just going to get it out there. Becky came to visit me last night and she wants a meeting with you, Castiel.”

“Absolutely not,” Dean says. If Becky is a vampire, there’s no telling how unhinged she is.

“You should probably hear the rest of the story before you decide. I tried to keep you out of it, Castiel, but she threatened to start killing everyone in Mystic Falls, starting with my students.”

“Oh my god,” Castiel exclaims. 

“That was my reaction. She isn’t the woman I married. There’s something different about her, other than her being a vampire now.”

“My guess is she’s turned off her humanity,” Dean adds.

“What do you mean?” Castiel asks him.

“A vampire has the ability to turn off our humanity, our emotions. Essentially, we won’t be able to feel anything. Some vampires choose to do it because it’s easier to kill without feeling guilty, some do it so they don’t have to feel anything.” 

“Have you ever turned off your humanity?”

Dean nods. “Right after I turned, Adam had already left and it was just me and Sam. When I was human, I was what you might call an empath, so that was heightened as a vampire and when I got my first taste of blood and couldn’t stop, I killed someone and the guilt was too much, so I abandoned my emotions. Sam was able to keep me in check enough not to kill him and Charlie discovered me as she was passing through town, and showed me how to feed without killing someone.”

“That’s awful. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

No matter what Dean tells Castiel, he can never scare him away and that scares Dean the most.

“Do you think you can get Adam over here? Maybe he can talk some sense into Becky.” Aaron asks, effectively interrupting Dean and Castiel’s conversation. Dean had actually forgotten the teacher was there. He was too enchanted by Castiel.

Dean shoots Adam a text and they sit in silence until he arrives.

“Thanks for coming,” Aaron says to Adam as he walks through the door.

“Yeah, sure, what’s with the secret meeting?”

“I saw Becky last night.”

“Becky’s here? In town?”

“Yes, and she’s threatened to kill everyone if I don’t deliver Castiel to her.”

“Did you ask her about Uncle Chuck? Are they working together?” Adam asks.

“No.”

“No, they’re not?”

“No, I didn’t ask.”

“What about the invention that he’s looking for?”

“Didn’t ask.”

“Does she know about the tomb vampires?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did words completely escape you?”

“You know, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions.”

“Enough with the questions, Adam. To avoid anyone else getting hurt, I’m going to meet with her.” Castiel says.

“You don’t have to Cas. She’s only been a vampire for two years. Adam and I are older and stronger than her. We can take her down,” Dean tells him.

“If I don’t meet with her, I’m going to regret it.”

“Okay, but I’m going to be there. You’re not meeting her alone,” Dean says. 

Aaron gives Castiel her number and Castiel sends her a text. She responds by saying that she’s going to meet him at The Roadhouse in an hour. 

“I’m going to be in a booth in the corner. I’ll be able to hear everything,” Dean tells Castiel when they get to the diner. Castiel gives him a kiss that lingers a little and he sits down to wait for Becky.

“Can you hear me?” Castiel says when Dean walks over to his own booth. Dean nods, letting Castiel know that he hears him loud and clear.

Dean’s view is blocked when Becky walks up and sits down in the chair across from Castiel.

“Hello, Castiel,” the woman says. “You look just like him. It’s eerie.”

“You’ve met Jimmy?” Castiel asks.

“He found me after I turned. Genetic curiosity, I suppose. He would be fascinated by you.”

“Is that how you can walk in the day?” Dean can’t see what Castiel is referencing, but he notices Becky holding up a necklace that she is wearing.

“Jimmy helped me obtain it.”

“Who’s my father?”

“Not important. He was a teenage waste of space.”

“A name would be nice.”

“It would, wouldn’t it? You ask a lot of questions.”

“Why did you compel that man to kill himself right after he told me to stop looking for you?”

“Dramatic impact. I wish it would have been more effective.”

“Human life means that little to you?”

“It means nothing to me. It’s just part of being what I am.”

“No, it’s not. I know other vampires. That’s not true.”

“Your boyfriend over there in the booth in the corner pretending he’s waiting to be served instead of listening to our conversation. Dean Winchester. Why Dean? Why didn’t you go for Adam? Or do you enjoy them both like Jimmy did?”

Dean isn’t sure he wants to hear the answer. He knows Jimmy and Adam have become friends and he isn’t keen on having history repeat itself. 

“I’m done playing your game,” Castiel answers. “Why did you want to meet me? It can’t be to just catch up.”

“Because I’m curious about you, but the real reason is, I want what your uncle wants, Jonathan Shurley’s invention.”

“How do you know my uncle?”

“I used to spend a lot of time here when I was younger. Chuck had a crush on me for years. He was the first one that told me about vampires.”

“So, what made you want to be one?”

“It’s a very long list of reasons, Castiel, all of which I’m sure you’ve thought about.”

Castiel shakes his head no.

“That was your first lie,” Becky continues. “It’s inevitable. You’re going to get old and Dean won’t. Forever doesn’t last very long when you’re human.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have what you’re looking for,” Castiel stands up, but Becky grabs hold of his arm and Dean starts to walk over.

“Sit down and tell your boyfriend to walk away.”

Castiel nods at Dean to give him the signal he’s okay and Becky continues talking.

“I want the invention.”

“I don’t have it.”

“I know that, but Adam does and you’re gonna get it for me.”

“He’s not gonna give it to me.”

“Then the blood will be on your hands,” She stands up and grabs her coat.”It was nice meeting you, Castiel,” she says as she walks out the door.

Castiel sits at the table looking distraught and as he’s walking over to him, Patience walks through the door. It looks like she’s getting ready to walk over to Castiel, but when she gets one look at Dean, she turns the other way.

Dean walks over and gives Castiel a hug, and it’s obvious that Castiel is holding back his tears.

“I’m sorry, Cas. I wish things could be different.”

“It’s not your fault, Dean. I think I just want to be alone.”

Castiel leaves ahead of Dean and Dean finds Adam and Aaron waiting outside for him.

“She’s still threatening Cas for the invention. I think we need to give it to her before this ends in a blood bath,” Dean tells Adam.

“We don’t even know what it does yet. I’m not giving her what she wants. I’ll find her and talk some sense into her.”

Dean hopes that Adam is able to get through to her because a vampire who has abandoned their emotions is dangerous. When Adam comes home later that night, he informs Dean that he handled it and Becky shouldn’t be bothering them anymore. 

Dean still keeps his guard up because the Becky he met doesn’t seem to be someone who will just give in. His suspicion is confirmed when he arrives at the school the next day to help put together the floats for the parade. There is a commotion by one of the floats and he sees Inias on the ground with his arm trapped under a trailer. There are a few people trying to lift it off him, but they aren’t having any success, so Dean offers his assistance. They lift the trailer off him and he’s able to slide out, holding his right arm which is more than likely broken.

Amanda runs over to check on Inias and Dean tells her to call an ambulance as he checks Inias over. While he’s sitting with Inias, he hears Castiel yelling for Gabriel. He looks over to where Castiel is and he’s yelling his brother’s name as he searches the crowd. Dean leaves Inias with Lee as he rushes over to Castiel.

“Cas, what’s wrong?”

“Becky, she took Gabe. She’s going to kill him if we don’t give her the invention.”

“Come on, let’s go somewhere private to talk.”

Dean and Castiel walk into the school and run into Patience as they find an empty classroom to talk and they fill her in on what’s going on.

“Where’s the device?” Patience asks.

“Adam has it. He’s going to be difficult to reason with.”

“Then we’ll go to him. I’ll talk to him.”

“He’s not going to hand it over, especially if what you’re telling me is true and it’s harmful to vampires.”

“What if it’s not?”

“What do you mean?” Patience asks.

“You have Alicia’s grimoire. Do you know how to lift the spell that makes it work?”

“I should. She has the counterspell listed and I’ve been keeping up with my magic.”

“Good, then let’s go tell Adam that we can give them the invention, but we just won’t tell them that it doesn’t work.”

Dean isn’t sure Adam will still go for it, but it’s worth a shot. Just as expected, when they get to the house, Adam is resistant to their suggestion.

“Absolutely not,” Adam says as soon as they explain to him what their plan is.

“Just hear me out,” Castiel says.

“I’m not going to give the device to Becky who's going to give it to Chuck who’s going to turn around and kill me. I like being a living dead person.”

Dean rolls his eyes because that makes no damn sense even though it does and Dean will have to file that phrase away later in case he needs to use it sometime.

“We just told you it will be useless. Patience can take its power away,” Castiel reminds him.

“I don’t trust her.”

“I can remove the original spell,” Patience adds.

“Becky and Chuck will never know,” Castiel says.

“No, I’ll rescue Gabe my own way.”

“Really?” Dean is interested to see what his dumbass brother has to say. “How are you going to do that, because Becky is a vampire and Gabe can be dead the second you walk in the door.”

“Are you even up for this?” Adam directs his question at Patience. “I mean, no offense, you’re no Alicia Banes. Alicia knew what she was doing.”

“I’ve been practicing,” Patience answers.

“It’s not piano lessons, honey.” 

Dean doesn’t think this will end well as he watches Patience walk over to Adam. Then she asks him what his favorite book is and when he tells her, she focuses on the bookcase and a book flies into his hand. 

“Well, what do you know? My favorite book. I don’t remember this being in our library though.”

“It wasn’t,” Patience adds with a smirk.

“We’re doing this, Adam, and we’re going to do it my way. Now give me the device.”

Dean is already hard in his pants watching Castiel boss Adam around as if the vampire wouldn’t be able to kill him in a split second. Dean doesn’t even have to defend Castiel most of the time. He does well enough on his own. Dean watches Adam’s reluctance resolve and he hands the device over to Castiel.

Castiel hands it to Patience and they all stand there quietly as she focuses her energy on the device. The lights flicker as Patience looks at the grimoire and chants. There is a spark that ignites from the device and then the lights return to normal.

“It’s done,” she says.

Castiel takes the device from Patience. “Okay, I guess now we just give it to Becky and get my brother back.”

Castiel sends Becky a text and they agree to meet up in the town square. Dean and Adam stand in the shadows in case they are needed. Becky appears and looks just as smug as earlier.

“Where’s the device?” Becky asks.

“Where’s my brother?”

“This isn’t a negotiation. Where’s the invention?”

“Where’s my brother?”

“Do you really think that I came alone?” 

Two of Becky’s lackeys walk up behind Castiel and Dean and Adam take that as their cue and come into view.

“Do you really think that I came alone?” Castiel asks as Becky turns around to see Dean and Adam standing behind her.

“For God's sake call home.”

Dean can hear Gabriel on the other end of the phone which means he’s safe. Castiel tells him that he will be home soon and he hands the device over to Becky.

“Thank you,” Castiel tells her.

“For what?”

“For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact.”

“Goodbye, Castiel. As long as you have a Winchester in your proximity, you’re doomed. Jimmy was smart. He got out, but we all know that you’re not Jimmy.”

Becky begins to walk away and Dean can see the disgust on Castiel’s face. He turns to look at Becky.

“Hey, Becky, one more thing,” A stake falls from Castiel’s coat, one Dean didn’t even know was there and he stabs her in the stomach. Before Becky has a chance to retaliate, Dean is rushing to Castiel’s side. “Stay the fuck away from my family or the next time it will go in your heart. You’re right about me not being Jimmy, because I don’t use people to do my dirty work. I can take care of it myself.”

Becky snarls her fangs and Adam is behind her snapping her neck before she can get a move on Castiel.

“I am so turned on right now,” Dean says as he pulls Castiel into a hug. 

“I told you I’m no damsel in distress. I’ll never let anyone or anything hurt my family,” Castiel says.

“Well, let’s get you home so you can see your brother.”

They drop Castiel off at his house and Dean and Adam drive back to their house, Adam pouring them both a glass of whiskey.

“So, do you want to break the news to Castiel or should I?” Adam asks completely out of the blue.

“What news?” Dean asks.

“The news about Chuck.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Am I the only one around here that has the ability to put two and two together? The news about Chuck and Becky.”

Dean still doesn’t know where this is going, but he wishes Adam would just get to the point sometime this century.

“Becky told us she dated Chuck when she was 15, she gets pregnant, and ends up at the doctor’s office of Chuck’s brother. What do you think Chuck’s role is in all this, hmm? Go ahead, think about it. I’ll wait. It’s not like I’m getting any older.”

Dean is certain he knows what Adam is trying to imply, but he just doesn’t want to believe it.

“So, you think that Chuck is Cas’s father?”

“Dingdingdingding.”

“What proof do you have?”

“I don’t need any proof. That’s a DNA test for Chuck, Cas, and Maury Povich to deal with, but I know how well you deal with these big bombshells, so sleep tight.”

Dean isn’t going to sleep tight, because despite what he told his brother, he can’t deny that the evidence is pretty damning and he can only hope it won’t destroy Castiel when the truth comes out, especially since Castiel can’t stand Chuck.

Chapter Text

Castiel hates Founder’s Day as much as someone would hate having the plague, but as a member of one of the founding families (he now wonders if he can play the adopted card to get out of it), he is unfortunately required to be in attendance.

“I hate wearing suits. Who in their right mind would wear a suit everyday anyway?” he tells Lydia as she helps him get ready.

“Well, this is how they dressed back then, so just suck it up.” She runs her hand across his back to get rid of any wrinkles that might be there. “Now, about your hair.”

“Patience says it makes me look sexy.”

“Yes, but they didn’t have wild hair back then. Let me help you flatten it.”

“If you say so.”

He lets Lydia flatten his hair and use hairspray to keep it from moving and then he drives over to the school to search for Dean. He finds him near the bleachers talking with Adam and Castiel can’t help but notice the open mouthed gazes that both brothers are giving him and it suddenly dawns on him that he must look exactly like Jimmy did back then, so for the sake of not making things more awkward, he gives a smile and a bow before walking over to Dean.

“Look at you looking all handsome,” Castiel says.

“Look who’s talking,” Dean says as he pulls Castiel in for a kiss.

“I’m leaving before I puke in my mouth some more,” Adam says before walking away.

They giggle and then Dean gets serious.

“There’s something I need to tell you before Adam has a chance to tell you in his usual doochey way,” Dean says.

“What is it?”

“We were talking last night and all evidence points to Chuck being your biological father. He and Becky dated when they were teenagers. It would make sense.”

Castiel feels like the ground has swallowed him whole, and he’s in some sort of nightmare. 

“Please don’t say that. I have hated that man my whole life and now you’re telling me that he might be my father?”

“I don’t know for sure. I just didn’t want to keep any secrets from you.”

“Thanks for telling me, but I really hope it isn’t true.”

Castiel spots Gabriel walking to one of the floats and he catches up to him. They haven’t spoken much since Gabriel snooped in Castiel’s journal and discovered everything that he had been keeping from Gabriel.

“Gabe, wait up.”

“Go away, Castiel.”

“Ouch, you aren’t even going to call me Cassie? Are you really that mad at me?”

“I just need some time away from you, but if you want me to get over it, just have Dean erase my memories again.”

“Please don’t be like that. Just give me a chance to explain.”

Gabriel keeps walking and Castiel knows he has his work cut out for him if he’s going to gain his brother’s trust again. Castiel suffers through the parade, standing on the sidelines to wave at Amanda who is front and center on the Miss Mystic Falls float, and then he and Dean change their clothes in the locker room so they can at least be comfortable in their own clothing.

When the festivities kick off that night, they meet up at the town square waiting for the fireworks, when they are joined by Adam.

“Okay, time to go,” Adam says cryptically.

“What are you talking about?” Castiel asks. 

“Long story short, the tomb vamps are here and they are after revenge. They plan on attacking the founding families, which last I checked, you are a part of,” Adam tells him.

“Okay, but Gabriel is here, too.”

“Let’s go find him,” Dean says as Adam walks off to search the crowd and Dean and Castiel look in the opposite direction. They are scanning the crowd when the fireworks begin and just as they are crossing the street, Dean drops to his knees, crying out in pain as he holds his head as if he’s having a migraine.

“What’s going on? What’s happening?” Castiel asks him, dropping to his knees next to Dean.

“My head,” Dean says.

Castiel is trying to comfort Dean when Aaron runs up to them and helps Dean up, walking him over to a set of stairs.

“I don’t know what happened. He just dropped,” Castiel tells Aaron.

“He’s not the only one. The cops are grabbing everyone who’s gone down and injecting them with vervain.”

“What?” By now they’ve made it to the bottom of the stairs that lead to the basement of a building so they are out of sight of anyone else. Then it dawns on Castiel what’s going on. “They’re rounding up the vampires.”

“I’m going to see if I can find Adam. If he was still here, they probably picked him up as well.”

“Okay, just be careful.”

Aaron leaves and Castiel sits with Dean who seems to be coming back to himself. Castiel rubs his hand against Dean’s back.

“Are you okay?” Castiel asks when it appears that Dean is somewhat coherent again.

“It’s like needles were just piercing my skull and then they just stopped.”

Ten minutes later, Aaron makes his way back to them to give them an update.

“I saw at least five vampires go down. They’re taking them to your family’s old building,” Aaron tells Castiel.

“It’s the Shurley device,” Dean says. “It has to be.”

“But, how did Chuck get it to work? Patience unspelled it.” Castiel says.

“Maybe she didn’t,” Aaron adds.

“She did. We saw her do it.”

“No, he’s right. Think about it. We asked Patience to deactivate a device that could protect people against vampires,” Dean adds.

Castiel places his hand on Dean’s shoulder. “So we could protect you.”

“And Adam. Vampires.”

Castiel thinks on that for a minute, and while he wants to believe his friend wouldn’t betray him like that, Dean has a point.

“Where’s Adam?” Dean asks Aaron.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t able to find him, and I haven’t seen him since all this started.”

“Can you get my brother and take him home?” Castiel asks Aaron.

“Of course,” Aaron says.

“Let’s go,” Castiel says as he helps Dean to his feet. They begin walking towards Castiel’s dad’s old medical practice when Dean pauses as if he’s trying to focus on something.

“Wait, I can hear them,” Dean says. “The building is on fire.

“What, oh my god.”

They walk towards the building and see Chuck standing outside.

“Where’s Adam?” Castiel asks him.

“With the rest of them, where he should be. It’s over for Adam.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Why, because I’m doing what should have been done 145 years ago? This is the right thing, Castiel.”

Castiel looks over at Dean who is slowly inching towards the building and Chuck nods his head in that direction.

“Go ahead. You won’t make it out. You’ll save me the trouble of killing you myself.”

“You know the building well, is there another entrance?” Dean asks Castiel.

“There’s a utility door around the side,” Castiel tells him.

Castiel follows behind Dean, but Chuck holds him back.

“Take one more step and I’ll alert those deputies that they missed a vampire?”

“I’m asking you not to,” Castiel says as he watches Dean disappear around the corner.

“That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“As my father, it should.”

Taken aback by the statement, Chuck releases his grip on Castiel, “You know?”

“I wasn’t sure, but now I am.”

He uses this moment to follow Dean into the building, knowing Chuck won’t stop him now. Dean was too far ahead already, and Castiel doesn’t see him. He must have gone inside already.

“Dean,” Castiel yells and he comes up to the door to see Patience standing outside of it. He ignores her and tries to run inside the building.

“Cas, you can’t go in there,” Patience says as she grabs Castiel’s arm.

“Patience, what are you doing?”

“I’m sorry I lied to you.”

Patience grips Castiel’s arm tighter and then begins chanting in Enochian.

“Patience, I’ve got to get in there.”

Castiel tries to remove her grip on him, but she’s a lot stronger than she looks and she keeps chanting. As soon as she stops chanting, Dean and Adam emerge from the building coughing. Castiel pulls Dean into a hug, and by default Adam, since Dean is holding onto him.

The sirens for the firetruck are heard in the distance, so the four of them escape into The Roadhouse, so they don’t have to explain what happened. Patience gives Dean and Castiel some space.

“I was so worried about you. Don’t ever do that again,” Castiel says as he kisses Dean, thankful that his boyfriend is safe.

“I’m sorry to have worried you, but I needed to save my brother.”

“I know,” Castiel says. “Speaking of brothers, I should probably go check on Gabriel. I just got a message from Lydia that he’s at home.”

“Okay, just call me when you get home, so I know you made it safely.”

“I will. First I have to swing by the school and grab my outfit from earlier.”

Castiel gives Dean a kiss before heading to the school, but when he gets there, he can’t find his clothing anywhere. He knows he left them in the locker room with Dean’s clothes that are still sitting there, but someone must have taken them because they aren’t there now.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, he just drives back home, but on his way, he receives a call from Inias that he, Amanda, and Lee were in an accident, and Amanda is in surgery. They aren’t sure if she’s going to make it.

“Oh my god,” Castiel says. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He hangs up with Inias and calls Dean to let him know that he made it home safely.

“Hey, sexy,” Dean says. 

“Hey, I made it home. I couldn’t find my clothes at the school. I looked everywhere, but someone must have taken them. I’m just going to check on Gabe and then go to the hospital. Amanda was in an accident and they aren’t sure if she’s going to make it. She’s in surgery right now,and I want to be there when she wakes up.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there.”

“Alright, I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Castiel steps inside and yells Gabriel’s name at the bottom of the stairs. Then, he hears a noise coming from the kitchen like a pot falling onto the floor. He walks in and it takes everything in him to not lose the contents of his stomach. Chuck is lying on the floor, bleeding out from a stab wound in his stomach and his fingers have been severed and are lying on the counter with the ring that protects him from death by a Supernatural being.

He grabs a towel and places it against Chuck’s wound as he dials 911. 

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“Hi, I need an ambulance to 2104 Maple St.”

As he’s talking, Castiel hears Chuck whisper, “Behind you.”

Oh god, is the person who stabbed him still in the house? He drops the phone in a panic as he looks behind him, but doesn’t see anyone. He picks up the knife as if horror movies never taught him anything and he slowly walks out of the kitchen to inspect the rest of the house. As he’s creeping along towards the entrance to the living room, the hairs on his neck stand on end as he feels a presence run past him. He turns, but the room is empty. He turns again as he hears a noise and the door suddenly shuts on its own. This is creeping him the fuck out.

Then, he remembers about coming home to check on Gabriel, so he runs up to his room to find him passed out on the bed. He shakes him and he wakes up with a start, but something seems different about him. Castiel’s heart nearly stops when he notices an empty vial of blood on the table next to him along with an empty bottle of painkillers, a bottle Castiel knew was full this morning. 

“Gabe, what the hell did you do?”

Dean is on his way to the hospital when Castiel calls him to tell him there’s been an accident at his house. Dean whips Baby around and makes it to Castiel’s house a few minutes later, ignoring a few traffic laws along the way. When he arrives at Castiel’s house, there is an ambulance there and Chuck is being wheeled out of the house on a stretcher. Dean tries to get into the house, but a cop at the door stops him.

“He’s okay,” Castiel says from the top of the stairs and the officer lets Dean walk in. Dean runs upstairs with Castiel to Gabriel’s room.

“What happened?” Dean asks.

“He says Meg gave him her blood and then he took these pills and he looks different. I don’t know what’s going on. Please tell me he didn’t turn.”

Dean kneels on the floor so that he’s facing Gabriel. He looks him over and everything looks good. 

“He’s fine.”

“So, you mean I’m not a vampire? Dammit.”

“Gabriel, don’t say that. Why would you want that?” Castiel asks and Dean tries not to take offense. He gets why Castiel wouldn’t want his brother to become a vampire, but the other boy doesn’t have to sound so disgusted by it.

“Did you hear what happened to Meg? Adam told me. She’s dead. They killed her.”

Dean has had enough of this emo crap from Castiel’s brother. Time for a wake up call.

“Gabe, listen to me,” he gently forces the other boy to sit on the bed. “I’m sorry about Meg, but it’s very important to me that you listen right now. With every passing moment, Meg’s blood is leaving your system. If you tried to kill yourself right now, you could really die. Do you understand me?” Dean asks him with a stern voice.

“Dean, ease up,” Castiel says.

“I understand,” Gabriel whispers with a tear in his eye.

“What about the pills that he took?” Castiel asks.

“He didn’t take enough for it to kill him. Meg’s blood actually helped with that.”

The deputy from downstairs knocks on the bedroom door.

“Mr. Shurley?”

“I’ll be right there,” Castiel tells him.

“You need to be at the hospital. I’ll stay with Gabe.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Gabriel protests.

“Yes, you do,” Castiel says.

Gabriel doesn’t argue and Castiel leaves while Dean stays. Gabriel tells Dean that he’s not in much of a mood to talk. He ends up laying on his bed and falling asleep. Dean paces in his room and a half hour passes when he hears the door open and close downstairs. He sees Castiel walking into the living room.

“How’s Amanda?” Dean asks him.

“Not good,” Castiel says as he pulls Dean into a hug. “Just what I needed.” he whispers as he rests his head on Dean’s shoulder.

Something feels off about the way they are hugging and the pitch of Castiel’s voice is slightly off. Castiel looks at Dean and just as the other boy gets ready to lean in for a kiss, Dean realizes what’s different. This isn’t Castiel, it’s Jimmy. Dean produces his fangs and snarls at Jimmy who does the same in return. 

Dean throws him across the room and he falls into the couch before quickly getting back on his feet.

Jimmy,” Dean says.

“At least I fooled one of you,” Jimmy says.

Dean runs up to him and slams him against the wall.

“Feel better?” Jimmy says as Dean throws him against the opposite wall, ready to rip his head off. Jimmy is just smiling at Dean as if this is a game to him. The front door opens and Jimmy twists Dean’s arm, breaking the bone before he jumps out the window. Dean looks to the front door to see Castiel and Adam walking through it.

“Dean?” Castiel says when he notices Dean standing up.

“Cas.”

“What happened?”

“Jimmy happened,” Adam says.

“What the hell is going on?” Castiel asks.

“I think you might want to sit down, Cas.”

Dean guides Castiel over to the couch to sit down and tells him about Jimmy’s sudden reappearance in town. 

“Oh my god, I have to go tell Gabriel. I don’t want to keep secrets anymore.”

“I know.”

While Castiel is upstairs, Dean and Adam clean up the mess made by Jimmy and Dean’s scuffle.

“Did he say what he wanted?” Adam asks Dean.

“No.”

“He certainly knows how to make an entrance.”

“He said he fooled one of us at least. What does that mean?

“He pretended to be Cas, too, earlier when I showed up to tell Gabe about Meg.”

Before Dean can ask more questions, Castiel walks in.

“Well, Gabe is about as good as he can be. This whole thing is just fucked up,” Castiel says.

“I know. We’ll try to figure it out though.”

“Jimmy has been in this house, which means he’s been invited in. What are we going to do?” Castiel asks.

“Move?” Adam says sarcastically.

“Very helpful, thank you,” Castiel tells him.

“If Jimmy wants you dead, there is zero you can do about it. You will be dead, but you’re not, so clearly he has other plans.”

“Right, and we need to find out what those other plans are and not provoke him in the process,” Dean tells his brother.

“Maybe Chuck knows something and that’s why Jimmy tried to kill him,” Castiel adds.

“He’s Jimmy. He loves to play games and you’re fooling yourself if you think you’re going to find out what he’s up to before he wants you to know,” Adam states.

“No, Cas is right. Chuck could know something through Becky.” Dean looks at Castiel. “Your mother was in touch with Jimmy so maybe we can go to the hospital and talk to Chuck.”

“I have a better idea,” Adam says, “I’m just going to ignore the asshole.”

“Is that smart?”

“If Jimmy thinks he’s being ignored, it will lure him out.”

“Yeah and then what?” Dean asks.

“Stake him, rip his head off, something poetic. I’ll think of something.”

Adam leaves and Dean and Castiel drive over to the hospital to pay a visit to Chuck.

He’s sleeping when they make it into his room. 

“Chuck,” Castiel says softly. Chuck opens his eyes and begins panicking, reaching for his call bell and Dean grabs his hand to keep him from pushing the button.

“I’m Castiel, I’m not Jimmy,” Castiel clarifies which is probably the reason for the freakout.

“We know he did this to you,” Dean states.

“We need to know why,” Castiel says.

Chuck asks, “Where is he?”

“You tell us,” Dean says.

“I don’t know,” Chuck says as he tries to sit up.

Dean gently pushes him back. “You’re a little too weak to play a tough guy. Why don’t you just sit back and answer a few questions?”

Castiel places Chuck’s ring in his hand, the one that protects him from death by Supernatural beings, the same one Aaron has. Dean can only imagine the pain that he went through when Jimmy chopped the fingers from his hand so that the ring wouldn’t protect him.

“Please, tell us why he’s here. What does he want?” Castiel asks.

Chuck just sits there and Dean is growing tired of his games.

“He’ll try again. We can’t help you if you don’t confide in us.”

“In you?” Chuck asks as he shoots a glare at Dean.

“Your son then.” Dean adds.

“My son should have driven a stake through your heart by now,” he pauses and then speaks again. “I never spoke with Jimmy directly. He never trusted me. So, either kill me or get out, because I can’t stand the sight of you with my son.”

“You see the world with such hatred,” Castiel tells him. “It’s gonna get you killed.”

Castiel leaves the room and Dean remains standing there and makes a split second decision that Chuck needs to be taught a lesson. He grabs Chuck's face and pins him against his pillow.

“You might be okay with dying, but I have a better plan for you.”

Dean takes a bite out of his own wrist and rests it against Chuck’s mouth, forcing the other man to swallow his blood.

“You now have my blood in your system. All I have to do is kill you. Now, take my advice. Leave town. Cas doesn’t want you here. You have 24 hours before the blood leaves your system. That’s enough time to disappear, or so help me Chuck, I will turn you into a vampire and I will watch you hate yourself more than you already do.” 

He releases him and watches as he tries to wipe the blood away.

“The clock starts now,” Dean says as he walks out the door.

Dean finds Castiel outside. 

“I just visited Amanda. She’s doing a lot better since Adam gave her some of his blood to heal her. I don’t think she would have made it otherwise.”

“That’s great.”

“I just have to go home and pick up Lydia and Gabe so we can go to the Richardsons for the Mayor’s memorial service.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there.”

Dean leaves Castiel to pick up his brother and aunt and he heads over to the memorial. Not only do they have to figure out what Jimmy’s endgame is, but they also have the mystery of why the vampire device affected Mayor Richardson, who isn’t a vampire. Adam said he was gathered up and placed in the basement and one of the tomb vampires snapped his neck. Amelia is on a rampage trying to hold someone responsible for her husband’s death and from what Dean understands, the device also affected Lee which is what caused the accident that put Amanda in the hospital. He was driving at the time and if he felt the same way Dean felt, he can understand how he lost control of the car.

Dean is looking around for Adam once he arrives at the former mayor’s mansion and he sees a door swing open and catches a glimpse of Jimmy with his hand at Patience’s throat, no doubt threatening her. 

“Jimmy.” 

“Dean.”

“Leave her alone.”

“Okay,” he says as he releases her and brushes his hand across Dean’s chest as he walks by. Dean follows him.

“What are you doing here?”

“After the way you treated me last night, I thought that a public meeting would be less violent,” he tells Dean as he grabs a drink from one of the trays as they walk through the house.

“Taking this a little far, don’t you think? Cas could walk in at any moment.”

“Cas, huh? I see you’re still nicknaming people. After all, we both know Jimmy wasn’t my name until I met you,” he says with a devilish grin and Dean rolls his eyes. “Risking him walking in is part of the fun. Adam’s here, somewhere. I’m avoiding him.”

“Well, Cas will be here any minute, so to avoid revealing your existence sooner than you probably like, I say we take this conversation outside.”

“If you wish,” Jimmy says as they make their way outside,”The Richardson’s have a lot more land than they used to. The possessions of all the tomb vampires built them a fortune.”

“Yeah, why did you want them dead? You’re the one who turned most of them.”

“There’s nothing more annoying than a vengeful vampire. Just ask John Shurley.”

“I didn’t know you were around to witness that. He had it coming though. He was partly responsible for my death. I couldn’t let him get away with it.”

They stop near one of the decorative benches near the end of the property.

“You haven’t changed at all, have you,” Dean asks him.

“But you have. You’re stronger; meaner. It’s sexy,” Jimmy says as he licks his lips. Even after 145 years, the older vampire still hasn’t lost his game.

“Don’t flirt with me, Jimmy. I’m not Adam. I haven’t spent 145 years obsessed with you.”

“Yeah, based on your choice of men, I beg to differ. Though I will admit, it does bother me that you’ve fallen in love with someone else.”

“I was never in love with you, Jimmy. You compelled me. None of my feelings were real.”

“Believe what you want, Dean, but I know the truth and deep down, so do you,” Jimmy says as he places his hand on Dean’s chest.

“The truth? Well, the truth is you’re the same lying, selfish, manipulative asshole that you’ve always been. So whatever it is that brought you here, why don’t you just get on with it and leave town, because if you don’t, I will hunt you down and I will rip your heart out.”

Jimmy’s smile fades before he answers Dean.

“Do you want to know why I’m here, Dean? I came back for you.”

“The problem with that is I hate you.”

Jimmy reaches for one of the poles sticking in the ground and stabs Dean through the stomach and son of a bitch if that doesn’t hurt.

“You hate me, huh? That sounds like the beginning of a love story, Dean, not the end of one.”

Jimmy leaves Dean sitting there waiting for his wound to heal and damn if he doesn’t hate him even more now. Castiel finds him not long after and helps him wipe up the blood.

“I’m going to kill him. Where is he?” Castiel asks, with fire in his eyes.

“No, you’re not going to do anything, because the moment you try to kill Jimmy, he’ll snap your neck which will cause me to go on a murderous rampage and it won’t end well for anyone,” Dean says as he reaches for Castiel’s hand, kissing his knuckles.

“Well, I guess when you put it that way..” Castiel says with a smile.

Dean still can’t believe how lucky he is to have Castiel. He’s trying so hard not to wait for the other shoe to drop, but with his luck, it’s bound to happen.

Castiel is thankful that this day is finally over, but he nearly dies from a heart attack when he walks into his room ready to go to sleep and finds Adam casually sitting on his bed.

“Holy shit, you scared me. What are you doing here?”

“Just thinking about some things.” Castiel can tell by the slur of his words that he’s probably been drinking. “If things were different and I was actually attracted to you and you weren’t with Dean, do you think there would be a chance for us?” Adam asks him with watery eyes. 

“Where is this question coming from? Did Jimmy say something to you?”

“Not really. It’s not like I’ve been pining after a guy for 145 years who just confirmed he never loved me. It was always Dean. Dean Dean Dean,” Adam says in his best Jan Brady voice.

“Why don’t I call Dean. He can come over and clear this all up.”

“There’s no point,” Adam gets up and pulls Castiel into an awkward hug and the vampire takes a whiff of Castiel’s neck.

“Okay, this is getting weird. Let me call Dean,” Castiel says, trying to push Adam away, but he won’t budge. 

“No, please, just hold me for a minute. I know you’re not him, but I just want to pretend for a minute.”

“No, Adam, stop.”

Castiel tries to push Adam away again, but he won’t let go. Gabriel must hear the commotion and he comes into Castiel’s room.

“Cassie, what’s going on in here?” Gabriel asks.

“Nothing, Gabe, it’s okay, just go back to bed,” Castiel tells him.

“It’s not okay, Cas.” Adam says and then he looks between Castiel and Gabriel. “He wants to be a vampire.”

Adam runs to Gabriel and pins him to the wall.

“Adam, stop. Let him go,” Castiel says.

“You want to shut out the pain?” Adam says to Gabriel. “It’s the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares just goes away. All you have to do is flip the switch and snap..” 

Without flinching, Adam snaps Gabriel’s neck and he falls to the floor.

“Nooooo!!” Castiel falls to the floor next to his brother and he checks, but Gabriel doesn’t have a pulse. Castiel’s eyes fill with tears as he stares down at his brother’s lifeless body. He looks up to see Adam walk away, not an ounce of remorse on his face.

As Castiel sits there with his brother’s body, he glances over at his hand to see that he’s wearing the Shurley ring, the one that protects its wearer from death by something Supernatural, and a wave of relief passes over him. Chuck must have given it to him before he left town, and Castiel has never been more grateful. He pulls Gabriel’s head into his lap and waits for him to wake up. He sends Dean a text asking him to come over.

When Dean arrives, Castiel is still sitting on the floor holding onto Gabriel who still hasn’t woken up.

“What happened?” Dean asked.

“You’re fucking brother happened. He was upset about Jimmy and took his anger out on Gabriel. He killed him without a second thought. I’m just thankful that he’s wearing the ring.”

“He saw the ring, that’s why he did it,” Dean says.

“He didn’t see the ring. His hands were covered. I didn’t even see it until he was already dead,” Castiel says, pissed that Dean would make excuses.

“It’s Jimmy. He got underneath Adam’s skin and he undid everything that was good about him.”

Castiel is done with Adam. Any friendship they might have had is gone now. “There’s nothing good about him, Dean, not anymore. He’s decided what he wants. He doesn’t want to feel. He wants to be hated. It’s easier that way. Well, he got his wish.” Castiel can’t hold back his tears anymore. The thought that his brother would stay dead had he not been wearing his ring overwhelms him and he begins to sob again as Dean walks over to him. “I hate him, Dean.”

“I know,” Dean says as he kneels next to Castiel and Gabriel. “I’m so sorry, Cas.”

Castiel grips tighter to Gabriel just to have something positive to hold on to to ground him. Then Gabriel gasps as his eyes open and he looks around as if he doesn’t know where he is.

“Is he okay, is he okay,” Castiel asks Dean. 

Dean looks at his eyes. “He’s okay.”

Gabriel continues gasping as he tries to stabilize his breathing and Castiel pulls him into a hug again, not wanting to let him go.

“Adam killed me,” Gabriel says in shock as he hugs Castiel back.

“It’s okay, he can’t hurt you now,” Castiel tells him. 

“I’m going to have a word with my brother. Will you two be okay?” Dean asks.

“Yes, thank you for coming over,” Castiel says before giving him a kiss.

Gabriel ends up falling asleep in Castiel’s room and Castiel makes a little fort for them like when they were kids. He makes Gabriel promise to never remove the Shurley ring when they wake up the next morning. 

“I have no plans on taking it off, trust me,” Gabriel says.

“Good. I have to go help out with the high school carnival since Amanda is still in the hospital. If you need me, don’t hesitate to call.”

“Alrighty,” Gabe says and Castiel drives over to the school to begin his duties as a backup Amanda. Patience shows up as he’s taking inventory.

“What has you all freaked out?” Castiel asks, noting her pinched expression.

“I just can’t get over how much Jimmy looked like you. When I saw him at the memorial yesterday, I swore he was you.”

“He is my ancestor,” Castiel reminds her. “Hey, I moved the student booth into the cafeteria.”

“You’re vampire ancestor, and he didn’t just resemble you like a family member would. He was you.”

“I don’t know. I can’t explain it, okay? It’s creepy, that’s all I got.”

“Well, how do you know he’s not still out there pretending to be you?”

“I don’t, but I could sit here and be tortured by the not knowing or I can get these prizes organized for the fair,” he tells her as he continues to open packages containing various stuffed animals.

“Have you talked to Adam since he killed Gabriel or tried to kill Gabriel?”

“No, Patience, I haven’t, and I won’t and I don’t want to talk about Adam or anything else that’s vampire related, okay?”

He shoves a bag of stuffed animals at her so she can help him.

“Copy that.”

“I’m human and I have to do human stuff or I’m going to go crazy.”

“Okay, I agree. We have to make Amanda proud or she will kill us. I don’t know how she does this all the time.”

“Well, because she’s not human, obviously,” Castiel jokes as they continue getting the fair ready.

They get everything finished just in time for everyone to start arriving. Castiel really doesn’t know how Amanda does this. Organizing things is for the birds. 

Castiel is helping out at one of the ticket booths when Adam walks up. He wishes he had a stake to drive through his heart, but that would attract too much attention anyway.

“Cas.”

“What do you want, Adam?”

“I know I’m the last person you want to see right now, but I need you to come with me.”

Adam must think that Castiel’s stupid. “Whatever it is, I’m not interested.”

“Yeah, I need you to come with me right now.”

Adam has that look in his eyes as if he’s trying to tell Castiel something that can’t be said in front of a bunch of other people. This can’t be good. Castiel lets the other person manning the booth know that he’ll be back and he reluctantly follows Adam inside the school so they can talk. Thankfully, they pass Dean on the way in, so at least Castiel won’t have to be alone with Adam.

When they find an empty room, Castiel crosses his arms across his chest to show Adam how annoyed he is. “Okay, start talking. What’s so important, it couldn’t wait?” Castiel asks him.

“I just passed Amanda in the hallway. She’s out of the hospital.”

“I knew she wouldn’t be able to let me handle things. She’s probably just checking that everything is running smoothly.”

“I wish that was everything. She informed me that her memories have been coming back, the memories of what I did to her and then compelled her to forget. Then she pushed me halfway across the hall and told me I suck, but not before giving me a message from Jimmy. He told her to tell us, “Game on,”

“How did this happen?” Dean asks.

“Well, I fed her blood in the hospital to heal her since it didn’t look like she was going to survive and Jimmy obviously killed her. Wouldn’t be hard for him to pay her a visit considering he looks like one of her best friends.”

Castiel can’t believe what he’s hearing. “But, why? Why would Jimmy want to kill her?”

“Because Jimmy is a manipulative, nasty little slut.”

“And he said ‘game on’ What does that even mean?” Dean comments.

“It means he’s playing dirty. He wants us to know.”

“But why Amanda?” Castiel asks. He hates that his friends are getting dragged into this Supernatural world even though he’s trying to keep them away from it.

“Amanda must be out of her mind. She probably doesn’t understand what’s happening to her,” Dean says, seeming frustrated.

“Oh, I think she does. She seemed to know exactly what was going on when we saw each other in the hall,” Adam says.

“We have to find her.” 

“Yep, and kill her.”

“You’re not going to kill Amanda,” Castiel comments.

“She knows who we are. She’s officially a liability. We have to get rid of her.”

Castiel gets ready to walk over to Adam to punch him in the face or something, but Dean stops him.

“Adam, absolutely not,” Dean adds.

“Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Hester Donavan. Amanda of all people will not make it as a vampire. Her mother is a vampire hunter. Comeon. We all know how this story ends, so we’ll just flip to the last chapter and–”

Castiel is tired of listening to him talk. “It’s not an option, Adam.”

“We’re not gonna kill her.” Dean says as he walks out of the room with Castiel right behind him. They have to get to Amanda before Adam does.

They are walking through the carnival trying to find Amanda and Castiel doesn’t like how silent Dean is being.

“You agree with Adam, don’t you?” Dean doesn’t answer him. “Dean?”

Dean seems extremely agitated and he punches one of the food trucks as they walk by. Castiel needs to get him to relax, so he pulls him to the side where nobody can hear them.

“Dean, hey, talk to me.”

“Adam’s right. Not about what we should do, but about what’s gonna happen. Jimmy all but signed Amanda’s death sentence.”

“Well, we can’t let it end that way. He’s doing this to me, isn’t he?”

“Actually, he’s doing it to me. He told me that he was going to try to get me back and this is his way of letting me know he’ll go to any extreme to make that happen.”

“Well, he’ll have to do it over my dead body. Now let’s try to find Amanda before Adam gets to her. Where could she be?”

Dean’s head perks up and he’s focused on something, like he hears something that Castiel can’t.

“Do you hear her?” Dean doesn’t answer. He just starts walking and turning his head from left to right as if he’s trying to find the source of the noise. “What is it Dean, what’s going on?”

“Blood, I smell blood.”

Castiel follows Dean to the maintenance area of the carnival out of sight of everyone else. Adam is hugging Amanda who seems to be freaking out and crying, and the moment Adam raises his hand to drive the stake through her heart, Dean rushes over and pushes him off of her. Castiel tries to comfort Amanda who has blood smeared over her mouth, the indication that she just fed on someone.

“Get away from me. You killed me,” Amanda yells at Castiel, backing away from him.

“No, no, no, Amanda. That wasn’t me. That was Jimmy.”

“No, then why did he look like you? And why, why did he do this to me?” 

Castiel can tell that Amanda is on the verge of a panic attack.

“Dean, we have to get her inside,” he tells Dean, not wanting Amanda’s panicked voice to attract anyone’s attention.

“It’s alright, Amanda, come with me.”

“She’s going to die, it’s only a matter of time,” Adam says.

“Yeah, but it’s not going to be tonight,” Dean adds.

“Yeah, it is,” Adam says as he picks up the stake from the ground and rushes over, Castiel throwing himself in front of Amanda to block Adam from reaching her. 

“Adam, she’s my friend.” 

Adam stands there looking at Castiel who is pleading with his eyes and Adam finally lowers the stake.

“Whatever happens, it’s on you.”

Adam backs up and just as Dean gets ready to walk Amanda into the bathroom, Patience arrives.

“Amanda? No, you’re not–you can’t be.”

She walks over and grabs Amanda’s wrist, trying to get a read on her just to make sure, a look of anger and pity on her face.

“Patience,” Amanda pleads with her, but Patience just backs away and walks over to the bed of the truck where the lifeless body of the man Amanda killed is still at. Amanda seems distraught at Patience’s reaction to her being a vampire and Castiel tells Dean to just take her away to get her calmed down.

Patience is crying and Castiel doesn’t know what to say to her. As a witch, it’s ingrained in her to not like vampires and Castiel knows that she’s been trying to accept that her friend is dating one, but seeing Amanda as a vampire now must be too much for her.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she says.

“Come on, don’t pout about it,” Adam says smugly with a shovel resting over his shoulder. “We’ve got a body to bury.”

Adam places the shovel down and then he screams out in pain, grabbing his head. Castiel looks at Patience to see her focusing on Adam. She must be performing some sort of spell to cause him pain. He drops to the ground. The water attached to the hose nearby turns on and water sprays the ground next to Adam.

“I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt,” Patience tells him.

“I didn’t do this,” Adam says, still writing around on the ground in pain.

“Patience, it wasn’t his fault.” As much as Castiel despises Adam, he doesn’t want him to get hurt for something he didn’t do.

“Everything that happens is his fault, Castiel.”

“Patience, what are you doing?” 

Before Patience has a chance to answer, the water ignites into fire leading up to Adam’s body lying on the ground. 

“Patience, stop, please, stop.”

The fire makes it to Adam and he catches fire, fighting desperately to put it out.

“Stop it, you’re going to kill him,” Castiel yells at her. She seems to be in a trance as she begins to chant. Castiel runs over to her and shakes her.

“Patience, hey, look at me.”

The fire goes out since Patience isn’t focusing on it anymore and Patience knocks his hands away.

“Why did you stop me?”

“Because this isn’t us. This can’t be us.”

He gives Patience a hug and they leave Adam recovering from almost being burned alive so that Castiel can get his friend calmed down.

“I’m fine, Castiel. I don’t need you to walk with me.”

“Patience, I’m just worried about you.”

Patience sighs, “I know, I’m fine now, I promise. I’m just so angry at everything going on. He just makes me so angry.”

“I can’t argue with you about that.”

“I think I need to get home. I’ll see you tomorrow. Maybe figure out how we’re going to get Amanda through this.”

“Okay,” Castiel says as he gives Patience another hug before she leaves and then he goes in search of Dean to see how Amanda is doing. They run into each other near the parking lot.

“Hello, Dean,” Castiel says.

“Hey, Cas. Amanda is okay for now. I’m going to check on her later.”

“What about the guy that she…”

“It’s taken care of.”

“Adam’s right, isn’t he? It won’t end well for her.”

“No, I’m going to make sure that he’s wrong. I can do for her what Charlie did for me. I’ll help her learn how to control her urges.”

“I just can’t believe what this day has turned into.”

“Not your normal day, huh?”

“I was stupid to think that it could be. I mean, nothing about my life is normal. My best friend is a witch, my boyfriend is a vampire, and I have a doppelganger who’s hellbent on destroying all of it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault, Dean. It’s no one's fault. It is what it is. I’m fine. It’s just crappy, that’s all. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

He gives Dean a kiss as he walks away. He just needs to be alone for a little bit. When he gets home, he lies in bed thinking about what his life has become. He ends up falling asleep and wakes up in the dark to warm lips pressed against his. 

“What time is it?” Castiel asks.

“It’s after dawn. Come with me,” Dean whispers.

Castiel follows him to the school where the carnival is still set up.

“Dean, what are we doing here? We’re going to get into trouble.”

“Well, I compelled the guard to go on break so I could kiss my boyfriend on top of the ferris wheel. I remember you saying that was something you wanted us to do before the night turned into chaos.”

“I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t know if I’m up for it.”

“I know today was a crazy day, but we have to take these moments. What Jimmy did to Amanda could just be the beginning and there’s a mystery with Lee’s family that Adam and I are trying to uncover, but I came back to this town to start a life with you. We can’t forget to live it.”

Castiel smiles and can’t believe how lucky he is. He decides to just give in and enjoy the moment.

“How are we going to get to the top?”

Dean smiles, “I guess you’ll just have to hold on tight.”

He pulls Castiel into a hug and with a big jump, they fly into the air and land in the seat at the top of the ferris wheel. Castiel is laughing. He’s never felt so free. He kisses Dean and enjoys this moment together because he’s not gullible enough to believe that things get easier from here.

Chapter Text

After their night on the ferris wheel, they become even more inseparable and Dean and Castiel decide that they need to get to the bottom of what Jimmy might be up to, so they decide to contact Aaron since he was married to Becky who had been in contact with Jimmy.

The following weekend, Castiel arrives at Dean’s house and Adam calls Aaron over to see if he has any information.

“Thanks for coming, Aaron,” Dean says when he shows up.

“Castiel mentioned you needed my help.”

“Yeah, we were hoping you could help shed some light on the Richardson family.”

“Why would I know anything about the Richardsons?”

“Well, you wouldn’t, but your dead-not dead-vampire wife might,” Adam adds.

“Becky’s research, from when you guys were at Duke together,” Castiel clarifies.

“You said that she had spent years researching this town,” Dean reminds him.

“Becky’s research here- Mystic Falls- was rooted in folklore and legend. At the time I thought most of it was fiction.”

“Like that amazing vampire story.” Adam comments.

“Aside from vampires, what else?” Castiel asks.

“The lycanthrope.”

Dean and Adam look at each other and Castiel sits up.

“Wait, like werewolves?” Castiel asks.

“No way. Impossible. Way too Lon Chaney,” Adam says.

“Is it?” Dean asks.

“I’ve been on this planet 160 some odd years and never came across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?”

“Well, why do you suspect the Richardsons?” Aaron asks.

“Because vervain didn’t affect the mayor on founder’s day, but the Shurley device did and it affected his son, Lee. Lee ended up crashing his car because of it which is what put Amanda in the hospital,” Adam states.

“And at the school carnival, Lee’s uncle Garth, who came back to town for his big brother’s funeral, exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought one of the carnival workers,” Dean adds. “The way he moved suggested he has some sort of supernatural strength.”

“We’re hoping that Becky’s research could help us figure out what it is,” Castiel adds to the conversation.

“Well, all of her things are still at Duke. I mean, her office is still there. She’s technically still missing.”

Adam asks, “Can we get access to it? We need to know what we’re dealing with. If this wolfman thing is true, I’ve seen enough movies to know it’s not good. It means Garth Fitzerald is a real life Lon Chaney and that Lee punk may just very well be Lon Chaney Jr. Which means Bela Legosi, meaning me, is totally screwed.”

“I’m sure I can get us into her office since I’m her husband. Are you all coming with me?”

Castiel and Dean look at one another. He had already promised Amanda that he would help her with learning how to control her vampirism. Even though it was over a century ago, he still remembers how difficult it was to transition and he’s still thankful to Charlie for finding him when she did.

“I’m going to stay here with Amanda. Will you be okay with Aaron and Adam? I know how important it is to learn more about your history,” Dean directs his question at Castiel.

“I suppose. I’ll miss you though.”

They give each other a kiss and ignore Adam and Aaron sighing in the background. When Dean watches Castiel drive off with Adam and Aaron, he sends Patience a text to ask her to meet him at the Roadhouse. She arrives not long after him and he’s happy they are at least on speaking terms again.

“I was wondering if you could do me a favor?” 

“Yeah, sure, what do you need?” Patience asks him.

“I was hoping you could make a daylight ring for Amanda.”

“I don’t know how to make a daylight ring.”

“Alicia made mine. She made Adam’s too. The instructions must be in her grimoire.”

“It doesn’t mean I can cast the spell.”

“Patience, you know how to drop vampires with a single look, okay, I think you can figure it out.”

“Amanda killed someone, Dean. I can’t make it easier for her to do it again.”

“We’re not making it easier for her. We’re just giving her the chance to survive. Every day that she’s cut off from her old life, from you, from Cas, from Inias, it will make it that much harder for her to hold onto her humanity.”

“And how do you know she won’t hurt anyone else again.”

“I don’t, but if we don’t do everything we can to help her, or at least trust the fact that she can keep it together, we might as well just stake her right now.”

“I don’t know if I can trust her, not with this.”

“Then trust me.”

Dean notices her reluctance resolve as she thinks it over.

“Fine, but I will hold you responsible if anything happens.”

“Deal.” 

They stop by Patience’s house so she can get the grimoire and a ring from her jewelry box that  she thinks Amanda will like. Amanda doesn’t answer the door when they show up, so they just walk inside when they notice it unlocked. She’s sitting on her bed pouting, for lack of a better word. Patience gives her the ring.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a daylight ring I’m going to gift you.”

“So, I don’t get to choose the ring I have to wear for the rest of my life?”

“If you don’t want it…” Patience says.

Dean interrupts. Becoming a vampire has made Amanda even more of a pistol.

“No, she wants it.”

“Now, for some instructions. The witch who spells the ring has the power to despell it. If you hurt anyone…” 

“I’m not going to hurt anyone.”

“You’re a vampire. That means the urge to kill is part of who you are. The minute you let it take over, I will stop you,” Patience tells her.

“Patience, you’re supposed to be my friend.”

“That may be, but I can’t ignore what happened. If you want to remain friends, you’re going to have to prove that the Amanda I know isn’t gone. Now, put the ring on the bed.”

Obviously, stubborn and not knowing when to let something go, Amanda can’t help herself as she continues to speak.

“Do you think I meant to kill that guy at the carnival?”

“No, but he’s still dead. Now do you want me to cast the spell or not?”

Amanda finally stops talking.

Patience opens the curtains so the sun is shining on the ring and she stares at it as she mumbles something in Enochian. Dean was expecting a light or firework display, but nothing spectacular happened. She picks up the ring and hands it to Amanda.

“There, all done.”

Amanda takes it and puts it on.

“She’s all yours,” Patience says as she walks out the door.

“So, what do we do now?” Amanda asks Dean.

“I’m going to help you learn to control your urges so you don’t hurt anyone again. We’re going to start with you feeding on  animals and work our way up to people. You should be able to feed on people without killing them by the time I’m done training you.”

“And Cas is okay with all this?”

Dean isn’t sure how to answer that question.

“That’s something you will have to discuss with him. Now let’s head out to the woods to see what critters are waiting for us.”

Amanda scoffs at the idea, but ends up following him anyway. Dean uses his heightened listening skills to make sure nobody is nearby before he begins his lesson with her.

“Since there are an abundance of rabbits in this area, we’re going to be searching for those.”

“So, what do I do when I see it?”

“Chase it, catch it, feed on it.”

“Isn’t killing cute, defenseless animals the first step in becoming a serial killer?”

“Amanda, you killed a person the other day. I think we’re past worrying about the implications of killing a rabbit. If you’re not serious about this, you should just tell me.”

“No, I am.”

Dean crosses his arms over his chest and lifts his brow, not believing her for a second.

“Look, I swear that I am, but it’s just I haven’t been in the sun for days and everyone is at the swimming hole having fun and Inias is there and he finally told me that he loves me, but I’ve been blowing him off and now you want me to eat bunnies and I’m kind of freaking out, okay.”

The longer she talks the more animated her voice and hand gestures get and Dean can’t help himself, so he just giggles when she finishes talking.

“And now you’re laughing at me.”

“No, no, I’m not laughing. None of this is funny, trust me. It’s just that when someone becomes a vampire all of their natural behaviors get sort of amplified.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, as a human, I cared deeply for people, how they felt. If they were hurting, I felt their pain. I felt guilty if I was the one who caused it and as a vampire all of that got magnified.”

He hopes that what he’s trying to tell her reaches her brain without him having to spell it out for her. He doesn’t want to hurt her feelings. It must click.

“So, you’re saying that now I’m basically an insecure, neurotic control freak on crack.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to say it like that.” He was, but it’s nice that she said it first. “Look, let’s hunt and then after that, we’ll go to the swimming hole.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Inias is the closest connection you have to your humanity and I think being around him is a good thing.”

She seems satisfied with that response and cheers up. It doesn’t take them long to find a few unsuspecting bunnies and Amanda does well with her hunting skills. It’s almost scary how good she is at it. She seems to be a natural at being a vampire and it makes Dean a little jealous. It took him at least 50 years to become comfortable with who he is.

“Alright, I think we’re done for the day. Time to do a little swimming.”

Amanda jumps for joy and Dean drives them over to Lee’s property where the swimming party is being held. Just as they get out of the car, Lee’s uncle Garth does a slow drive by in his jeep and he and Dean just glare at each other. Dean is still curious if the werewolf rumor is true and if Garth knows that Dean and Adam are vampires if that’s the case.

“Why are you staring at him with your serious vampire look?” Amanda asks.

“My wha…my serious vampire look,” Dean says, caught off guard by her comment.

“I mean it’s different from your worried vampire look, neither of which stray too far from your, ‘hey it’s Tuesday’ look.”

“Okay, I get it. You think I’m…you think I’m too serious, is that it?”

“I mean, I wasn’t gonna say it like that.” she tells him, mocking his comment from earlier.

Dean hangs out at his car as he watches Amanda catch up to Inias. He remembers what it was like to experience young love, only in his case he was being compelled. His phone rings and his eyes light up when he sees that it’s Castiel.

“Hey,” he says as he answers the phone.

“Listen, we’ve learned some stuff from Kelly Kline, who was Becky’s research assistant, and I know it’s going to sound crazy, but I wanted to fill you in.”

“What’s up?”

“Kelly said that Becky was studying the lore surrounding werewolves and vampires. About 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside and made farming and hunting impossible. An Aztec Shaman cursed them using Enochian magic making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. It’s known as the Legend of the Sun and the Moon curse. Vampires can only prowl at night and werewolves can only turn on a full moon, so anyone who is unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse will turn on a full moon. Werewolves will attack humans, but their instinct is to hunt the prey of their choice, vampires. The worst part is that a bite from a werewolf is fatal to vampires. It’s a full moon tonight. If Garth is really a werewolf you need to be careful, please.”

“I promise.” 

They say goodbye and then he starts panicking when he looks over and Amanda isn’t where she was standing a second ago. He’s not worried about himself, but he needs to get her to safety before she runs into a big furry creature that can kill her. The moon is almost completely visible in the sky now. They are running out of time.

Dean calls Amanda’s phone, but it goes straight to voicemail. He walks further into the woods and focuses on anything that will help him hear if she’s still here. Off in the distance he hears something growling and his heart drops when he realizes the growl isn’t the sound of any creature that is usually found in the woods here. He follows the growling and it leads him to Garth’s jeep which is sitting in the middle of the woods in between some trees. Dean walks up to it slowly and tries to look in the back. There are claw marks on the ground behind the truck.

He sees movement in the back of the truck, so he steps closer. He kicks a chain he hadn’t noticed sitting on the ground and sees a pile of restraints attached to the tree. They seem heavy duty, like they’re designed to keep something strong contained. He looks back in the truck, but the windows are tinted and he can only catch a glimpse of his own shadow in the window.

Then, a pair of glowing eyes come into view and Dean steps back, startled. The window shatters as a large wolf jumps through it and lands on Dean before running off into the woods at a speed Dean has only witnessed another vampire run at. He needs to find Amanda before it’s too late.

He hears a commotion in the distance and finds Amanda feeding on Inias. He runs to her and pushes her off of him.

“Stop it. Stop, stop,” he says as she tries fighting him. Her face is feral, her eyes glowing red, her fangs still protruding as they drip with Inias’s blood.

It takes her a second, but she finally comes back to herself and looks over at Inias who has sunk to the ground as he breathes heavily.

“Oh my god,” she says and tries to rush over, but Dean holds her back.

“No, no, no. Stop. Listen to me. We need to get out of these woods now. We need to leave.”

They both hear growling in the distance.

“What was that?” Amanda asks.

The growling is getting louder and Dean turns around sensing something in the shadows. He looks at Inias who is still lying on the ground confused about what just happened.

“Inias, stay down. Do not move.”

The wolf is too fast for Dean to see where it’s at and he doesn’t want it attacking Inias, so he tries to get Amanda to focus on him.

“You and me, we’re gonna run. It’s going to follow us. We need to lead it away from Inias, so you need to run as fast as you can. Do you understand me?”

Amanda nods.

“Go, go.”

They both take off and make it to the other side of the woods quick as the speed of a cheetah. 

“What is it?” Amanda says when they stop.

“It’s a werewolf. It will try to kill us and it can.”

Lee comes into view, emerging from an  underground cellar that Dean hadn't noticed before.

“Hey, what are you two doing?”

“What are you doing?” Dean asks. He thought everyone had left the party.

Before Lee can answer, the werewolf tackles Amanda to the ground and she screams out. It’s snarling on top of her, dripping its saliva onto her face. Before it gets a chance to bite her, Dean jumps at it, pushing it away.

Dean quickly gets to his feet and he gets a better look at the wolf. If it weren’t trying to kill him, he might appreciate its beauty. He’s always been fond of wolves and their majestic nature. They are in a staring contest now. Dean is on high alert as the grey wolf with its yellow eyes and snarling mouth full of fangs dripping with saliva looks at Dean, ready to pounce.

Lee yells, “No!!” and the wolf looks at him. Dean thinks the wolf is going to attack Lee, but it hesitates as if it recognizes him and doesn’t want to hurt him. Dean watches the exchange with a newfound curiosity and then the wolf speeds off deeper into the woods, leaving the three of them behind to wonder what the fuck just happened.

“What the hell was that?” Lee asks.

Dean remembers that Lee wasn’t on the list of friends that Castiel gave vervain to, so he compels Lee to not remember any of this. Maybe what they thought about the family is wrong. If Garth is a wolf, then why is Lee walking around on two legs right now? Maybe the curse doesn’t affect everyone in the family.

Dean and Amanda run back to Inias and find him exactly where they left him. 

“You have to compel him to forget. He can’t know about you.”

Amanda nods and she presses him against the tree and looks in his eyes as she says, “You’re not gonna remember what I did to you or what you saw me become.”

“We were just making out in the woods,” Inias says in a monotone voice.

“And then an animal attacked you and bit your neck.”

“It was weird. It just came out of nowhere.”

Amanda walks back over to Dean and he can see the sadness in her eyes.

“We’ll get Inias on vervain. It will keep you from being able to compel him, but it will also keep you from being able to drink his blood.”

“I can’t believe I hurt him. He’s the one person on this entire planet that I never wanted to hurt.”

“Listen, I wish I could tell you that it’s going to get easier, but it’s not. You just have to work that much harder.”

“I shouldn’t be with him should I?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I’m the last person to make that decision for you. If I followed my own advice, I would have walked away from Cas a long time ago.”

“You ever think you should have?”

“I know I should have, I just can’t.”

Amanda nods, the sorrow growing more prominent in her eyes. Dean knows at that moment that Amanda has just enough strength to do what he hasn’t been able to do. She’s going to end her relationship with Inias and Dean contemplates doing the same, but he’s in too deep. With the love he feels for Castiel, it would kill him to walk away now.

Castiel hangs up with Dean hoping that he stays away from Garth in case what they think is true and he really is a vampire. Castiel is waiting by the car as Aaron talks some more with Kelly and thanks her for letting them look through Becky’s research.  Castiel is trying to open the passenger door when Adam walks up to him and opens it for him.

Castiel tries to get into the car, but Adam stops him.

“You’re not going to be able to hate me forever,” Adam says.

Bold of him to assume that. “Can we just go?”

“If you were looking for information on Jimmy, you didn’t dig deep enough,” Adam tells him as he hands him a book, Krushnic written on the side.

“Krushnic? I saw this on the shelf. What is this going to tell me?”

“Jimmy originally came from Russia. Krushnic was his real name. Dmitri Krushnic to be exact.”

“How did you know that?”

“Back in 1864, I saw it engraved on an old heirloom. Let me know what you find. I’m very curious myself.”

Castiel tries to get in the car again only to be stopped again.

“You have every right to hate me,” Adam continues. “I understand. You hated me before and we became friends. It would suck if that was gone forever. So, is it? Have I lost you forever?”

“Thank you for the book, Adam.”

That’s going to have to be enough of an answer for him right now and Adam finally lets him get into the car. They drive back to Castiel’s house in silence and as Aaron goes inside to talk to Lydia, Adam follows Castiel to the front door.

“I don’t know what to tell you Adam. Giving me a book doesn’t mean things are back to what they used to be.”

“Oh, come on. You know I chipped a little bit off your wall of hatred.”

“I need to know the truth. When you broke Gabriel’s neck, did you know that he was wearing the ring?”

Adam pauses before answering. “No. No, I didn’t. Jimmy really pissed me off and I snapped and I got lucky with the ring. I don’t know what I would have done if he wasn’t wearing it. Cas, I’m sorry.”

“Thank you for being honest with me. And the answer to your question about our friendship is yes, you have lost me forever.”

“But, you knew that already didn’t you? You used me today.”

“You had information about Jimmy that I needed to know.”

“I thought friends don’t manipulate friends. You and Jimmy have a lot more in common than just your looks.”

He walks away and Castiel doesn’t know what to think of that comment.

He thinks he’s seen the last of Adam, but ends up running into him again the next day at the Roadhouse. He sits down next to Castiel like they’re best friends.

“What do you want?” Castiel asks the annoying vampire.

“So this is where you spend your time when you’re not stabbing people in the back.”

“I tricked you into telling me the truth. That’s not stabbing you in the back. That’s using your own tactics against you.”

He packs up his bookbag and throws some money on the table to cover his drink.

“Where are you going?” Adam asks.

“I made myself clear, Adam. I want nothing to do with you.”

He starts to walk away.

“Okay, see you at Lydia’s barbeque.” Adam says.

Castiel looks down at him. “How did you know about Lydia’s barbeque?”

“It was my idea. Lydia went to high school with Garth and so I figured a social gathering would be a good way to get to know the guy. I told Aaron to tell Lydia and…”

“Does Lydia know that you’re going to be there because she’s not exactly a fan of yours?”

A server brings over a box and sets it on the table. Adam thanks her before she leaves.

“I’m hoping this peach cobbler will pave the way.”

“What are you up to?”

Adam stands up and leans in so that Castiel can hear him without him speaking too loud.

“I’m going to put some silver into Garth and prove that he’s a werewolf. See you at the barbeque.”

Castiel hopes that Garth will drive a stake through Adam’s heart, but that’s just wishful thinking. 

Once back home, Castiel helps Lydia set up for the barbeque. He’s pouring chips into a big bowl as he talks to his aunt.

“Thanks for letting me invite Amanda. She can use a distraction since her breakup with Inias.”

“She’s not the plus one I’m worried about. Why is Adam coming?”

“Because he and Aaron have become friends for some ungodly reason.”

Garth walks in before they can continue their conversation.

“Good news. I found the shot glasses.” He says with a smile.

“That is my sign to leave you two alone.” Castiel says as he leaves the room.

Castiel takes a seat outside on the porch and dial’s Dean’s number. He leaves him a message when he doesn’t answer. He’s certain he told him about Lydia’s barbeque, but it might have slipped his mind with everything that’s going on. Just as he hangs up, Amanda joins him holding a bag of chips. 

“I hate that I’m eating all the time now, but it curbs the cravings. I can’t stop thinking about blood all the time.”

“I know that Dean really hates that part of himself.”

“Well, yeah. He hates that you’re a constant temptation.”

“He said that?”

“The desire to rip out your jugular every time he’s with you? Trust me, it’s there. That’s why I had to break up with Inias.”

Aaron interrupts them by announcing that the food is ready. They eat and talk and Castiel wishes that Dean was here. He keeps trying to call him and text with no response. He’s beginning to get worried. 

Everyone is playing charades in the living room after they eat, but Castiel isn’t up for it, so he gets the desserts ready in the kitchen. Adam walks in looking as smug as ever as Castiel pulls his peach pie from its box.

“Aunt Lydia is getting tipsy,” Adam says.

“Will you stop plying her with alcohol?”

“Well, I want her to like me.”

Castiel laughs at that. The thought that Adam has to get people drunk for them to like him is funny.

“How’s operation werewolf?”

“He’s my new BFF.” He turns around and notices the box of Castiel’s family china open on the counter. “Oooh, what’s this?” the vampire asks.

“That’s my grandmother’s silver set. Aunt Lydia brought it out of hiding to show off I guess.”

Adam gives a cheeky grin as he holds up a silver serving knife used for pie. “You don’t say?”

This isn’t going to end well is all Castiel can think as he calls everyone to the table for dessert. Castiel isn’t in the mood for dessert since he’s still worried about not being able to reach Dean, so he decides to clean up the living room with Amanda.

“Would you consider me a terrible friend if I abandoned you to go to Dean’s house?” Castiel asks her.

“You want to leave?” she asks a little too sketchy for Castiel’s taste.

“I’m just getting worried because he hasn’t been answering his phone and I thought I had invited him here. It’s not like him not to show.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You don’t want to come off as a clingy boyfriend. That can turn some guy’s off. Trust me.”

“I’m not being clingy. I’m just concerned. I’m sure you can understand that.”

“Well, how about I drive you?” 

Something about her behavior seems a little off. Castiel realizes that she’s changed since becoming a vampire, but she seems a little needier than usual.

“Yeah, sure, come on.”

They get into Amanda’s car and, as they drive, Amanda does nothing but point out that Dean and Castiel are doomed. Then the car starts making a weird noise and Amanda has to pull the car to the side of the road. They both get out and notice that the rear tire is flat. 

“Great, I just got these tires,” Amanda complains. “Let me just call a tow truck.” 

“I know how to change a tire,” Castiel says. “Do you have a spare?”

“Well, duh.”

She seems reluctant to look for it, so Castiel follows her in case she tries to lie. When he goes to remove the tire, he notices that the valve is ripped.

“Did you do this?” 

“Did I do what?” 

“Did you damage the tire so we wouldn’t be able to make it to Dean’s house?”

Amanda stumbles over her words,”I’m just trying to protect you from a relationship that’s doomed. You’re human and he’s a vampire and when you’re 70 and in diapers, he’s still going to be smoking hot. Plus, I know you eventually want to have kids. Nobody is going to give their baby to a vampire to raise.”

“Okay, first off, I know you’re upset about breaking up with Inias, but don’t project your insecurities onto me, and second of all, if Dean and I stay together long enough to adopt a kid, why would you think we would tell the adoption agency that he’s a vampire?”

Amanda doesn’t have an answer for that.

“Look, I’m just going to walk.”

Amanda grabs his arm to stop him and he thinks she forgets how strong she is now.

“You’re hurting me. Let go.”

“Please don’t leave me,” she says with a hint of fear in her eyes. He’s not sure what’s going on with her, but he’s too worried about Dean to care. A car pulls up at that moment. 

“Do you two need some help?”

Castiel looks at the guy in the car, “She does.”

Castiel makes his way towards Dean’s house on foot. Whatever drama is going on with Amanda, he can deal with it after he figures out what’s going on with his boyfriend.

Castiel makes it to Dean’s house after walking for 15 minutes. He opens the door without knocking.

“Dean, hello?”

He walks into the library, but doesn’t see him anywhere.

“Dean, are you here?”

The hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he feels a presence behind him. He turns around to see Jimmy standing there with a snarky look on his face. It takes him by surprise how much alike they look. If it weren’t for the flattened hair and the 3 piece suit he was wearing like he’s on his way to the office, Castiel would think he was looking at himself in the mirror.

“You must be Castiel?” Jimmy says in a voice an octave higher than Castiel’s own. 

“How is this possible? How is it that we look exactly alike?” Castiel asks, still not able to wrap his head around the fact that he is looking at someone who can be his clone.

Jimmy steps into Castiel’s personal space and just glares at him as if he’s a display at a museum, like he’s trying to look into his very soul and it’s making Castiel quite uncomfortable to say the least.

Jimmy places his finger against Castiel’s chest as he walks to his side, running his finger along Castiel’s collarbone and Castiel realizes that he’s going to need therapy after this. Dean had left out the part of the story where Jimmy seems to be a sexual being because he’s looking at Castiel as if he wants to devour him.

“You’re asking the wrong questions,” Jimmy says as he begins to walk away.

“Cas,” Dean says as he rushes in from downstairs.

Castiel turns around to find that Jimmy is gone. Dean slowly walks closer.

“Are you okay?” Dean asks.

“Not really. Are you okay?”

“Not really.” Castiel pulls Dean into a hug, thankful to be in his arms again.

“Hey, do you wanna get out of here? Get something to eat? I could use a change of scenery right now.” Dean asks.

“Yes, but before we go, I should probably tell you that something is going on with Amanda. I don’t know if it’s her adjusting to being a vampire or what, but she was doing everything in her power to convince me not to come here tonight,” Castiel says.

Dean looks at Castiel and sighs. “I’m guessing Jimmy got to her. Jimmy is insistent on getting me back and he’ll stop at nothing to see that happen.”

They drive over to The Roadhouse and when they walk in, they see Amanda sitting in one of the booths by herself. 

“Cas.” Amanda says.

“Hey,” Castiel says.

“I just want to apologize to you for earlier.”

“It’s okay, I know you were just looking out for me. Consider it water under the bridge.”

“Good, because I can’t imagine not having you as a friend.”

“We’re still friends. I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

Castiel joins Dean at another table.

“I’m starving,” Dean says.

Castiel looks at him and raises his eyebrow to signal that he is trying to expose Amanda as a double agent.

“Well, spending a day with your jealous ex will do that to you.”

“Listen, I know you’re upset, but we have to take him seriously. Today was all about the lengths that he’ll go to.”

“If he was going to hurt me, he would have. I was standing right in front of him.”

“Cas, you caught him off guard. It doesn’t mean that you’re safe.”

“I’m not afraid of him.”

“Well, you should be.”

“If Jimmy had his way, we would be breaking up right now.”

“And if today taught me anything, it’s that Jimmy is used to getting his way.”

“You’re not actually saying we should do what he says?”

“Listen, he’s sadistic. He threatened you. He threatened everyone.”

“Okay, I get it. He’s dangerous, but everyday we’re together, it’s dangerous. Why are you giving him so much power over our relationship?”

“Because it’s the reality of our situation.”

“It really sucks.” Castiel is impressed with himself when he acts like he’s getting ready to cry, really driving home the theatrics. “This is what he wants. He wants us to fight. He wants to get between us.”

“He already has, Cas.”

Castiel leaves the restaurant hoping that Amanda bought what they were saying. Castiel ends up walking home and when he makes it to his house, he finds Dean waiting for him in his bedroom.

“You okay?”

Castiel rushes over to him and kisses him passionately before wrapping his arms around his neck in a hug.

“I hated that fight.”

“I know, me too. It felt too real.”

Castiel steps back and gives Dean another tender kiss on his lips before speaking.

“Did you see Amanda?”

“Yeah.”

“You were right. Jimmy got to her. She was hanging on to every single word.”

“It won’t be long before Jimmy gets a play by play.”

“Well, I don’t care what it takes. I’ll drive a stake through his heart myself before I let him try to steal you from me.”

“I love how protective you are of me.”

They kiss one last time and Dean leaves, Castiel not looking forward to another day of fake fighting. His heart doesn’t know if it can handle possibly losing Dean forever.

Dean lies in bed that night hoping that the fake fighting between him and Castiel won’t lead to real fighting. He remembers how manipulative Jimmy can be, especially with the bullshit he tried telling him today. Jimmy has a secret and Dean is insistent on finding out what it is.

Earlier that day

Dean wakes up in his bed from the dream he was having. He was back in Mystic Falls in 1864 dancing with Jimmy at the first Founder’s Day Ball, but Castiel was there as well and he’s dancing with Adam. Dean tries to get away from Jimmy to get to Castiel and find out why he’s with Adam. He’s thankful it’s just a dream.

Castiel is lying in bed with him and he’s comforted by his boyfriend’s presence. He runs his fingers through Castiel’s hair which feels different. He must not have used as much hair product as usual.

“Hey, you okay?” Castiel asks him.

“Yeah, just a bad dream. Go back to sleep.”

Just as Dean gets ready to close his eyes, he’s hit with the realization that Castiel didn’t spend the night last night. He’s at home in his own bed. Dean gets up as quick as lightning and is now on the other side of the room. Jimmy sits up and gives him the biggest smirk he can manage.

“Jimmy.”

“You have to admit, I am getting better at this,” Jimmy says. “It took me longer than usual to get inside your head, but I’ve still got it.”

Dean rushes over to try to attack Jimmy, but Jimmy pushes him away with no effort at all, causing Dean to fall backwards onto the floor. Jimmy stands up as he saunters over to Dean.

“Are we really going to do this again? We both know I can rip you to shreds and give myself a pedicure at the same time.”

“What do you want?” Dean asks, not arguing with him as he stands up because he knows Jimmy is much stronger than him. 

“I wanted to see you. I’ve missed you, Dean. Indulge me for a little while, please?”

“Why are you back in town?”

“Three reasons. You, you, and you,” Jimmy says as he holds up a different finger with each ‘you’ he says.

“You see, I can’t quite get that down. It just kind of gets stuck in my throat,” Dean says as he clears his throat sarcastically.

“You know it’s the truth. Deep down inside that gorgeous body of yours is the Dean that fell in love with me too,” he says as he gives Dean his puppy dog eyes and pouty lips.

He steps around Dean and leaves the room and Dean can only hope that he’s leaving for good. Dean freshens up in the bathroom and learns that he’s just not that lucky when he finds Jimmy sitting on the couch in their day room reading his journal.

“You shouldn’t read someone’s journal,” he says as he walks in carrying two glasses of blood. He might despise Jimmy, but the least he can do is try to make him feel comfortable so he can figure out why he’s really in town.

“I know. I’m sorry. It was just too tempting. All of your inner thoughts and feelings laying on your desk for me to read.”

Dean takes the journal as he hands a glass of blood to Jimmy.

“I read about your recent werewolf sighting,” Jimmy says casually. “That must have come as a surprise.”

“What do you know about werewolves?”

“I know not to pet one. Their bite kills Dean. It’s best to stay clear of them during a full moon.”

“And how do you know this?”

“Who do you think was responsible for ridding this town of vampires in 1864?”

“The Founding Families.”

“Spearheaded by…”

Dean nods,” The Richardsons.”

“You remember the Founder’s Ball don’t you? The one that you were dreaming about?”

“I was your escort.”

“That was before you and Adam knew about my secret. George Richardson had just come back from the war and one of the vampires with me told me of some attacks nearby that weren’t from vampires. From the moment I met George, I knew he’d be a problem.”

“So, you’re saying all the Richardsons are werewolves?”

“The werewolf gene runs in the Richardson family, not that they’re all werewolves.”

“How many other werewolves are out there? I mean, is it just limited to the Richardsons?”

“No, there are others. Not many. They’re practically extinct. They mainly just exist in books and really bad movies. My turn to ask a question,” he says as he grabs the journal from Dean. “Why did you keep this picture?” he asks Dean as he holds the picture of himself up for Dean to see. “Why not burn it? Tear it up? You wanna know why I came back? Well, I have a better question. Why did you? For Castiel? No, you came back here to fall in love with me all over again, didn’t you.”

Dean sees this as his opportunity to catch Jimmy off guard, so he pretends to be sad, like what Jimmy is saying might be true. He is off the couch in a matter of seconds and in Jimmy’s space as the other vampire’s breath hitches. Dean places his hand against Jimmy’s cheek.

“What is it about you that makes me still care?” Just as their lips connect, Dean takes the vervain dart that he had in his pocket and jabs it into Jimmy’s back, releasing him and watching as he falls against the couch, trying to catch his breath, fear in his eyes as he realizes that he’s been bested by Dean.

While he’s still weak, Dean carries Jimmy down to their basement dungeon and shackles his arms and legs to the chair. Jimmy tries to fight against the restraints, but it’s no use. With the vervain in his system, he’s too weak. Dean stands on the other side of the room. He’s now the one with the upper hand.

“Now, where were we? That’s right. You were getting ready to tell me why you came back to Mystic Falls weren’t you?”

“You didn’t have to do this.”

“Answer the question.”

“I came back for you.”

“We’re going to play by my rules now.”

Dean grabs the gloves resting on the pile of pallets in the room and he takes a strand of vervain from the stash they have in the room and he places it against Jimmy’s face. The vampire yells out as his skin burns and tries to break free of his restraints.

Dean places his hand against Jimmy’s throat,”Answer the question.”

“You’re going to torture me now?”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to get you to tell me the truth.”

“Later that night at the Founder’s Ball..”

“No, I don’t want to hear anymore stories about the past.”

“Yes, you do, Dean. That’s exactly what you want to hear. I pulled George aside later that night and made him aware that I knew his secret and I knew that he knew what I was and that we could both scratch each other’s back.”

“What did you want?”

Jimmy keeps his mouth shut. Dean knows he has something to say, but he won’t say it.

“You know, we can sit here as long as you want. When you start to dessicate, there’s a tomb with your name on it,” Dean tells him.

“I’ve been doing all the talking. It’s your turn. Do you pretend to be human when you’re with Castiel? Is that the appeal?”

“I’m not like you. I don’t pretend to be anything when I’m with him. That’s the whole point. I just get to be myself.”

“Does he know that you love me?”

“I don’t.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Dean. Don’t you remember bringing me home that night. Your father had taken me in and given me shelter. I was on my way to my room and you stopped me in the hall and told me that I looked like an angel to you. You told me that you were falling in love and then you kissed me. It caught me off guard because I hadn’t made my feelings for you known yet, but you bared your soul to me that night and I knew then that I was in love with you as well.”

Dean can’t believe what he’s hearing. Thinking back he remembers that night as if it was yesterday. Jimmy hadn’t revealed himself as a vampire yet. His eyes begin to water and even though he doesn’t feel anything for Jimmy right now, the realization that he did back then hits him like a ton of bricks. He’s been trying to tell himself all these years that it wasn’t real.

Jimmy continues, “Go ahead, Dean, torture me, keep me captive, drain me of my blood until my body turns to dust. It will never change the truth. I never compelled your love. It was real and so was mine.”

Dean doesn’t even know what to say. He just stands there like a kicked puppy as Jimmy continues his rant.

“Hearing the truth after a century and a half of denial must be overwhelming.”

“It wasn’t real. I remember you compelling me.”

“Only after I showed you who I really was. You were so scared of me, I had to take away your fear.”

“Whatever feelings I had back then, have all turned to hate.”

“The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. If you hate me that means you feel something. It won’t take long for you to love me again. Getting back to the story, George was using the vampires to cover up his own crimes and to keep his own secret, but he was willing to strike up a deal.”

“What kind of a deal?”

“A deal to rid the town of vampires. He and I came up with a plan to have the vampires rounded up and placed into the church to burn. He helped me escape by telling me where the hidden exit was.”

Dean stands up and walks over to the chair across from Jimmy.

“You knew they were going to burn the vampires in the church that night.”

“I practically lit a match,” Jimmy states, devoid of any emotion.

“They were your friends, your family and you just sold them out.”

“Without blinking.”

“What did George get in return for helping you escape?”

“Something he desperately wanted.”

“So, you sent 26 of your friends to their death just to fake your own. You were running from something, what was it?”

“Everyone has a past, Dean. Mine needed to stay far, far away, but thanks to you, my plan nearly failed before it began. I had to see you one last time, but your father used your love against me and poisoned your blood and Adam being Adam nearly ruined everything.”

“We came for you and we tried to save you.”

“I didn’t want to be saved.”

Dean is angry now. “So then Adam and I died for nothing.”

“You died for love.”

“Are you ever planning on telling me why you came back here? I feel like we’re just talking in circles.”

“I’ve already answered that question. I want you and I have no problem adding Castiel’s name to my list of victims.”

“Spare me, Jimmy. If you wanted him dead you would have done it by now.”

“If I have to, I will snap his neck like a twig and you know it.”

Dean, unable to control his temper any longer, breaks the chair and grabs one of the legs and holds it out, ready to stab Jimmy with it. Something stops him though. No matter how much he hates Jimmy, he doesn’t have it in him to kill him yet.

“I guess you don’t hate me as much as you thought you did. I don’t want you seeing Castiel anymore. If you don’t remove him from your life, I will kill everyone that he loves while he watches and then I will kill him while you watch.”

Dean growls and grabs Jimmy by the throat, producing his fangs.

“Don’t you ever think for one moment that I will not kill you,” Dean snarls.

Dean is caught off guard when Jimmy breaks through the shackles binding his arms to the chair and he pushes Dean against the wall. He pulls his legs free and speaks as he steps closer to Dean.

“I have been sipping vervain every single day for the last 145 years. You caught me by surprise once. I wasn’t going to let it happen again. It doesn’t hurt me, Dean.”

“What?” Honestly, he should have seen this coming. Charlie has been doing the same thing for 200 years, which is why she was able to break free from the cops when they caught her before Adam thought he was killing her. He doesn’t know why he didn’t think Jimmy wouldn’t do the same thing.

“It doesn’t hurt me, Dean.”

“Then why did you pretend?”

“I told you. I missed you, Dean. I just wanted to spend some time with you.”

Before he can say anymore, they hear Castiel calling for Dean. Dean gets ready to get up so he can protect Castiel, but Jimmy shoves a stake through Dean’s leg, rendering him useless until he can get it out. The only thing going through Dean’s mind as he pulls the stake from his leg is that he has to protect the man he loves.

Chapter Text

Present time

Dean has a restless sleep, thinking that Jimmy is going to walk in at any time and try to get into his mind again, but thankfully he stays away. Dean needs to see Castiel right away to make sure they are both onboard with their fake fighting and to not let it mess with their relationship. He appears in Castiel’s room as he’s looking in his closet, and as usual scares the shit out of him when Castiel closes the door because he basically appeared out of nowhere.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You can scare me anytime you like,” Castiel says as he places his hands on Dean’s cheeks and kisses him. Dean pulls him into a hug.

“Are you ready for today?” Dean asks.

Castiel looks at him. “No, I hate fighting with you, even if it’s fake.”

“I know, but if Jimmy thinks we’re fighting, then he’ll think he’s winning and that keeps him from following through on his threats.”

“Yeah, well that doesn’t make it any easier. Neither does knowing Amanda will be there today reporting everything back to him.”

“Hey, everything is going to be okay. Yes, we have to keep up this ruse for a little while. But it’s the best way to keep Jimmy from hurting anybody, from hurting you.”

“Just promise me that he won’t get his way with us. We can fake a fight. We can pretend that his threats are tearing us apart, but none of it’s real, okay?”

“Okay, how about this. Today, when we’re fighting, if I say, ‘I can’t do this anymore, Cas,’ what I’ll really mean is that ‘I love you.’”

“And when I say, ‘Fine Dean, whatever,’ it really means ‘I love you, too.’”

“Deal. I better get going. The new park isn’t going to restore itself,” Dean says sarcastically. He honestly doesn’t know when people work around here for how many community events they have to try to keep the town restored.

Dean sees Garth grabbing a few things out of his truck when he arrives. He supposes he should apologize to him for his brother’s stupidity. Adam finally got the truth from Garth that he is indeed a werewolf, but he has no interest in a stupid tradition of werewolves and vampires being enemies simply because that’s what history says it should be. Adam, in all his stubbornness, still attempted to stab Garth with a silver knife, only discovering that silver being deadly to werewolves was a rumor started by a werewolf and didn’t in fact kill Garth. He then informed Adam that he just made an enemy.

“Dean, right?” Garth says when he notices Dean walking up to him. “The other Winchester.”

“The nice one, the one offering an apology.”

“Not interested.”

“Look, my brother is a dumbass and acted impulsively.”

“You think?”

“If you and Adam keep at each other’s throats, someone innocent is going to get hurt and I don’t want that. You have family here, so I can’t imagine you want that either, so what do you say we just quit the whole alpha male fighting thing and just call it a truce.”

“I made that same offer to your brother and he turned it down with a knife.”

“He made a mistake. I’m here to make sure neither one of you makes another.”

“Tell your brother to watch his back.”

Garth begins to walk away, but Dean grabs his arm to stop him.

“Well, I’m guessing he only has to worry about that during a full moon otherwise you’re not as strong, am I right or you would have killed Adam by now. There’s one of you. There’s two of us. I think you’re the one that needs to watch his back.”

“If he comes at me..”

“He won’t,” Dean says as he holds out his hand in good faith to show how sincere he is. Garth shakes it to show he agrees. After Garth walks away, Dean suddenly feels his brother behind him breathing down his neck.

“What are you doing?” Adam asks.

“Negotiating peace on your behalf.”

“I don’t want peace,” Adam whines like a three year old.

“Oh, well consider it opposite day then,” Dean snarks.

Adam stands in front of Dean to get his attention.

“Dean, please tell me that you don’t seriously think a handshake has solved our problem.”

“No, actually I think that the first chance Garth gets he’s going to drive a stake through your heart and then through mine all because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him, so thank you because we don’t have enough problems already.”

Dean slaps Adam on the shoulder and walks away. He meets up with Amelia Richardson, who is spearheading the activity as acting mayor. Dean isn’t quite sure that’s how it’s supposed to work. Usually, if a mayor steps down or dies, the deputy mayor takes over, but the founding families created their own rules when they created this town. So, here they are with the wife of the deceased mayor running the show.

She asks if he has any carpentry skills, which he does since he’s tried about every trade in existence since he’s been around for almost 200 years. So, he meets up with the other guys who are measuring and cutting boards to build a new bench for the playground area. He’s not there long before he sees Castiel walking towards him with Amanda pleading for him not to start a fight. 

Dean wants nothing more than to lay Castiel out on one of the picnic tables and take him apart. He has no business walking around in jeans that accentuate his thick thighs the way his current jeans are, and Dean’s mouth waters just thinking about it. He needs to get his mind out of the gutter because they are supposed to be fake fighting so that Amanda has something juicy to report back to Jimmy.

“Do you still care about Jimmy?” Castiel asks. Dean smiles internally. Right to it then. Dean plasters on his acting face to answer his question.

“Don’t do this. Please don’t turn this into something that it’s not.”

“So, this isn’t up for discussion. That’s what you’re saying?”

“No, I’m saying that this isn’t up for discussion right now because we have ears on us.”

They both look over to Amanda who has now been joined by Adam, the two of them pretending they weren’t just listening. Their acting skills have more to be desired than Dean and Castiel’s.

“Okay, when?” Castiel asks.

“I don’t know.”

“I saw him, Dean. It’s like we’re the same person. How can you hate him and be in love with me?”

“You’re reaching. I’m not shallow enough to only base my feelings on looks alone.”

“It has a little to do with it though. It has to.”

“You know, I can’t do this anymore, Cas.” I love you, he means.

“Fine, Dean, whatever.” I love you too, he knows Castiel means.

Castiel walks away and Dean watches him go, trying to keep his poker face on. He hopes they played their part well enough to fool Amanda and Adam, but Jimmy’s smart. He’s not so easily played.