Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

DEAN

    Dean circled the cage. He watched the creature inside as it crouched, flattening its ears at him and baring its teeth in a display of aggression. The blue and black spiked scales covering its entire body only served to add to its general air of danger. As the beast turned to follow Dean with its eyes, the silver tips of its scales glinted in the dim electric light.

    “You’re one nasty son of a bitch, aren’t you?” Dean crouched and stared into the creature’s glowing blue eyes. He had been chasing this one animal for three years and now he had finally caught it. At one point he’d almost been convinced that it could teleport: he’d be closing in on it when reports would begin to fly in of people seeing it halfway across the country.

    “Don’t think you can scare me. You’re the one behind bars. Right where you belong.” Dean stood and walked to the other side of the cage. The creature turned to face him in a single fluid motion. The more Dean watched it, the more he realized that the body was feline in nature, even down to the long, snaking tail. However, this creature was covered in scales and seemed to have many more teeth than were natural stuffed into its mouth.The creature clawed at the earth and stared straight into Dean’s eyes. As unnerved as he was, Dean found himself unable look away. It was almost as if the dumb beast was trying to communicate.

    “Dean! Congratulations! You captured the Gemini! How does it feel?” Gordon, one of the hunters under Dean, strode through the warehouse doors and clapped a hand on his shoulder. The contact snapped Dean out of whatever spell the creature was putting over him.

    “I feel amazing. I was getting pretty sick of being outsmarted by a monster,” Dean responded, turning to face Gordon.

    “You should be proud. You’re the first hunter to capture one of these alive. And you’re the youngest First Hunter in half a century. Damn, man, I would be strutting like a rooster,” Gordon said.  

    “I just do my job well; nothing special. Plus, my mother’s in charge. I’m pretty sure that helped.” Dean smirked at Gordon but felt pride skip through his chest anyway. He had done what no one else had ever been able to. The Gemini were brutal creatures, and the darker their scales, the stronger they were. No Gemini had ever been reported to have black scales except for the one standing five feet away.

    “Perhaps,” Gordon conceded. “Is it in the cage?” He turned to look, squinting for a shadow or some other indication the creature was actually captured within the otherwise empty-looking cage. Most people couldn’t see the monsters which existed on a parallel plane. A few saw shadows or vague outlines, but Dean’s family was different. His father’s brown eyes glowed with the full sight, a trait he had passed on to Dean, and the reason Dean’s mother, Mary, had married him. When you run an international black market selling rare and unusual items, having a husband able to see the creatures from which most of the items are sourced comes in handy.

    “Yeah, it’s staring at you,” Dean chuckled as he bent the truth a bit. The Gemini was actually staring at him, but he wanted to freak Gordon out.

    “Well, it’s a good thing the trap neutralizes any powers it may have. I don’t fancy having my brain wiped or anything,” Gordon muttered and began to back away. “I actually came with a message. Your mother wants to see you. Probably to talk about that,” Gordon shoved his thumb in the direction of the creature.

    “Tell her I’ll be right up,” Dean instructed and returned his gaze to the creature. It had curled up on the bottom of the cage and was studiously ignoring him. “What, don’t like my face anymore? Did I say something to upset you?” Dean mocked. He knew the Gemini couldn’t understand him. “Well, I have to go report in. You better be over yourself when my mother comes to see you.” Dean strode out of the warehouse and headed towards the staircase.

Mary Winchester was the most innocent and sinless-looking person. With her wavy blond hair and dreamy blue eyes, she was the embodiment of a suburban church-going mom. Most people assumed that’s exactly what she was, and never guessed how wrong they were. In truth, she controlled the largest mafia family in the Midwest.

She was currently smiling sweetly at Dean from over a patch of daisies growing in her private garden.

“Dean! Are the rumors true?” She stood to embrace him.

“Yeah, Mom, I finally caught the motherfucker. It’ll have a hard time going anywhere now that it’s finally trapped. How long are we supposed to study it before we can open it up?”

Mary’s perfectly tamed eyebrows furrowed.

“Oh, come on! You sold it?” Dean guessed at his mother’s expression.

“Well… Not exactly… Crowley’s ready to pay out the big bucks to see it fight with one of his strongest hell hounds.”

Dean let out a sigh. Crowley, who called himself the King, was the most prolific bookmaker in the area (mostly thanks to the mysterious murders and anonymous tips to the police used against all his competition). Of course, he would want the Gemini to fight. It would be the event of the century; everyone would want to bet on that.

“But wouldn’t we earn more money selling it for parts?”

His mother scrunched her nose, “Don’t be gross, son! We still get the animal back once it’s done. Even if it’s dead, we can still scavenge for parts, don’t worry! Don’t think that I’m dumb enough to let such a gold mine go.” She started to open her mouth, but looked unsure of her next words.

“What is it, mom?”

“We could use this opportunity to reaffirm our authority with anyone who would question our ability to do our job…”

Dean raised a skeptical eyebrow, “Yeah? What do you mean?”

“We could show it off. Organize a little reception, get a few names at our table… Lilith, Abaddon, Rowena, Amara…”

Dean winced at the last name. Amara and he had… history. The unfortunate kind. He decided to get back at his mother for that one.

“Eve.”

Her face paled. She hated to be reminded of how her older sister had betrayed the family and started a monster farm, calling herself the Mother of Monsters.

“Alright. Eve can come, just so I can rub my victory in her face. I’ll give your father a list of who to invite, and he can have his fun organizing the night.” Mary rolled her eyes as she mentioned her husband. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t forget the main attraction.”

“I doubt he’ll forget about it once he gets his eyes on the creature. It’s a thing of a beauty,” Dean reassured.

She gave him a warm smile, her eyes crinkling in the corners

“You’re making your mother proud, Dean,” she said as she walked away.

And like that, she was gone, and he was alone.

  While Dean waited for the bartender to refill his drink, he scanned the crowd for a likely target; he didn’t feel like spending tonight alone. He caught the eyes of a curvy brunette, who raised one eyebrow at him and walked away. While Dean loved a challenge, he could tell when something was just a waste of his time. He took another look around the room, at first ignoring the Gemini curled up in its cage, before something caught his eye and his gaze whipped back to the cage.

    Leaning against the bars, apparently oblivious to the danger he was putting himself in, was a man with messy, dark brown hair and loose, casual clothing. He was, hands down, the hottest person in that room. Dean stood there staring for a moment, dumbstruck, before he saw the monster within the cage stir and turn towards the man. Thinking the man was unaware of the danger, Dean ran towards him, abandoning his drink on the bar.

    “Hey, watch out! Move away from there!” Dean shouted. The man looked up and took a slow, steady step away from the creature. Dean stopped short and his mouth fell open when he saw that the man’s blue eyes were glowing, just like his and just like his father’s. He must have the true sight as well. Why was he so comfortable leaning against the bars? It’s not as if the beast looked harmless.

    “Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to worry you,” the man smiled apologetically, but Dean could see the tension lining his face. It was still a pretty damn cute smile.

    “No worries, I just wouldn’t want you to get hurt,” Dean flashed his most charming smile, wondering whether or not he should ask the man if he could buy him a drink. Instead, he asked, “So, whose gang do you belong to?”

    The man’s eyes widened a fraction, but he answered without missing a beat, “Rowena’s. I was actually just thinking of heading out. So, if you’ll excuse me.” The man inclined his head towards Dean and backed up a few steps.

    “Yeah, of course. Take care,” Dean’s smile was a little more forced now, but he did enjoy watching the guy leave. He had a hot… well, everything, actually. Once he had disappeared in the crowd, Dean’s eyes slid over to the beast in the cage next to him. It was staring at him, its lips lifted in a silent snarl.

    “Same goes for you. I won’t let you go eating hot guys on my watch,” Dean pointed a warning finger at it.  The monster’s lips curled further and it got an almost territorial look on its face. Dean frowned and walked back to the bar to retrieve his drink.

JIMMY

    Jimmy was angry. He was also concerned, but he was still plenty angry. Angry at the gang who had captured his brother, Castiel, and caged him as if he were nothing more than an animal, angry at his brother for doing whatever dumb shit he did to end up being captured, and angry at himself for not being there to protect him. Jimmy clenched his fists tighter as he surveyed the room.

    He was in some sort of warehouse where his brother had been held captive. He could smell his scent lingering near the center, so he knew he hadn’t been moved too long ago. Jimmy stood still for a moment and closed his eyes to listen. He heard old lightbulbs crackling above him, crickets chirping outside, and music coming from a separate building. His eyes snapped open and he exited the warehouse, heading towards the music. If he was lucky, he could find someone who knew where Cas was. The entrapment of his brother had to be big news around here.

    As he got closer, he realized he wouldn’t have to ask anyone because he could hear Cas from here. He was growling in the way that always sent tingles down Jimmy’s spine. Unfortunately, he was also inside the noisy building. Contrary to its plain appearance, the building seemed to house something important, if the guard posted at the door meant anything. Guessing that there was a short list of people the guard would allow in and assuming that he was not on that list, Jimmy waited for a group of two or more he could tag along with to pass by. Eventually, three women came walking from the right. Jimmy waited until they passed him and casually turned onto the sidewalk behind them, just close enough to be considered part of their group, but far enough away that they wouldn’t be uncomfortable.

    This is insanity, Jimmy thought, I’m going to get myself killed. It didn’t matter though; he had to save his brother.

    “Tell me again, why did Rowena order us to go to this… gathering?” the shortest woman sneered.

    “I know that the Winchester’s style isn’t exactly classy, but they are the best hunters, and they practically control the black market. They invited Rowena, so we must go in her stead to maintain good relations,” the second woman answered.

    “And besides, they are displaying a Gemini, a Gemini they’re going to pit against one of Crowley’s hell hounds. That’s something Rowena is quite interested in,” the third piped in. Jimmy’s eyes widened but he forced himself not to react further. There was absolutely no way he was letting a hell hound anywhere near Cas. Hell hounds were brutal beings who took delight in the suffering of others.

    “Fine. I get it. Just don’t expect me to enjoy myself,” the first woman grumbled, as she stopped in front of the door. One of the women produced a card which the man at the entrance took and placed in a locked box. They entered and the man held out a hand for Jimmy’s card.

    “I’m with them,” Jimmy announced, trying to imbue his voice with confidence. “Rowena sent me.”

    The man squinted his eyes and turned to look at his clipboard, “What’s your name?”

    “I don’t think I’ll be on there,” Jimmy offered, his body tensing. Cas would be so much better at this. He could always keep a calm demeanor. “I was a last-minute addition,” Jimmy added after the man threw him a suspicious glance, “I came back from a mission early and she asked me to tag along.”

    “Is that so?” the man asked. “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you into this club without an invitation.”

    “I don’t think Rowena will be very happy with that,” Jimmy threatened, completely bullshitting by this point. “Do you even know what she is capable of?” The man paled and nodded. It was a good thing the guard seemed to have an idea of what Rowena could do since Jimmy had absolutely no clue. “Well, now that that’s settled, will you please let me in?” Jimmy asked, his tone making it clear that the only acceptable answer was to agree. The man blinked a few times before moving aside and letting him enter. Jimmy gave the man one last smile before letting the door close behind him.

    He immediately tensed up and ceased the act of confidence. It had worked a lot better than he’d expected, but it was tons of effort. Jimmy’s eyes skimmed the room and immediately spotted his brother in the very center of the room. He was inside a heavily spelled enclosure. Jimmy wove through the crowd, keeping his head down and trying not to be noticed. He walked right up to the cage and leaned against it.

    “Hey, Cas,” he whispered. Cas twitched his ears but otherwise didn’t react to Jimmy’s presence. “Come on, don’t be pissed. I’m getting you out of here as soon as we’re alone.” At this, Cas raised his head and turned to look at Jimmy.

    “Hey, watch out! Move away from there!” a deep voice shouted. Jimmy looked up and saw a man running towards him. He took a slow step away from the cage and glanced at Cas. His ears were flat against his head and he was snarling. Interesting.

Chapter Text

CAS

Castiel was starting to feel hopeless. Jimmy had been so close, just a touch away, and then that insufferable mama’s boy had to come out of nowhere to pull him away. Castiel would escape this prison, hopefully sooner rather than later, and he then would promptly feed on that boy’s guts.

His capture had been sheer luck. Castiel had had a long night, hadn’t eaten in a while, had been missing his brother, and all in all was distracted enough to not see the otherwise rather obvious trap set out to catch him. The so-called hunter had no reason at all to be so pleased with himself. And now Jimmy saw him like this: vulnerable, exposed to those shallow, blind humans.

Even worse, his brother had left without a word. Was he ashamed of Castiel and his stupidity? Did he consider him not worth it anymore?

He allowed himself a long, stretched-out howl, crying to the empty warehouse, to deaf human ears. No one could hear his pain, his longing, his love for Jimmy.

After a few minutes of constant crying, he heard the dry scrape of the gate. He hoped it was the hunter brat, just so he could find even more reasons to hate him.

It wasn’t the brat, it was way better.

His brother had returned.

Castiel threw himself at the bars, ignoring the burn of the sigils inscripted on them. The love of his life had returned to him, and nothing else mattered.

“Slow down, brother, I’ve gotta get you out of here before you jump on me.”

Castiel was fond of his twin’s human form. He could just admire him all day (and he did, sometimes). Right now, Cas was admiring his hands, skillfully picking the cage’s lock. The overconfident human warded the box against magic and brute strength, but it was completely weak against common thief tools.

In less than three minutes, Jimmy turned the lock, and all hell broke loose. A shrill siren reverberated through the warehouse, alarming every nearby human. Jimmy instantly shifted into his Gemini shape, but already guards were pooling from the opened gates, including the infuriating human that had managed to trap him. Damn him.

DEAN

Two monsters. Two of them. Gemini. The Latin word for twins. How could Dean have been so stupid and not put one and one together?

He had them both at gunpoint and was trying not to freak out.

“There’s two of them, right there by the crates. Try not to kill them. At least, not both of them…”

Crowley had only paid for one of them to fight: no need to preserve them both.

As if they somehow understood his words, the beasts left their stupor and unleashed their fury on the nearest guards. The one on the left pounced on the nearest victim, its claws instantly shredding the man’s chest. The other beast jumped on the man next to Dean and brutally tore into his throat. Dean’s blood froze as he witnessed the instant death of people he would consider friends. Clenching his jaw, he squared his shoulders, and -

A gunshot, one of the monsters falling on its side. The guard that had been shooting was now shaking, eyes wide.

“Everyone stop, one of them is hurt!” Dean shouted.

Surprisingly, the second one didn’t seem so intent on attacking them anymore, only towering around its wounded brother. It was looking sad, and… protective almost. A twinge twisted in his gut. He knew what it felt like, being devoted to one’s brother. Wanting to protect him from any harm that may come.

But what was he thinking? These were the monsters he had to capture, mindless, cold-blooded killer beasts. And he had to use that weakness - because that’s what it was - against them.
He rounded them, as discreetly as he could, signaling his men to keep distracting the mourning animal from a safe distance, and, heart pounding, managed to put the barrel of his gun behind the skull of the wounded one.

“If you don’t want me to outright kill him, you better let me put you back in your cage, you fucking monster,” Dean snarled.

Feline-like blue eyes were now staring straight at him. Even if it didn’t understand the meaning of the words, at least the tone should allow the message to pass.
Dean must still be high on adrenaline ‘cause he could swear he just saw it nod at him.

JIMMY

The fucking bullet in his goddamn leg wasn’t the ordinary kind. Apparently, humans had found a way to perfect their weapons against Gemini, and that was fucking shitty news. The stupid bipeds were starting to learn, which made them a threat.

As it was, Jimmy could barely move because of the fucking pain and whatever stupid magic was pulsing through that dumb metal piece of shit scraping against his leg bone. Even when threatened with a gun, even when pushed in the cage he had opened himself a few minutes before, he couldn’t do shit about it. Fucking humans and their fucking paralysing bullets.
Worse yet, Cas wasn’t with him. He could see him just fine, pacing in a smaller trap a few agonising feet away. Why wasn’t he looking at him? He had tried to whine, to catch his brother’s attention. He had heard Cas' cries for help earlier in the night and found where he had been hidden, since he wasn’t where the party had been held anymore - but his twin kept ignoring him. The humans had left, they were all alone, and Cas wouldn’t even meet his eyes.

Until suddenly, Cas stopped in his track, a ferocious (and hot, let’s be honest) smile slowly spread across his face, showing off his sharp fangs. With a quick swipe of the paw, one of the sigils of Cas’ box was destroyed. A few seconds later, Cas had shifted into his human form.

“This trap must be an older model,” Cas observed. He placed his hands on two bars and pulled with all his might. Jimmy watched in appreciation as Cas' muscles rippled with the effort. After a few bursts of light signaling the destruction of sigils, he managed to bend the bars enough to slip through. He looked warily around the warehouse and approached Jimmy.

Jimmy whimpered, eager for Cas to touch and be near him. Cas crouched next to the cage and ran his hand over Jimmy’s head and along his neck. Humming, Jimmy tilted his head back. Cas chuckled.

“Can you turn a little so I can see the bullet wound?” Cas asked.

Haven’t you noticed, Jimmy quipped in their native language, I’m mostly paralyzed. His voice was sarcastic, trying to mask his growing panic. Cas bit his bottom lip in thought. Jimmy didn’t even try to keep himself from staring.

“I’ll find some bandages or something,” Cas said. He stood and backed away from Jimmy, his eyes scanning the room. Jimmy wanted to beg Cas to come back, but he stopped himself. Cas walked to the other side of the warehouse and began scanning several long tables pushed up against the wall.

“This should help a bit,” Cas announced and held up the bottle of alcohol he found. Jimmy grimaced.

Is that really necessary? He whined. Cas stared at him and nodded gravely. He was heading back over to Jimmy’s cage, when the lights flared to life above them and the warehouse door scraped open. Cas froze. The man who’d talked to him at the party and later pressed a gun up to the back of his head wandered in. As soon as he noticed Cas, the man froze.

“You?” the man gasped, then his gaze flicked to the empty cage behind Cas. “What did you do with my Gemini?” he demanded while whipping his gun out of his waistband. Cas opened his mouth and then shut it again. Jimmy growled. The man looked at him briefly and then rapidly back to Cas. “Your eyes! They’re the same…” he exclaimed.

“Yes. They are,” Cas responded. The man flicked his gaze between Jimmy, Cas, and the empty cage.

“Are you - you can’t be,” he said incredulously, “You’re not the Gemini are you? ‘Cause that would mean that you’re human.”

“I am not human,” Cas responded with derision. Jimmy agreed with him. Humans were cruel creatures who only ever considered their own good.

“Okay. That’s it,” the man responded. “Get back in the cage.”

Cas took a step back, but brashly countered, “I’d just get out again.” The man seemed to notice the bent bars for the first time. He cursed under his breath and then nudged his gun in the other direction.

“Fine. You’ll just have to share.” Jimmy had trouble not smiling. If he was going to be imprisoned, at least he could have Cas curled up next to him. Cas however bared his teeth and Jimmy imagined that in animal form he would be flattening his ears. The man pointedly moved the gun away from Cas and aimed it at Jimmy instead. He lifted his eyebrows and moved his gun in an obviously threatening way. Cas’ eyes narrowed, but he slunk towards Jimmy’s cage.

“And I’ll take that if you don’t mind,” the man snatched the bottle of liquor out of Cas' hand. Cas entered the cage and his foot brushed against Jimmy’s chest.

“I need to take care of my brother. Can you at least allow me that?” Cas hissed. The man blinked and glanced at the blood oozing out of Jimmy’s leg.

“Yeah. Sure,” he responded, “I’ll get some stuff.” He closed the door and Jimmy’s heart fell as he heard the snick of the lock. At least Cas was with him now. As soon as the man left the building, Cas relaxed his defensive posture and sat next to Jimmy who struggled a moment, but was able to curl himself around Cas. A purr rumbled through his chest as Cas ran his hands along Jimmy’s back.

“It’s going to be fine,” Cas promised, “I’ll get us out of here.”

DEAN

Dean walked out of the warehouse and lowered his gun. His mind was spinning.

He had been unable to fall asleep. He’d been turning and sighing in his bed for hours and just as he was about to finally sleep… something had startled him awake. Some kind of… dream? He couldn’t remember. The Gemini were there, and… what had happened? All Dean could remember was this weird feeling of longing and despair tainted with just a tiny sliver of hope. Without even thinking, Dean had gone to the warehouse where the beasts were kept. What he’d seen there, well… he sure as hell wouldn’t be able to sleep that night. The monster could turn into a human form. Could force their way through cage bars. Could talk. And they came straight from one of Dean’s fantasies. Heck, he’d been so stunned he hadn’t even protested when Mr. Hottie had expressed the need to care for his brother. He had even offered to bring first aid supplies. Partly because he needed to walk and clear the fog surrounding his mind. Partly because he just… understood the need to care for the most important person in your li

So here he was, arms full of bandages, antiseptic, and all the crap needed to help with a bullet wound. God knew how many of them he had received and treated throughout the years.
Back inside, he found the human-shaped one cradling the wounded one’s head, so tender and loving, it almost looked like more than mere brotherly affection.

“Here’s your stuff, Gemini,” he said, passing his hand through the bars, careful to stay away from any bitey part of the monster.

The ‘man’ took the supplies with a glare.

“My name is Castiel. And this is my brother, Jimmy.”

Hearing his name, Jimmy lazily opened an eye to stare into Dean’s soul.

“Jimmy’s a pretty human sounding name. And I’m Dean, if it’s of any interest to you.”

Dean was answered with a shrug.

He observed as the creature - Castiel - skillfully removed the offending bullet from a shaking Jimmy’s leg. That got him thinking.

“You do know that one of you will have to fight Crowley’s hell hound, right?”

Castiel’s answering snarl was so full of rage and despair that Dean felt as though he’d been shot through the heart with it. Somehow, he now wanted to keep them. For research purposes, of course.

“Yeah, I know. Can’t send an intelligent being in the arena against their will, now, can we? That just ain’t right.”

Still refusing to answer, Castiel and Jimmy both shot an astonished look at him.

“But you gotta know I can’t just release you into the wild either, right? You did just kill a few of my men tonight. Friends of mine.”

Castiel couldn’t look less interested if he tried.

“Okay, how about a deal: I protect the both of you from Hunters, if you protect me from your fellow monsters.”

This time, Castiel actually paused his ministrations to think about it.

“Why in Hell’s name would we do that? We can take care of ourselves, and so can you, as I’ve gathered.”

Dean shook his head with a snigger, “You being useful alive is the only way my mom will let go of the ton of money you’re both worth when you’re dead.”

For the next few minutes, Castiel remained silent, focusing on closing the bullet hole. As soon as the last stitch was done, Jimmy’s spikes shivered in a completely unnatural way. His front legs began to shorten and thin while his spikes melted into smooth flesh and the color paled to a tan tone identical to Cas’. The same clothing Dean had seen at the party seemed to slip out of his skin. The last thing to change was Jimmy’s snout, receding into his face and smoothing into human features. Dean felt breathless as he admired both identical looking twins finding comfort in each other’s arms. Then Jimmy started talking.

“Surely you must be aware that we’ll try to escape by all means, right?”

“Of course I am. Seeing how dangerous you are, I’ll have to craft a binding collar. Though I would like to keep your shifting trick a secret. The less people know, the less opportunities for the secret to reach unsavory ears.”

Also, Dean was starting to feel somewhat possessive of them, as though their human shape belonged to him exclusively. He decided to shake that feeling off, and stood up.

“I’ll leave you the rest of the night to think about it. Tell me your answer in the morning. And remember, if you refuse, one of you will end up in the arena in two days.”

And like that, he turned heels and left, feeling even more disturbed than he had coming in.

Chapter Text

DEAN

    Dean really wanted this. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he desperately wanted those Gemini twins to be his. He didn’t want them ripped to shreds by a hell hound or sliced open for parts. That’s why he’s willing to pay the price. That’s why he’s willing to fight Crowley’s hell hound himself.

    There’s no way his mother will just let Crowley’s money go. He could pointlessly beg and plead, or he could rearrange it with Crowley behind her back. A fight was a fight, and he was pretty well-known in certain circles, so bets would likely get pretty high. If he was Crowley, he’d jump on it. Dean stopped pacing his room and glanced out the window. He could just see the sun peaking over the horizon. Time to see what the Gemini had decided.

    Dean threw on some clothes and shoes and grabbed the two binding collars he’d crafted last night instead of sleeping. He headed straight to the warehouse. If they had decided to go the collar route, Dean was ready. He was nearly buzzing with nervous energy.

    When he threw open the warehouse doors, Dean saw one human and one monster in the cage. A small part of him relaxed and he realized that he’d been afraid that they would both be gone. His eyes flicked between the human and the creature as he drew closer.

    “So, which one are you?” Dean asked, addressing the human, who tilted his head as if considering lying.

    “Castiel,” he finally conceded. Dean’s mouth went a little dry at the sound of that rough, yet smooth voice. He swallowed and pushed past it.

      “Have you made a decision?”

    “We will… let you collar us,” Castiel’s eyes flicked to the collars while he spat out the words as if they were poison, “and serve you as bodyguards.” Dean’s heart leapt and he almost felt like dancing. The Gemini would be his, and his alone! He didn’t have to share them with Crowley, or with his mother, or even with Sam, who he’d grown up sharing everything with.  

    “Come closer,” Dean ordered. He dropped one binding collar on the ground and held the other up. Castiel approached the bars and the monster -- Jimmy -- narrowed its eyes and lifted its lip in warning. Dean’s smile got a little wider. These two were so protective of each other.

    “We decided this is for the best. Don’t worry,” Castiel turned to comfort his brother. Jimmy flicked his ears, but let his face relax. Dean pulled out a knife and pricked his finger. He let the blood seep into a cavity on the collar, snapping it closed as soon as it was full. He motioned for Castiel to hold out his hand, who reluctantly obeyed. Jimmy heaved himself up and limped to stand protectively at Castiel’s side.

    Dean brought one hand up to hold Castiel’s hand still, but as soon as he touched that sun-kissed skin, he knew he was fucked. It was smooth but firm and obviously strong. Dean glanced up at Castiel and remembered seeing him at the party. Or had that been Jimmy? Did it matter? They were identical and both sexy as hell, but they were also monsters. That thought brought Dean back to reality. He brought the tip of the knife down on Castiel’s finger and squeezed a few drops into the collar. He sealed that cavity as well and slipped the collar through the bars. Castiel gripped his wrist.

    “Be careful, Dean. We won’t be bound by these forever,” he warned before releasing Dean. He sucked in a deep breath and latched the collar around Castiel’s neck. A flash of bright white light shot out in a circle from the binding. Castiel staggered back and Jimmy’s face contorted in what probably would have been a terrifying growl if Dean could have heard it.

    “He’s fine. It doesn’t hurt,” Dean reassured him. “Your turn. The deal’s invalid unless you both do it.” Dean swore he saw Jimmy roll his eyes. The animal limped up to him and seemed to present its neck to Dean in an exaggerated manner. Dean repeated the process with his own blood. He then reached for Jimmy’s paw.

    Touching Jimmy’s paw was entirely different from touching Castiel’s hand, but it was exactly the same.  The small spikes which covered his foot were thin and delicate and bent easily under Dean’s hand but they also had sharp edges. Dean’s knife managed to skid off of Jimmy’s paw twice and give his own palm two thin slices before he managed to draw enough blood from Jimmy. While Castiel had watched the entire process, Jimmy held himself aloof, choosing rather to look at his brother who was vibrating with barely contained energy and fingering his new collar. As soon as the collar was in place and Dean had regained his vision after the flash of light, he gave his first order.

    “Don’t run away,” he commanded and then, as a second thought, “or harm me, or any other human, unless I expressly tell you to. Or if I am in immediate danger.” The two Gemini blinked up at him. This would be a shit time for the collars to fail. Oh well, Dean thought, you don’t get anywhere by playing it safe. He slid his key into the lock and turned it. He pulled the door open and the two Gemini padded out, eyeing Dean nervously.

JIMMY

Jimmy’s leg burst with pain with each step he took, but he did his best to hide it. For one thing, he really didn’t want to alarm his brother, but he was also too prideful to show weakness in front of the human who claimed to be their master. The thought made him shiver in disgust. Though, he had to confess that seeing Cas in a collar wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to him.

He pushed at Cas’ hand with his muzzle to get his attention and ask what kind of sigils were on the binding.

Mindlessly petting Jimmy’s head, Cas asked Dean the question.

“Had to make ‘em myself. Some of them are the same as on the cage: you can’t remove them by magic or by force. Those are on the silver core, so you can’t mess with it. Around that, I laced a blood spell work: I give orders, you obey. And then leather for your comfort, ‘cause I’m a nice dude like that.”

Jimmy snorted sarcastically, mirrored by his brother.

“I wouldn’t say that binding us and forcing us to bend to your will is being a ‘nice dude’. I’ll have to watch my brother face monsters that you are too much of a coward to fight yourself, and I will never forgive you for that.” Cas’ voice was cold and hard as steel. Jimmy’s scales raised on his spine as he shivered. That Hunter boy better watch himself if he thought he could stand up to an angry Castiel and win.

“Oh, I’m a coward, now? Do you even know what decision I made for your sake tonight? I’m going into that fucking arena to fight that fucking hound, so you don’t have to do it, so tell me again, Cas, tell me again how I’ am a coward!”

Jimmy’s thoughts screeched to a halt. A human would fight one of those bloodlust-filled sons of bitches in the place of a Gemini? Obviously too stunned to answer, Cas turned back into his scaly self in a brooding silence. Dean’s eyes were still fixated on them. Jimmy didn’t like it, the idea that this human boy could see them so clearly. It was so unusual, almost abnormal.

“Better keep those forms for now. I’m taking you to go meet Crowley to negotiate the deal. Just stay right behind me; we wouldn’t want you to wander into his doghouse by mistake.”

Five minutes with this “Crowley” were more than enough for Jimmy to decide he didn’t like him. He could almost see the thoughts going on behind his eyes. ‘Manipulation. Money. Death. Money. Fame. Clients. Manipulation.’ He was pretty sure that the smarmy bookie could convince you to sell him your soul in a simple ten-minute conversation.

“Tell me again, Squirrel, why you don’t want your Gemini to fight. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity; don’t you want to see it happen? One would have thought that you Hunters enjoyed this kind of show.”

Dean visibly tightened his jaw, his shoulders stiffer than ever before. Jimmy couldn’t determine if it was because of the fear to end up against a hell hound, the determination to fight against one, or if he simply hated the man. Probably all three of them.

“I have other uses for it,” Dean answered simply.

Crowley sniggered as Cas fidgeted next to Jimmy. He knew his brother had always hated being called an “it”. Or being considered useful against his will. Jimmy let his tail lazily caress Cas’ back. The message was clear: ‘I’m here; we’ll get through this together.’

“What kind of use, Mr. Winchester?” Crowley continues.

“This and that, none of your business, mostly. Why do you even care? I’m offering myself for the fight. You know fully well that the bets will come flying in when they hear about this. Imagine if I win! Or even… Imagine if I lose.”

Jimmy furrowed his brow. Was Dean betting on his own death in the deal? Would that be good or bad news for the twins?

“What does dear Mary Winchester have to say about this?”

Dean’s tension level cranked up to max and, oh, well, this must be the core of the problem.

“She doesn’t know, does she? Mummy’s boy is acting behind Mummy’s back? I’ll say, that pretty much sells it for me. I can’t wait to see all the drama that’ll ensue. See you tomorrow night, Squirrel.”

CAS

Dean didn’t look very cheery right now. Castiel would even say he was downright gloomy. Brooding pout, slouched shoulders, bitten lips… The reverse of what he’d looked like in Crowley’s office.

Now that they were alone, the twins wordlessly shifted back. Dean had driven them in a truck, and they were now somewhere in the countryside, isolated in the middle of fields and wooded landscapes. Jimmy immediately sat down on an uncomfortable-looking rock. Cas winced internally: he knew it was all his fault, for getting caught and thus allowing Jimmy to get hurt. Even his captor just had just gotten in trouble on his behalf.

He turned to Dean with an exaggerated sigh. “What’s going on, human?”

“Name’s Dean,” was the immediate answer before Dean took a shuddering breath and dared to meet Castiel’s eyes.

“I’m fighting a hell hound tomorrow, and I’m only allowed a dagger, a spear, or a bow and arrows like it’s gonna help me at all. I might die, Cas. Not that you care, of course.”

Castiel could hear his brother scowl from where he was sitting.

“Name’s Castiel!” Jimmy even retorted. Then, softer, “Asshat.”

But the nickname wasn’t what caught Castiel’s attention.

“How did you know it was me?”

That seemed to surprise Dean, “What do you mean? You’re right in front of me.”

The Gemini shook his head. “How did you know I was Castiel? Or Cas, whatever.”

Dean seemed to think about it.

“Dunno. Lucky guess.”

The Hunter didn’t seem to give it any more thought but the twins shared a look. No one had ever been able to identify them correctly, even by chance. Even within the Gemini community, they kept to themselves. And yet this human boy had called him by his name without even thinking about it. Castiel didn’t know how to feel about this.

“Okay, Dean, I’ll try to help you survive the confrontation.”

That seemed to unsettle Jimmy.

“What do you mean help him, Cas?” he furiously whispered at him.

“It’s not like we have a choice. He has us bound, and good luck finding someone to free us once that one’s dead!”

Dean was looking at them, trying to look unimpressed, but actually looking hopeful.

“When you say help me…”

Cas turned back to him, “I mean teach you how to kill a hound.”

DEAN

    “Not like that,” Cas sighed in frustration. At least, Dean assumed he was Cas. When they were human, it was pretty easy to tell the difference. Jimmy had more attitude and Cas was stiffer. They might look the same, but that was pretty much it.

    “What did I do wrong this time?” Dean huffed, picking up the regulation spear he’d been practicing with off of the ground. He was getting tired of Cas and Jimmy telling him he was doing everything wrong. When they’d offered to teach him how to fight a hell hound, he’d been eager. Who wouldn’t want to learn about fighting monsters from the monsters themselves? But now? Now he was beginning to regret agreeing. Cas was telling him that his best moves were weak and Jimmy just kept saying that he looked like a ridiculous idiot.

    “Hell hounds’ mouths are their strongest part,” Cas explained, “and while you were rolling to get a shot at its abdomen, you were giving it a perfect opening to bite your neck.”

    Jimmy sniggered, “I don’t even know how you’re still alive.”

    Dean glared at both of them and retorted, “If I’m so terrible at this, how did I capture you two?”

    “Dumb luck,” Jimmy rushed to reply, cutting off whatever long explanation Cas had opened his mouth to give.

    “Oh, really?” Dean lowered to a crouch. “Wanna prove that?” The twins looked at each other and Cas rolled his eyes while Jimmy’s face stretched into a predatory grin. Dean felt his pulse speed up, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t from fear.

    “I’m not going to go easy on you,” Cas warned as he stepped closer.

    Dean spread his arms wide, “Bring it on!” He tossed the spear into his right hand. Cas' eyebrows twitched and his skin began to ripple. Dean watched, fascinated as always, while the very human-looking Cas changed into a four-legged beast. Cas, now a full-blown monster, lifted his lip in a growl only Jimmy could hear. Dean narrowed his eyes and focused on him, trying to anticipate his next move.

    Cas began to slide to the right and Dean turned, never taking his eyes off of him. Dean feinted left with the spear, but Cas didn’t even flinch. Damn. That was actually impressive. Dean heard Jimmy chuckle behind Cas and his gaze flicked up to him. That was his mistake. Cas lunged, knocking the spear out of Dean’s hand. Before he knew it, Dean was on his back with a Gemini’s mouth around his throat and its hard body holding him down.

    “And that’s all for today’s show, folks. A little short and disappointing, but you can’t have everything. Go home! Thank you,” Jimmy called from his seat on the rock. Cas released Dean’s throat and lifted his head. For a moment, those intense, blue eyes bore into Dean’s. His breath hitched and a single bead of sweat traced its way down his neck. Suddenly, Cas' concentration was broken by a feral growl from behind them. Cas hopped off of him and Dean shot up into a sitting position.

    Jimmy’s teeth were bared and he had a murderous look in his eyes. Cas trotted up to him and rubbed his head into Jimmy’s side, the latter never taking that unnerving gaze off of Dean. The way the two were leaning into each other, Dean was getting very non-brotherly vibes. Well, that would explain a lot.

    “Okay, um, Cas won. I’m not sure why I’m getting the stink eye,” Dean said. Jimmy bared his teeth again and Dean was surprised to see long, pointed canines. Had they always been like that? Cas backed away from his brother and morphed back into his human form. After a long glance at Jimmy, Cas looked at Dean.

    “As you can see, you’re not as strong as you think. Now, pick up the spear and try again,” Cas ordered. Dean’s eyes narrowed, not pleased with the commanding tone Cas had spoken in. He snatched up the spear and stood in one fluid motion.

    “Fine. What’s next?” Dean snapped.

    “What are you going to do if the hell hound is charging you?” Cas asked.

    Dean crouched and then jumped to the side, bringing the spear arching up and then stabbing down viciously into an imaginary hound’s back. He glanced up at Cas. Both the brothers were watching him with the same odd expression. Jimmy licked his lips as Cas pulled in a deep breath.

    “That was acceptable. How about if it swipes at you?”

     Dean rolled his eyes but crouched to perform that movement as well.

Chapter Text

SAM

“What?” Sam squeaked.

“Oh, I was just asking if you wanted to place any bets on the fight between your brother and my hound,” Crowley’s voice slipped through the speaker, smooth as velvet to hide the sinister note hidden beneath his words.

“No! Of course not. Please don’t tell me that idiot’s actually fighting in your arena,” Sam growled, shooting up to pace his small living room.

“You didn’t know? I thought for sure Squirrel would have told his Moose by now.” Crowley oozed twisted glee. “The fight is happening tomorrow night, after all.”

Sam pulled the phone away from his ear and glared at it. Then he hung up on Crowley. He didn’t have to listen to that. He was going to go get his idiot, gangster brother and pull his ass out of the fire. Again.

Sam ran around his apartment, throwing clothes into his travel bag. He lived three and a half hours from his family, so he was planning to stay overnight. He wasn’t going to trust Dean not to do something stupid. Sam grabbed his cellphone and dialed in his mother’s number, but paused before hitting send. He didn’t really need to put Dean through their mother’s rage quite yet. Only if he got desperate. Sam erased the numbers and typed in his brother’s instead. The phone went to voicemail. Twice. Sam left a brief message telling Dean that he was a moron and to call back as soon as possible.

Dean never did call back, but after a few hours of driving it was a moot point, because Sam was standing in front of his house. After a few knocks, Dean opened the door looking annoyed.

“Sammy? Why are you here?” he asked.

“If you actually checked your phone, you’d already know,” Sam complained, “Are you going to let me in?”

Dean grumbled something that sounded a lot like a curse against younger siblings, but opened the door enough for Sam to enter. Sam stalked in and plopped down on Dean’s couch. Dean sighed and rubbed his face but sat down next to him.

“So you’re fighting a hell hound in Crowley’s arena tomorrow?” Sam asked, getting straight to the heart of it. Dean turned towards him, frowning.

“And who told you that?”

“Crowley. So, are you?”

Dean glared at Sam and turned away. “That’s not your problem.”

“Yeah, Dean, it kind of is,” Sam retorted. “I don’t particularly want my only brother to be torn to shreds by a hound.”

“Technically, you’d still have Adam,” Dean threw Sam a red herring.

“We’re not talking about Adam right now,” Sam ground his teeth together. “You’re not going into that arena tomorrow.”

“Oh, is that so?” Dean’s eyebrows went all the way up, “I have very good reasons for going into that arena.”

“Which are?” Sam demanded.

Us, a voice groaned, Please just let him go away. It was much nicer when no one was talking.

Be quiet, Jimmy, an almost identical voice replied, That’s his brother. He’s just worried about Dean.

Sam blinked and swung his head from side to side, looking for the owners of the voices. Whoa. Who was talking? That sounded like he was hearing monsters but... it couldn’t be.

They didn’t have actual conversations. The most intelligence he ever heard was a few words strung together. Mostly it was just a mess of verbalized emotions. If there were actually intelligent monsters out there… that changed things so much.

“Sam! Sammy! You alright?” Dean shook his shoulder.

“Yeah, uh, yeah. I’m fine. What did you say?” Suddenly, Sam’s mind recovered from its shock. The monster voices had said that Dean was fighting the hound because of them somehow?

“I just said that it’s none of your business and that you’re going to have to trust me on this one,” Dean repeated.

Yeah, like you have a trustworthy bone in your body, the first voice quipped.

Jimmy! the second, calmer voice admonished.

“I’m going to need a bit more than that, sorry,” Sam replied to Dean, trying to focus on two conversations at once.

Just tell him, Dean. It’s not like it’ll hurt anything. Even that Crowley dude knows about us.

I think he’s just reluctant to give his brother something to work with.

“I’m taking the place of… someone who shouldn’t be fighting,” Dean explained.

“Who?” Sam asked, more interested in the conversation only he could hear.

Cas, stop defending him!

I’m not defending him.

“My new bodyguards. I protect them, they protect me,” Dean sounded exasperated with Sam’s questions.

Yes, you are. It’s ‘cause you’ve got a little crush, don’t you?

Jimmy!

Well, I mean, I know he’s hot, but I wouldn’t have thought that you’d go for the bad boy types.

Sam snickered. Dean’s head popped up.

“What?” he demanded.

“Oh, nothing. Your ‘body guards’ are amusing is all.” Sam couldn’t keep the grin off of his face even if he tried.

Huh? one voice asked.

Can he hear us? the other said at the same time.

Dean glanced over towards the left side of the room. “What are you two talking about?” he yelled. The two voices went silent.

“I don’t think they’re gonna tell you.” Sam held back another snort of laughter.

“What aren’t they gonna tell me?” Dean’s head snapped back to look at him.

“It’s nothing; don’t worry about it.” That earned Sam a glare, but it didn’t faze him, “What we do need to worry about is why exactly you feel the need to fight in their stead in Crowley’s arena, of all places.”

Dean sighed, finally giving in. “Mom had already agreed to have him fight in the arena and I knew Crowley wouldn’t let that go without a replacement. But they’re intelligent, Sam! I mean, they’re practically human. I won’t make them fight against their will.”

That is... one voice began.

Sssh! the other interrupted. The brother can hear us.

“But did it have to be you? I’m sure you have lots of other monsters stored away that would amuse Crowley just as much,” Sam inquired.

“Sam… remember that Gemini I caught? That’s… well, you see…” he paused, “That’s the monster I’m talking about,” Dean explained.

“Oh,” Sam breathed. Nothing would make up for losing a Gemini, the most sought-after monster known to hunters. Well, nothing but a hunter as famous as he knew Dean was.

“Exactly,” Dean sucked in a deep breath and rested his chin in his cupped hands. Sam stared at the opposite wall for a few moments.

“Well… good luck?” Sam managed after a few moments. Dean chuckled.

“No kidding. I’ll be fine, though. Don’t sweat it.”

Sam raised his eyebrows and stared at Dean for a few moments. That was his brother. An idiot, but a brave idiot.

JIMMY

A night has passed and Dean still looked like he puked in his own cheerios. His skin was a lovely shade of green and Jimmy could hear the irregular beating of his heart as he continued training. His moves were getting impressively fast and precise, especially after only one day. Jimmy could almost start to see how Cas found him attractive. But only a tiny bit. Nevertheless, with those reflexes… Dean might actually have a chance in the Arena. And yeah, he still couldn’t believe he actually had that thought about a human.

Something else he couldn’t believe was Dean’s brother. Not only Sam could hear them, but he understood their language as well.

“How long have you been able to hear our kind?” he ended up asking while Sam, Cas and himself were observing Dean.

The giant human just shrugged, “Forever, I think. I can remember being woken up by the howlings at night when my family shamelessly cut into them. I was something like… four? I would always go hide in Dean’s bed because I was so scared. I only later realised that if hearing them - I mean you - was scary, seeing you must have been terrifying. And he never said anything. Not then, not ever.”

The twins remained silent. Jimmy blinked, processing this whole new aspect of Dean’s personality. One he could relate to. Painfully.

Acknowledging their silence, Sam kept going, “That’s why I had to go. I couldn’t take it anymore, those cries of pain and the guilt of knowing we were the ones inflicting all that suffering. I’m becoming a lawyer to try and balance my family’s wrongdoing, but… I think they now see me as an asset to get them out of legal trouble.”

His voice was bitter enough for Jimmy to understand Sam wasn’t exactly happy with how things were. The Gemini exchanged a look. They both felt it: there was more to those humans than met the eyes.

‘They’re still stupid assholes,’ Jimmy thought.

Cas nudged him lightly and he lifted his eyes. Dean had stopped moving and Sam was in the process of standing up.

Someone was approaching. It was an older man, around fifty years old, with a strong-salt-and-pepper beard and brown eyes. The closer he was getting, the tenser Dean seemed to get.

“Hi, Dad.” Sam greeted the man with hesitation in his voice.

This should be good, Cas whispered in his ear, and Jimmy could only agree.

The newcomer’s smile grew warm as he looked at his younger son.

“Why did no one tell me you were back? Did you come here to see the fight? I thought you hated those!” he answered, patting his eldest’s shoulder.

Dean was obviously ill at ease, opening and closing his mouth many time before actually finding the courage to speak. “You’re probably wondering -”

“Why two Gemini on the loose are watching you train with a ridiculous-looking spear? Yes, that did catch my attention,” his father interrupted.

I like him, Jimmy commented. He’s chill.

Me, too, Cas answered.

Sam threw a weird look in their direction and Jimmy childishly stuck out his tongue at him - it wasn’t like he could see him, anyway.

After a sigh, Dean managed to answer, “They’re bound, so not exactly on the loose. They’re my supernatural bodyguards, you might say. I’m fighting instead of one of them tonight.”

Dean appeared to hold his breath as his father studied him with an uncannily serene expression.

“I’m guessing your mother doesn’t know?”

“I’m guessing she does by now. It’s not the kind of secret you can easily hide from her forever. I actually thought you were here on her behalf.”

The man nonchalantly shrugged.

“I’ll leave you to it, then,” he said as he turned to leave. He stopped after only a few feet to add, “Make sure you don’t get yourself killed tonight.”

“Yes, sir.”

Once he was gone, Dean’s face fell into a half-relieved, half-helpless expression. He looked really miserable and scared. Not that Jimmy cared, of course. If the man had decided to fight a hell hound on his own, that was his problem.

Your father is a very strange man, Cas commented to Sam, who nodded in answer.

“I guess John’s just used to seeing weird things happening over the years.”

As the afternoon faded into evening, Mary Winchester did find Dean.

“How dare you do this to us?” She wasn’t even yelling. Actually, her voice was barely above a whisper, that scared even Jimmy. “After all the work you put into catching one, hell, catching two of them, now you, what, want to use them as your personal guard, as if you were some television starlet? You are my son, my First Hunter, you don’t need protection. Especially if you go and get yourself killed tonight! Why don’t you just send one of them in the Arena, one that we can then use for money, and you can keep the other one as your pet if you want to, but you can’t just decide you want the both of them; that is not your call!”

She was going on and on, as Dean kept his eyes fixated on his shoes.

“Mom…” Sam tried to intervene.

“Oh, no, you don’t get to ‘Mom’ me, not you of all people. First you abandon us to study law of all things, and then, when you learn what your brother is up to, risking his life and years of hunting for those two dumb creatures, you watch him and do nothing? I am very disappointed. In the both of you.”

“No, Mom, listen to me. You have to trust Dean on that one. You can’t kill the Gemini, they talk! I can hear them.”

Mary was now looking at him with a confused expression.

“Of course you can hear them, you always have.”

“No, I mean I understand everything they say. They’re brothers and they aren’t mindless like the monsters you’re used to dealing with. Sending one of them to fight is crossing a line you might not want to cross.”

Jimmy began to pace angrily and Cas’ tail beat the earth rhythmically. Neither one of them liked being in this situation, and Dean’s presence and ability to see creatures made it impossible for them to comfort each other the way they were used to.

“If it means saving my son, then yes, I would gladly kill the both of them with my two own hands.”

Mary had just coldly crossed the line. Both Cas and Jimmy crouched, ready to jump on her, already growling insults. They were barely restrained by the binding and Dean’s orders before the Hunter finally met his mother’s eyes with a new determination on his face.

“Maybe I don’t need you to save me. I already made my decision, Mom, and you’ll have to trust me this time, ‘cause I’m not backing down. Now please leave. I’ve gotta go get ready.”

And so the time of the fight was upon them. Jimmy caught himself thinking of Dean’s agility to convince himself that the man’s victory was assured. He wasn’t even worried in the first place anyway, because who cared if the human died, right? Not Jimmy. Cas was giving him an unimpressed look, but Jimmy knew better.

Chapter Text

DEAN

    This was happening. Dean was about to enter an arena where he would be pitted against a hell hound, one of the world’s most brutal beasts. He squeezed his eyes shut and forcibly calmed his nerves. Cas and Jimmy had shown him what to do. He’d be fine. Hell, he would have been fine before the lessons. He was an excellent hunter with a perfect record; there was absolutely no reason for this to go south. Nodding sharply, Dean squared his shoulders and, taking a deep breath, entered the stadium, the twins on either side of him.

The clamor of a large crowd washed over him. They were all here to see him fight. Some had probably come to see him lose. In front of Dean was a small wooden table with three weapons laid out on it: a dagger, a spear, and a bow and arrows. Cas and Jimmy had made him train with the spear, telling him that he’d appreciate both the length and the control. His hand briefly traced over the dagger, tempted by memories of how similar it was to his first weapon, but ultimately chose the spear. He gripped it tightly in his right hand and approached the large metal gates which opened into the actual arena.

    “Well, well, well. Is the famous Dean Winchester having stage fright? Who would have thought?” Crowley walked up from behind him and leaned against the wall. Jimmy stood and took up a defensive posture next to Dean.

    “I’m cool. You didn’t have to come to egg me on. I’m gonna follow through,” Dean replied, loosening his shoulders and relaxing his mind. He needed to find his battle calm.

    “Of course. Best of luck,” Crowley smirked and made little shooing motions with his hands towards the arena. Dean was seriously tempted to throw himself on Crowley instead of the hell hound waiting for him. With a dismissive grunt, Dean motioned for the gatekeeper to let him into the arena. He looked to his left and right. The Gemini were twitching with nervous energy.

    “Stay,” Dean ordered, just in case, and strode into the arena, the rough sand compressing beneath his boots. The lighting was harsh, making every detail stand out in stellar focus. The crowd went abruptly silent and Dean watched as the gate opposite him slid open, revealing a dark tunnel. A red and orange glow approached from the tunnel, and he tensed as the beast stepped into the light.

     It wasn’t like he’d never seen a hell hound before, he’d just never seen one this large, or had to fight it without a proper weapon. Its three heads stabbed out from broad, spiked shoulders. A pair of wickedly sharp horns curved almost gracefully from each of its heads. It was well protected by a layer of horn-like protrusions covering its entire back. Its inky skin looked like living obsidian. The hound took a step closer to Dean, its clawed feet blowing the sand up into the air. The audience made an awed sound, seeing only its steps in the sand and nothing of the terrifying beast Dean faced.

    Dean lowered into a crouch and bared his teeth at the hound. Unfortunately, it copied his movements, revealing three mouths filled with bones that were more akin to needles than teeth. Its blank eyes erupted into flames and Dean could see the same fire licking at the corners of its mouths. It circled slowly to the right and Dean turned to face it. He raised his spear higher, and the hound pounced.

     Dean rolled to the side, just as Cas had taught him, but wasn’t quite fast enough. The fire of the hound’s breath flowed across his shoulder, the skin bubbling and blistering as Dean stumbled and ground his teeth, holding back a scream. He whipped around, not allowing the pain to distract him. The crowd was cheering, but Dean blocked them out. The hound had retreated to the far end of the arena and Dean was relieved until it turned and charged.

    Dean planted himself firmly on the ground and held out his weapon. At the last moment, he jumped to the side and stabbed the spear down into the hound’s hip. Blood so red it was nearly black sprayed into the air, coating Dean in a fine mist, before flowing freely down the beast’s side. Dean cursed and backed up, blindly wiping at his face. The blood burned and itched like acid and all Dean could think about was getting it off.

    Something hard crashed into Dean’s side and he tumbled into the forgiving sand. He looked up and watched as the hound circled back around, Dean’s spear still stuck in its hip. It took a limping step towards Dean, teeth bared, the flames now tinged blue at their edges. Dean’s mind calculated the different moves he’d have to perform to retrieve his weapon. He needed to get behind the hound and somehow avoid its three heads.

    Dean, still lying in the sand, rolled to avoid being trampled under the beast as it charged. He wrenched himself to his knees, then his feet. The hound was facing him again, blowing its steaming breath towards him. He feinted left and then flung his body to the right. He grabbed at one of the many spikes covering the hound’s back and dug his nails in, clinging on with all he had. The hound shook, trying to free itself of Dean’s weight. It ran across the arena, scraping the tops of Dean’s legs across the sandy floor and shredding his skin.  

    When it paused at the far wall, Dean let go of it with his right hand and reached for his spear. His fingers brushed it, immediately being coated in the burning, itching blood. He ignored the pain and reached again, even as the beast began to run across the rough sand. Dean was flung off, landing painfully on his burnt shoulder, but with his spear clutched tightly to his chest. Dean blinked in surprise but instantly leapt to his feet. Blood dripped down his legs where they’d been rubbed raw.

    With a yell, he ran towards the hound, spear held high. It flattened its ears and lowered its six horns at him. Ignoring the painful prospect of being impaled, Dean raised his spear high above his head and stabbed down at the leftmost head. The spear broke through the hound’s thick skull and impaled the creature’s brain. The head went slack as Dean ripped the spear out, blood, bone, and chunks of brain flying out with it. The hound was obviously screaming in pain and struggling to balance with the dead weight of its head pulling it off to the left. It tripped backwards, trailing blood and brains along the sand. There was a marked increase in volume from the crowd, and Dean figured that they could see all of the blood steaming in the sand even though they couldn’t see the hound itself.

    Dean twirled the spear in his hand and approached the injured creature. It ceased struggling and stood its ground, breathing hard, the fire practically shooting out of its eyes. Dean raised the spear again, aiming for its middle head this time. He lunged at the creature, but it ducked his blow and while one head sunk its hundreds of needle-like teeth into Dean’s calf, the other dragged its horn along the side of his face leaving a long, thin gash. Dean cried out and fell to the ground. The hound knocked him on his back with a shove of its middle head. Blood smeared across Dean’s face, pain shot through his calf, and his spear tumbled out of his hand.

    The hound centered itself above Dean and lifted its head to deliver the final blow. For a moment, he lay transfixed in horror at the growing flame. Then his calf spasmed, yanking him back to reality. He smacked the sand to his right several times, desperately searching for his weapon. His hand slapped down on cool metal and, without a plan or a second thought, brought it forcefully up into the hound’s abdomen. He ripped upwards, feeling the tough flesh part around the sharp tip. Black, burning blood gushed down onto him. Dean could feel the vibrations from the hound’s scream.

    Scrambling out from beneath the beast, Dean used every ounce of his willpower to resist rubbing every inch of his bloodsoaked skin into the sand to remove the terrible, fiery itch running along his body. Instead, he stepped up to the violently trembling hound and gouged his spear straight through one head’s eye and into its brain. The other head weakly blew fire but was barely able to move.

    Dean pulled his weapon out and half of the enormous, black eyeball came with it. He shook the spear once to dislodge the flesh and drove it through the base of the final head’s skull. The beast twitched once, twice, then stilled. Dean looked up at the crowd and was surprised at the silence. Then, as if mute had been taken off the world, a roar of approval washed over Dean. He actually felt quite light-headed. He steadied himself on his spear before staggering towards the exit. Cas and Jimmy were pressed against the bars of the gate, and if he didn’t know better, he’d think they looked worried.

CAS

    Cas gasped in horror as the hound bit into Dean’s calf with a snarl. He couldn’t stop thinking that Dean was being injured in place of him. He was the one originally meant to be in that arena. Because of his spikes, he would have been better protected than Dean. Cas glanced at Jimmy, who had schooled his face into a careful mask of indifference. Then he heard Dean scream and his attention was immediately back on the human who had taken his place.

    Dean was on the ground with the hound above him. Cas heard Jimmy growl next to him and both Gemini jumped to their feet.

“Man, I hate hounds,” Jimmy muttered under his breath.

Castiel huddled against his brother, his insides frozen in fear. Was Dean actually going to die? The way he’d killed the first head had been rather impressive - for a human - but he now seemed to be out of options. As seconds drew out, Cas had to hide his head in Jimmy’s neck, who purred quietly. It always did reassure him, the soft rumble in his brother’s throat.

“Cas, look up, you don’t wanna miss this.”

In a beat, Castiel’s eyes were back on the arena, the hound was howling in the throes death, Dean under him with his spear deep inside the hell hound’s chest. The human was showered in the monster’s corrosive blood. Castiel winced, knowing all too well what that felt like. Despite himself, he felt grateful to him for his sacrifice.

Thankfully the crowd was holding its breath as Dean escaped from under the monster; Castiel didn’t think he could have endured the turmoil of the fight and hysterical humans hollering from all around.

A wave of pride and relief washed over him as Dean impaled the spear into the second head in a precise movement, just like Cas himself had taught him. The Gemini wasn’t sure if he was going to survive the emotional hurricane that this fight had turned out to be. Jimmy might have sensed it, since he mixed their tails together, looking over him, like he always did.

Dean had just killed the beast. The mass of humans were at it again, screaming, and applauding, and congratulating, but the only thing Cas could see was Dean. Covered in blood and injured. But alive and standing.

SAM

To say that Dean was banged up was like saying the sun is big. Sam’s brother was laying in his bed, getting patched up by a grumpy Ellen. Sam could tell she wanted to say something, maybe even yell in frustration at the boy she helped raising, but she knew what was coming his way.

Mary Winchester.

If their mother had been any paler in this very moment, she’d have been transparent. She was looking scary enough that even the Gemini whimpered when she entered the room. Dean seemed unphased, but he’d just killed a hell hound on his own, so what’s a furious mother compared to that?

“What were you thinking?” she practically hissed. “Do you have any idea how scared I was?”

“Mom -” Dean tried to interrupt.

“Do you? Because seeing your son fight off an invisible creature is something no mother should have to go through. Ever. Look at you, you’re barely in one piece.”

Once she was done, her face fell. She wasn’t a walking fury anymore, but a mother scared for her child’s life.

Dean was trying to sit up. Sam gave him a hand to help him but was ignored. Dean was focused on his mother, opening his arms slowly, obviously in pain.

“Come here, Mom.”

Mary hesitated for two seconds before she embraced him, her eyes rimmed in red.

“Don’t pull that kind of stunt on me ever again, Dean,” she muttered so softly that Sam wouldn’t have heard it if he hadn’t been standing so close.

“That’s why I have the Gemini, now. They’ll make sure nothing bad happens to me.”

Sam winced. He heard the Gemini talk often enough to know they didn’t quite appreciate the way Dean talked about them sometimes.

Mary was already tensing up, looking around the room as if she could spot the Gemini if she stared hard enough. Dean sighed.

“Yes, Mom, they’re in the room. I’m not letting them out of my sight.”

“What are they saying?”

It took Sam a few seconds to realize that his Mom’s question was directed at him.

“They’re saying that…”

He paused to actually listen to them.

“They would appreciate more trust, and one of them just implied that the human brain is full of maggots.”

Dean barely contained his smile. Mary was sighing.

One of the two creatures growled while the other asked, What would they do with it anyway?

Sam answered, “They want to try and make a serum to obtain the True Sight and be able to see monsters.”

Mary kept talking, unaware of the exchange, “Exactly. But if Dean insists he doesn’t want to give them away, we’ll have to break our side of the deal with one of the most powerful Yakuzas on the East Side of Japan. I am not sending Bobby alone.”

She gave them both a pointed look.

“Us?” Dean blurted out with a skeptical look. “Sam is out of the life and, as you pointed out, I’m hardly in a good enough shape to go on a mission.”

“Dean Winchester, you decided you wanted to do what you wanted without taking anyone into consideration, now you have to take the responsibilities for your actions. You just blew everyone’s mind by disemboweling a giant hound with a spear; imagine what they’ll think if you stand up to a Japanese hitman not even a week later? Plus, you’ll have your… bodyguards… with you anyway. As for Sam, he followed you in your suicidal plans, he can follow you to the West Coast. And that’s final.”

Chapter Text

DEAN

Bobby Singer. Good old Bobby and his permanent grumpiness, under which hid the best man Dean had ever met. He greeted Dean at dawn with a smack behind the head, “You should’ve died in that arena for making us so worried about ya!”, followed by a one-armed hug.

Dean wasn’t exactly happy Bobby forbade him to drive the Impala, but he understood. He wouldn’t risk Baby’s integrity because he was too proud to ride on a train while severely injured. But still, he would have to be on a train. Trains weren’t as bad as planes, though. At least they stayed on solid ground. But travelling anywhere without his car made him nervous, especially since he had to pretend he wasn’t going on board with two 300-pound monsters.

The twins started wandering about, skillfully avoiding any travelers in their paths. It made Dean wonder how long they’d had to manage being undetected amongst humans. Yet, Dean  caught them. Dean could always tell, somehow, where one of them was, as if he could sense them. He shrugged off that ridiculous idea.

The two days spent on the train passed in a flash, during which Dean spent most of his time asleep, dreaming of foreign, weird looking-lands full of wonder and danger. Maybe he should slow down on the pain meds.

Dean never enjoyed his stays in California. He didn’t like the smell of the sea, and the people there, so full of themselves, and yet miserable. He already missed the frank openness of Kansas lands. (And maybe it didn’t help that he’d met Amara in Los Angeles, but Dean didn’t want to think of her right now.)

“Is this really the place where we’re sleeping, Bobby?” Sam was admiring the St. Regis hotel with an awed expression.

“We can’t sell no products by stayin’ in a crappy motel. You’ve been out of the life way too long, ya idjit,” Bobby grumbled back at him.

Dean didn’t answer, but had to confess that even he felt small in front of one of the most expensive hotels in San Francisco.

But the most intimidated of the lot must have been the Gemini. They were cowering from the building, barely even looking at it, probably feeling as out of place as a pig in the Oval Office. Dean pretended to tie his shoelaces so he could talk to them without being looked at like a looney.

“Come on guys. I’ll be right there with you. You can get back on two legs once we’re in the room, I’ll lock the door. A night in luxury. Don’t tell me you’re not even tempted?”

And luxurious it was. Everything in the suite was enormous: the TV, the bathroom, the sofa, the carpet, and, of course, the bed.

As soon as Dean lied down, he felt himself drown in comfort. He sat up on the pillow mountain to see the twins stretching their human-like arms and legs.

“This bed is so big the three of us could easily fit in here.”

Dean couldn’t tell why he had to mention it, but when Cas and Jimmy confronted him with similar hopeful faces, he couldn’t get himself to regret it.

“Hop in, guys, I’m not selfish enough to keep this comfy bed all to myself.”

They both approached the bed, hesitantly at first, laying very carefully side by side on the mattress.

“Are we really allowed to sleep on here?” Cas asked almost shyly.

“Of course. I’m not worried about my masculinity.” Dean joked in answer.

Jimmy looked up at him with his hair deliciously messy - maybe Dean did have to fear for his virile reputation if he used words such as ‘deliciously’ in his head.

“I can’t remember the last time I slept in a bed.”

His rough voice was so sincere, Dean felt an actual pang of sadness and guilt. They hadn’t been able to sleep in a bed in so long because they had to run and hide. Because they had been tracked. And hunted down. By him.

“You should sleep. The two of you can even cuddle if you want. I don’t judge.”

Dean could see that the bond between them ran deeper than the one between two siblings. He got it. He didn’t mind.

That night, his dreams were filled with an odd sense of contentment, like he hadn’t felt in ages, full of warmth, and love, and comfort and the feeling of being whole for the first time in years.

When he opened his eyes in the morning, he found himself face to face with Cas, who was sleeping peacefully in Jimmy’s arms, like the purest little spoon. The sight, even though lovely, made Dean slightly bitter: he had no one to cuddle with.

CAS

Castiel had never, in the thirty years he’d been alive, seen this many kinds of soap outside of a supermarket. He’d enjoyed the hot tub and felt totally sated. Sleeping so close to Jimmy, eating such delicious food, and lazing around in a wonderfully smelling bath had done wonders on Cas’ mood - despite the collar weighing on his throat. Of course, Dean being so tolerant and accepting of their relationship had been a sweet surprise, and maybe Cas and Jimmy had come to respect the man, but he was still officially their “master”.

After dressing in new clothes provided by Dean, Castiel came back in the bedroom, quietly enough that the other two didn’t notice him immediately. Dean was replacing Jimmy’s leg bandages while Jimmy was tending to Dean’s facial wound.

A wave of affection rushed through the Gemini.

JIMMY

   The bed was beyond amazing. Waking up curled around Cas was even better. The only thing that would have beat that was if they had woken up alone. The corners of Jimmy’s mouth turned up in a wolfish grin and he twisted to look at Cas. They were both in their animal forms and following Dean down a hallway. Cas responded by rolling his eyes and studiously ignoring Jimmy until they reached the lobby. Jimmy watched Dean lean against the counter. He was wearing something a little nicer than usual and it accented his strong legs stretching out… whoa. Wrong dude. Cas, right. Cas had the best, sexiest thighs ever.

    “We’re just waiting on Bobby and Sam,” Dean whispered at the ground to avoid odd looks. “As soon as they show up we’re going to meet with the Yakuzas. Stay quiet.”

    Cas nodded his understanding while Jimmy looked off to the side and examined a fake plant nestled in the corner. What exactly was the point of that? It looked really stupid. Just like that stupid hunter standing there awkwardly. Stupid plant. Stupid hunter.

   “Heya, Bobby, Sammy” Dean called. The older man had worn a suit, but looked incredibly uncomfortable in it. Sam looked cool and calm in his business attire.

     “Let’s get this damn show on the road and, Dean, for god’s sake, be polite. We don’t need any of them Japanese gangsters getting offended,” Bobby instructed. Dean bounced against the counter to stand and followed Bobby towards a side hallway. Jimmy fell in step next to Cas.

    “Do you ever think that Dean is different?” Cas whispered.

   “Different how?” Jimmy snorted. Dean was just as selfish and arrogant as every other human out there, even if he had been pretty impressive when fighting that hell hound.

  “I sometimes think I feel his presence, sort of like the way I feel yours,” Cas murmured. Jimmy stopped dead in his tracks and stared at him.

    “That’s crazy talk, Cas,” Jimmy admonished. “Dean is no different than the rest of mankind except that he has us bound.” The spikes lining the top of Cas’ eyebrow stiffened and drew together. Jimmy ignored his brother’s frown and trotted to catch up to Dean. He didn’t mention how he had felt the same thing Cas had. It was crazy. It had to be. No human could interact with a Gemini that way.

    They waited in the upscale conference room for a little under an hour. When the Yakuzas arrived, it was with the calm dignity of a lion, knowing that they were at the top of their respective food chain. It made Jimmy’s spikes itch. Dean and Sam stood on either side of Bobby while Cas and Jimmy stood at the far left and right, invisible to all but Dean. The leader of the Yakuzas, a rather short, thin man, bowed low and uttered some form of Japanese greeting. Bobby responded in kind, bowing and speaking. Dean caught on a tad late and his bow was hurried.

    “I apologize for the late withdrawal, Shuten-Sama, but we will no longer be able to trade with you,” Dean announced. He faced Shuten-Sama but the leader was focused on Bobby who was translating for Dean.

  Shuten-Sama’s expression didn’t change and his voice retained an even tone, making it impossible for Jimmy to pick up on his mood. When Bobby translated, Jimmy shuddered.

  “Shuten-Sama wants you to know that breaking deals with the Yakuza will not be tolerated. He says that if you were unable to carry through on your end, then you will have to find something of equal or greater value to give him,” Bobby reported.

    “What do you want from us?” Dean asked. Jimmy could tell that he was preparing for the worst. He had a sudden spike of fear that Dean would just let the Yakuza’s take his and Cas’ blood, but then remembered how he had fought for them in the arena. He wouldn’t just turn them over now.

    “Either the blood of the Gemini or,” Bobby paused, swallowed hard, and continued, “Sam. They want to make you a permanent addition to their gang to use your ‘special’ hearing.”

    “Like Hell,” Dean growled, his entire body tensing. Jimmy lowered his stance, sensing an imminent fight. Sam’s eyes narrowed, but the rest of his body remained relaxed in a professional stance.  Bobby ‘translated’ something a lot longer than Dean’s two words, but Shuten-Sama seemed unmoved.

    “He demands you stand down or, I quote, ‘risk the wrath of Japan.’” Bobby glanced at Dean with slit eyes. “We need to fix this, and now.” Jimmy got the silent message beneath the words: don’t fuck this up or we’re all gonna die. Dean forcibly relaxed his shoulders. Jimmy sat back on his haunches, hoping that he wouldn’t be needed. He loved a good fight, but he was still under the weather and he didn’t want Cas or…. nope, no ‘or’. Just Cas. That’s the only person Jimmy cared about. And he wasn’t going to be accepting any submissions into that club, thank you very much.

      “Shuten-Sama, you must understand that we mean you no harm but also that what you request is impossible for us to grant,” Sam calmly informed the group. Bobby took a deep breath and translated for the Japanese. Jimmy watched one off to the left lift his hand up to the small of his back. He growled deep in the back of his throat. Sam glanced at him and followed his gaze. Then his body stiffened and his hand drifted towards his back as well.

    “Dean,” Sam murmured, “They’re reaching for weapons.” Dean’s eyes slid to examine each of the Japanese gang members. Jimmy looked over and saw Cas crouching down, muscles tensing in preparation. Shuten-Sama was talking and Bobby’s face growing increasingly more pale. The gang leader pulled aside his jacket, revealing a gun nestled to his side.

    “He says that Sam goes with him or no one goes anywhere,” Bobby reported, his voice the deadpan of a seasoned fighter preparing for action.

    “Bastard,” Dean spat, “You aren’t taking my brother!”

    Bobby started talking in a calm voice, trying to placate Shuten-Sama, but Jimmy could see his face hardening. He barked a single word, cutting Bobby off, and pulled out his gun, a MAC-10. A vicious growl ripped out of Cas’ throat. Faster than blinking, Sam and Dean had their guns out as well. They both held 9mm glocks. Bobby raised both of his hands and spoke rapidly in Japanese, the meaning lost on Jimmy.

    Bobby, keeping his hands carefully above his head, began to back away. “Come on boys, they ain’t in the bargaining mood. Be ready for anything,” Bobby rumbled in a low voice. Keeping his eyes on Shuten-Sama’s finger on the trigger, Jimmy began to back up as well. The rest of the Yakuzas had 45 cals or 9mm. They wouldn’t do as much damage as the MAC-10 their leader held, but were still plenty dangerous.

    Shuten-Sama snapped out a few more terse sentences, only one of which Bobby responded to. Without warning, Bobby whipped a 45 cal out of his waistband. Jimmy’s eyes widened in horror as he watched the Japanese leader depress the trigger of his gun. The three men beside him ducked as a line of bullets shot above their heads. Jimmy leapt forwards and knocked over Shuten-Sama. The man cried out in surprise and pain as he fell, shooting blindly in all directions, even hitting one of his own men in the thigh.

    Jimmy opened his mouth wide and sank his teeth into the man’s throat, tasting the metallic tang of his blood for a moment before pulling away, leaving him to bleed out. Jimmy whipped around, got kicked in the face, and stumbled out of the action for a moment. He saw a screaming Yakuza fall to the ground under the sharp claws of his brother. Sam was standing at a distance and shooting at the man who had his gun aimed at Bobby, and Dean was down on one knee and shooting a steady stream of bullets.

    A cry of pain reached Jimmy’s ears and his head swivelled to take in the younger Winchester gripping his side, blood seeping through the fingers. Jimmy saw red and leapt past Sam. He heard bullets whirling around him, but he was focused on the man who had shot Dean’s brother. The Japanese man raised his gun and pointed in his general direction. Damn! The guy could probably see his shadow. Jimmy crouched down and flung himself at the man, his claws connecting with his chest and sending them both tumbling over each other and colliding with a third body.

    Jimmy sprang to his feet first, cursing. Next to him, Cas finished ripping out a man’s guts and stood to next to his brother to face the two attackers, fresh blood still dripping from his mouth. The one who had shot Sam was yelling at the other, probably talking about the shadow that had attacked him. Jimmy glanced at Cas and then they both looked to the yelling Japanese men. Focusing solely on the man’s mind, the twins leaned closer and their shoulders bumped. Their minds blended together as one. This would never not be amazing to Jimmy. It might be something every Gemini could do, but being this close to Cas was perfection.

     Can we make him think he’s a cat, please? Jimmy thought at his brother.

     Just this once, Cas agreed with a long-suffering sigh.

    Jimmy felt their mental probe pierce the man’s mind and begin to thrash about, leaving his mind in chaos. Together, they began to pick up the pieces and reconstruct it into something else. Jimmy heard bullets and rough voices shouting but he was barely aware of it, too busy building a new mental platform for his enemy. When they finished, they pulled away from his mind. The entire process had only taken a few seconds. They watched as the man dropped to all fours and began rubbing against the legs of his partner. Jimmy chuckled darkly at the look of terror on the sane man’s face. Their victim however, looked perfectly content. Suddenly, the Yakuza still standing fell to the ground with a bullet in his brain. Behind him, Dean was staggering backwards, a smoking gun in his hand. The man on his hands and knees bent to sniff at the body, a disappointed look on his face. He parted his lips and gently licked the dead man’s cheek.

    All the other Yakuzas were dead. Bobby was cursing and gripping his forearm which was streaming blood. The left side of Sam’s body was stained red but he seemed relatively fine. Dean was favoring the leg which the hell hound hadn’t bitten, but didn’t appear to have sustained any new injuries. Jimmy examined Cas, looking for wounds, but he seemed to be fine.

    “We gotta get out of here. Someone had to have heard the shots,” Sam said, “Come on, back exit.” He motioned towards a door, wincing as he turned.

    “Shit. That went south a lot faster than I ever expected,” Dean limped towards the door, picking up a few empty magazines they’d dropped.

  “You’re tellin’ me,” Bobby grumbled, scanning the room for any possible incriminating evidence. The sound of sirens reached them from the front of the hotel.

   “I guess I’m gonna have to leave my clothes,” Dean sighed, “Man, I really liked that shirt. Whatever. Let’s hit the road.”

    By the time they’d made it to the train station to buy a ticket, Jimmy had gone over the fight three times in his head. He couldn’t remember Dean ordering him to attack, but he’d felt the pressing urge to anyway. Almost as if the gun had been pointed at Cas. Shuten-Sama couldn’t have even seen Cas.

    Jimmy frowned and nearly ran into Sam as they stopped. He looked up and saw Dean leaning against the counter, obviously flirting with the ticket lady. Something dark curled in his chest but he shoved it away. What did he care if Dean flirted with her? He could do whatever he wanted. Jimmy didn’t care. Not one bit.

Chapter Text

SAM

They were alone in the train compartment. Dean was eyeing what must be the Gemini. Sam and Bobby were staring at Dean.

“So. Guys. I guess you know why we need to ask you a question or two,” Dean started as an introduction.

Sam clearly heard a sigh and a: Here we go.

“The trick on that Yakuza guy. What’s up with that?”

Sam waited for an answer that took some time to come.

It wasn’t us. We don’t know what you’re talking about.

Once Sam had translated, Dean scoffed, “How about you cut the crap and tell us? This isn’t an order, but I can, and will, be very annoying when people hide things from me.”

“Yeah, I can confirm that,” Sam agreed with some nostalgia.

“Bitch.”

“Jerk.”

Bobby rolled his eyes and humphed, “Focus, ya idjits.”

Dean turned back to the twins who hesitated a bit more before finally explaining.

Gemini have psychic abilities. It’s kind of our thing, and we do not like to advertise it.

Dean listened to Sam translation, expression changing to look as surprised as Sam himself was feeling.

“Why did you never use it before? To get out of your cage and escape?”

After some groans and huffs and puffs, Sam finally got an answer.

We need to be together to do it. And focused, of course, if one of us has a bullet in the leg, we can’t do anything more than shift.

Dean winced hearing that bit, and even more when Bobby added, “Why don’t you control Dean’s mind into freeing you, then?”

The answer was given with a very shy voice. We tried, but he is seemed to be very strong-willed. We’ve never seen that before.

For the next ten minutes, Dean stared broodily out of the window, his cheeks beet red, while Sam and Bobby attempted to recover from their rib-hurting laughing fits - actually, maybe that part was also due to the bullet which had grazed his side, so nevermind.

DEAN

Three weeks later, Dean was doing much better. His multiple burns were taking on a leathery texture, completely painless and totally badass, like the scar on the side of his face that still stung like hell everytime he tried to smile, but was so good looking that he didn’t care. The only thing really troubling him was his calf. He’d taken to wandering about with a hardened steel walking stick. He envied Jimmy’s fast healing process that got rid of any trace of his bullet wound a week ago - well, except for a cute scar. That totally wasn’t cute, by the way.

The Gemini had made a habit of cuddling on Dean’s sofa during the night, usually wearing his clothes during the day, but occasionally their own. Jimmy rocked a red leather jacket with a fluorescent teal tee underneath, while Cas favoured a large tan trenchcoat that totally didn’t fit him, but was just so Cas that neither Jimmy nor Dean ever said anything.

His fights with the hound and the Japanese gang only strengthened Dean’s reputation, without mentioning he’d also bent two of the most dangerous creatures on Earth to his will. A dozen tyrant wannabes took their chances at him; he sent a couple to the hospital with pulverized leg bones, four died by his gun or a Gemini’s fangs and claws, and one was now fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a florist, only pushed by a little psychic help. The rest begged for their lives after sustaining minor injuries. Dean had sent them to his mother who was more than happy to give them tasks such as grocery shopping and kitchen duty for the compound.

The two men he didn’t send away, however, were Samuel Campbell and Henry Winchester. His grandfathers had come to him at separate times for two different purposes. The first had scolded him for putting his trust into animals that would be better off dead. Jimmy had hated that meeting and Cas had spent the day looking incredibly hurt.

The second had been devoured with curiosity, ecstatic to hear that Gemini systematically came in pairs, and regretted that Sam was already gone and couldn’t help him understand the creatures more. Henry could hear them, but only muffled grunts. The twins appreciated this encounter more, even though confessing that feeling like samples in a scientific experiment was quite uncomfortable.

“We aren’t guinea pigs, Dean,” Cas felt useful to point out that night. Dean agreed. No one would take the Gemini away from him.

And then, there was her. Kate Milligan.

CAS

Castiel didn’t know the woman. He hadn’t been introduced, of course, and the only information he got was that she arrived with tear-streaked cheeks and red-rimmed eyes, that Dean’s first reaction was to hold her in his arms, and that he called her Kate.

Until she started talking.

“Eve paid me a visit this morning.”

Castiel had heard of Eve Roman, she had been mentioned time and time again when Dean’s maternal grandfather was visiting. He’d heard enough to decide he never wanted to meet her.

“She says she knows where Adam is.”

Dean’s entire demeanor shifted from slightly concerned and worried to fully alert hunter mode.

“Really? Where is he? Kate!” He was almost shaking the poor woman.

“She wouldn’t tell me! She only wants to tell you, in person. I don’t know what her intentions are, but…”

“If there is even a slight chance she knows where Adam is, I have to go.” Dean’s voice was harder than Castiel ever heard him. Even Jimmy tensed up next to him.

Dean’s driving was erratic. They were allowed - more like obligated - to turn humanoid while driving in Dean’s car. Castiel was gripping Jimmy’s arm to center himself. It took ten minutes of reckless driving before Dean slowed down and talked to them.

“Eve is my mom’s sister. She used to be in the business, was even supposed to take over after my grandma, Deanna, retired. But then she got married to this asshat called Dick Roman. The only thing the guy ever thinks about is money, and Eve took a surprisingly little amount of persuasion to betray the family and started a farm of abominations - no offense, but those reptile worms freak me out. I don’t know what she wants from me yet, probably use me to tame a monster. Must be a rare one if she’s using Adam as leverage. Probably a Rainbow Bird, or maybe even a Dragon,...”

Dean was officially rambling. His rough voice, the purring of the engine, and Jimmy’s soft caresses lulled Cas into sleep.

He was woken up by the car door opening. Dean was looking at them rubbing the sleep out of their eyes with a warm smile.

“Are we there yet?” Cas grumbled, disorientated.

“Nah, sleepy heads, but you’ll have to run for the last half mile, we don’t want people wondering who the two ruffled brunettes following me around with collars are.”

“You’re such an asshole,” Jimmy grumbled, obviously still half asleep.

Dean seemed to agree with that statement and gestured at them to exit the car.

“A few feet down the road, there’s a path taking off on the left. It goes all the way down to Purgatory. That’s the name of her place. Lovely, ain’t it?”

With a last awkward smile and stiff wave, he climbed back in his car and drove off. The twins morphed behind a bush and took the time to admire each other’s form.

“The first to arrive gets a foot massage,” Jimmy taunted him.

“You are so on, brother.”

Running felt liberating. It’d been so long since he’d raced with Jimmy just for the sake of racing. There was always someone chasing them and they usually hadn’t slept for more than six hours in a week and not eaten correctly in a month. But now, they could finally enjoy the earth beneath their paws, the branches failing to slow them down, the excitement of the bet.

Not five minutes later found them in front of an iron gate. Jimmy beat him by three inches, and Castiel jumped on his brother’s back, purring sweet words in his ear.

“I love you, Cas,” Jimmy simply answered, flooding Castiel’s heart with happiness.

Nothing could make this day go wrong, not even the rumble of the Impala interrupting them, announcing Dean’s arrival. He even gave the hunter a friendly look, admiring the sunlight scattering golden specks in his hair.

“Okay, buddies, let’s do this.”

The silence weighing on the front yard was overwhelming. No movement, no sign of life, and even the clouds looked stilled in the sky. When Dean pushed the doorbell, the ringing noise shrilled into the air.

A minute later, a pretty woman wearing a cute white summer dress opened the door with a toothy smile. Her eyes were cold and dead.

“Dean, you came!”

“Aunt Eve.”

Dean was stiff, and any kindness was gone from his face. If Eve noticed, she didn’t care.

“Please, do come in!”

In a parody of courteous family time, she offered her nephew tea and cookies.

“Would your Gemini want any?”

Eve’s question made them all freeze.

“What do you mean?”

Eve chuckled while biting a cookie.

“Do you really think I would have such a successful house if I didn’t know a thing or two about creatures? Come on, boys, or is it girls? show me your pretty face.”

Her voice was sickly sweet and his heart was frozen. Jimmy’s body language betrayed his nervousness and Castiel wanted to shield him from her gaze.

Dean put a protective palm on top of their heads. Castiel felt oddly reassured by the gesture he usually would have found intrusive from anyone other than his brother.

“Sorry, guys, I think we’ll have to go with what Eve says for that one.”

The man sounded genuinely apologetic as if he was as displeased with the situation as they were. So they morphed back.

Eve was looking very pleased.

“Oh, you are gorgeous specimens!”

Ignoring her statement, Jimmy stood threateningly in front of her.

“What do you know about us, Witch?” he demanded in a low growl that sent shivers down Cas’ spine.

“Oh, I am no Witch, but I do know plenty, my dear Gemini.” She was still sipping her tea. “I know that a handful of species, yours included, used to breed with us, humans. We gave you intelligence and the ability to shift. You gave us some special gifts. Such as the ability to see you, or, let’s see… a scaly neck?”

Her arrogance pushed Castiel to his feet and Jimmy was baring his teeth, but Dean had been the fastest to react, already grabbing his aunt by the arm, ignoring the tea and broken porcelain now constellating the floor.

“What do you know about Adam?” he hissed at her.

Eve’s expression finally took a nasty edge.

“Worry not, I shall tell you. I only have one condition.”

She turned her cold stare towards Jimmy and Castiel immediately moved between her and his love.

“I will have them. Here. In my farm. You’ll hand their control over to me.” Her tone was sickening, the way she was talking about owning them. About owning Jimmy.

“No.”

Dean’s answer made Cas’ heart stop. There hadn’t been a hint of hesitation, just like he hadn’t hesitated to refuse his brother to the Yakuzas.

Castiel didn’t know why, but despite the collars, despite the orders, he felt safe. And he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

DEAN

Eve wouldn’t have the twins. No matter how hard he wanted to find Adam, she couldn’t have them. You don’t give away people you care about. Even more so, you don’t let them anywhere near your crazy aunt.

“If that is the case, my dear nephew, I’ll have to let my Hydra take care of you. I’ll just  have to come and get the Gemini as soon as she’s done with your case.”

She whistled and an unseen creature roared from the front door, agitating the walls.

“Oh, by the way… I activated some special wards that block the psychic bond between the two of you. That means no mind tricks… and no shifting of course.”

The door shook violently. Then opened. A black creature twice Dean’s height surged through them, swinging its seven heads in all directions until noticing their little group of three and focusing its softly glowing yellow eyes on them.

“Hydra,” Jimmy gasped. He clutched at his left hip and winced.

“No kidding,” Dean muttered as he backed up and scanned the room for a weapon. He had been disarmed before coming to meet Eve. Speaking of whom, she had gotten herself a new cup of tea and was now sitting in the middle of the couch, as calm as someone about to watch the daily news.

“Have fun, boys,” she smirked, took a sip of her tea, then muttered a few words of an unknown language into her cup.

The hydra hissed with all of its heads, releasing the horrible stench of stagnant water and rotting moss. Dean gagged and almost tripped over a small potted plant. He glanced at the couch where he’d left his walking stick. His eyes then darted to the fireplace and caught on the poker. That could be a weapon. It also happened to be halfway across the room. Dean edged to the right, but a head the size of a ten-gallon tank blocked his way.

The hydra was advancing, its heads darting forwards and taking small nips out of the air when they would jump out of the way. Next to him, Jimmy let out a low growl and spun Dean’s walking stick in his hand. He must have grabbed it from the couch. At least he had a weapon.

“We need to know which head is venomous,” Cas spoke in a hoarse whisper, “That’s the only one which won’t regenerate after we kill it.” He jumped back and away from Dean to avoid being bitten and crashed into a dresser. He glanced up at a display case on the top of it. Dean stumbled to the left, narrowly avoiding being eaten and brushing against Jimmy. He shot a glance back over to Cas who was now standing on top of the dresser amidst broken glass. He gripped whatever had been in the case and pulled it free, revealing the shining metal of a Samurai sword.  Dean had half a second to hope that the sword was actually sharp and then Jimmy was bringing his improvised staff down on a black, scaly head before it could reach him.

“How do we find out which one to kill?” Dean shouted at Cas who had just slashed at the nearest head, drawing a few drops of blood.

“Guess?” Cas jumped off of the dresser to stand next to him. Dean looked towards the fireplace, but it was now entirely unattainable. Suddenly an idea occurred to him. He might not have a weapon, but he could still be useful.

“Or I could let it bite me,” Dean suggested. Jimmy whipped around to face Dean.

“What?” he exclaimed, moments before the side of an enormous head crashed into him and sent him tumbling up against the back wall.

“Jimmy!” Cas screamed as he plunged his sword into the nearest head. It fell to the ground, lifeless, but the other six heads didn’t seem bothered. A look of horror passed over Cas’ face as he slowly pulled out his sword and seemed to deeply regret what he had done.

“I’m fine,” Jimmy pushed against the wall and swung his staff at the nearest head, seeming to relish the crunch. One of the mouths was open and hissing at him. Dean took the moment to lift his forearm and run it quickly across the giant fang before the mouth could close. Blood beaded up out of the fresh wound, but there was no burn of venom.

“It’s not this one,” Dean declared, backing up rapidly to avoid the angered head. He tripped over the head Cas had killed and staggered, but managed to remain standing. The head twitched next to him and then lifted itself off the ground. Dean watched as the hole in its skull closed, leaving a small starburst scar, and the head began to stretch, a small furrow appearing between its eyes. The furrow grew, plunging deep between the eyes. One side shivered and, with a wet pop, pulled itself away from the other. The wet ripping sound continued as the neck split as well, all the way down to the creature’s massive chest. The sides which currently displayed dripping blood, raw meat, and pieces of bone began bubbling horribly and growing to form the other half of the faces. With one last quiver, the two identical heads turned to glare at him.

“Dammit,” he hissed, cornered by three heads and still having no weapon. He dodged the first jab of the head he’d tested. He knew that neither of the new heads could be the venomous one, but how were they supposed to keep track? The second head narrowly missed biting off a mouthful of Dean’s arm. He rolled to the right and came up next to the coffee table. He spared a glance at Eve who was passively watching the fight, tea still in hand.

Dean’s hand shifted as he stood and brushed against the shards of the teacup he’d broken earlier. An idea sprung into his mind. Grabbing a sliver of porcelain, he swung up and drove it into the eye of the nearest head, one of the one’s Cas had killed. It roared in pain, but did not appear to be healing itself. Dean grinned and snatched up two more pieces. When the head he’d tested swung past him, he stabbed the porcelain towards its eye, but missed and hit its cheek instead. It still stuck. Taking a step forwards, Dean approached the other newly grown head and raised his second shard. The head was focused on Jimmy, letting Dean sneak up next to it and plunge the teacup piece into its ear. The creature shrieked and the injured head shot up to the ceiling.

“The heads with teacup in them aren’t venomous,” Dean shouted. Cas grunted somewhere in front of him, signaling that he understood. He heard a solid thunk to his left. He swiveled and saw Jimmy wielding his staff with surprising agility. He’d never seen either twin use a weapon before, and it was a sight for sore eyes. Not that it was an appropriate thought to have at the moment at all.

One head was weaving through the rest, making a beeline for Dean. The easy prey. The one without a weapon or defense. Dean let it approach, mouth gaping open wide and fangs dripping with saliva. At the last moment, he spun to left, allowing the razor-sharp teeth to slide along his hip. He bit back a cry of pain. It hurt, but it didn’t sting with venom.

    Dean dropped to the ground as the head circled back around. Shuffling to the right, his hand groped for another shard of the teacup. He hissed as a piece slid along the base of his palm leaving a shallow slice. He snatched it up anyway and stood, ignoring his injured calf which tensed in pain. The head he’d just tested was

approaching Cas from behind. Cas’ attention was focused on two heads trying to nip at him from either side. With a yell, Dean threw himself on the long neck in front of him. It crashed to the ground and then bucked up, tossing him off and halfway across the room. He landed upside down on the couch next to Eve. She curled her lip up in disgust and carefully set her tea down on the coffee table. The hydra stopped attacking.

“Well, good show. I think I’ve seen enough,” she stood, brushing off her dress, “Mittens, darling, try not to make too much of a mess. Dick will surely have it cleaned for me, but he does grumble. Ta-ta.” She unlocked and opened the door. Pausing in the doorway, she turned and repeated the same foreign words she had at the very beginning. Three of the heads roared and the other five hissed as they converged on Dean and the twins once more.

The head he’d been trying to stab and one other hovered over him, mouths clicking open and shut in anticipation. Dean scrambled, trying to right himself. The first head descended and he swung the porcelain shard up underneath its jaw. It whimpered and retreated, trailing blood. Dean swiveled his hips to get back to the ground, but teeth dug into his midsection. Gasping in pain, Dean slammed his fist into the Hydra’s nose. It retaliated by biting harder and the sting of venom flowed through his veins.

“This one,” he half yelled and half croaked. Both twins were suddenly next to him, Cas brandishing his sword and Jimmy swinging his staff. Jimmy brought his staff down on the bridge of the Hydra’s nose. It released Dean and rose to its full height, well above all of them. Dean staggered back, allowing the two with weapons to have full access.

Cas swung his sword at the neck, but the blow glanced off of its scaly armour. It swung around and knocked Cas off of his feet. Jimmy swore as a different head swung at him from the left. He darted right to check on his brother, but Cas was fine. Dean blinked, snapped out of the daze he’d been in as a new head descended on him. He rolled to the side and when he came up, the twins were both facing the venomous head.

Jimmy was distracting it with his staff, shouting, “Hey, Mittens, come play with Daddy!” Cas circled around to the back, unseen by the Hydra. The head lifted up to avoid one of Jimmy’s attacks. Cas darted underneath the head and viciously stabbed his sword up between the Hydra’s jawbones and into its brain. Blood spurted down on him and eight heads wailed in shared pain. Cas lept out of the way, narrowly avoiding being crushed underneath the head he’d just stabbed. One by one, the rest of the heads fell to the ground around them.

“I left my sword in that head,” Cas commented, “I liked that sword.”

“Yeah, and you looked really hot fighting with it,” Jimmy chuckled. Dean was seeing double and having trouble staying on his feet. His side was stinging like a motherfucker and he felt like vomiting.

“Guys,” Dean’s tongue felt fuzzy, “I… don’ feel s’ great.” He tried to take a step but tripped over something, probably his own foot, and fell backwards.

Chapter Text

JIMMY

  “Shit! The hydra poison,” Jimmy grabbed Dean by the shoulders, “Stay awake! We’ll fix it. Don’t you worry. Cas! We need… um…. we need.” Why couldn’t he think of it? Cas had used the stuff on him when the other Hydra had taken a chomp out of his hip all those years ago. Oh, god. That had been terrible. Dean must be in so much pain right now.

  “I’ve got it, Jimmy,” Cas’ words were clipped, exactly how he sounded when he was carefully containing his panic to do a job, “Just keep him awake.” Cas began rushing around the room and rummaging through drawers. Jimmy shook Dean’s shoulders and the Hunter groaned, head falling over to the side. He slapped it back into place and Dean’s eyes snapped open.

  “J’st le m’ sleep,” Dean slurred, eyes drifting back to closed. Jimmy slapped him on the cheek again, harder this time. Dean frowned, and opened his mouth to complain.

  “You’ve gotta stay awake, Dean. You hear me?” the hunter frowned at Jimmy, but looked a little more conscious,”If you sleep, you die. Got it? We can’t have you dying.” Cas growled in frustration, slammed a drawer shut, and began to kick the door, trying to break it down.

  ‘Why dya care s’ much?” Dean asked, his slur a little less pronounced. Jimmy froze, his hand stopped moving and he suddenly realized he’d been rubbing Dean’s shoulder. Why was he freaking out? This was the man who’d bound him and his brother. Yet, Jimmy felt like the world would come crashing down is he died. Disturbed, Jimmy moved away from Dean. He situated himself next to him, close enough to slap him again but not actually touching. The door broke beneath Cas’ determination and he rushed through.

  “I don’t know,” he answered, several seconds too late.

  “Ya shouldn’t,” Dean laughed dryly, slur almost completely gone, “I mean, you should want me dead. I’ve practically enslaved you guys.”

  “You also risked your life for us,” Jimmy murmured and glanced at Dean’s face. His eyes had slid shut and his head was drooping forwards. Panic clenched his heart and he was crouched over Dean in less than a second, shaking him with one hand and slapping him with the other.

  “Okay, okay. ‘M awake,” Dean rumbled. At that moment, Cas burst in, holding a blue planter. Some sort of climbing rose was growing along a framework in it. Cas grabbed the frame and yanked it out of the pot.

  “This is the only thing I could find made out of wood from a plane tree,” Cas announced. He pulled off the rose vines which had come with the frame. Jimmy watched his strong hands work, deftly ripping the frame apart after all vines were gone. Cas gripped the resulting twigs in a bundle and dug in his pocket for something.

  “Take his shirt off,” Cas ordered. Jimmy complied, eyes skimming Dean’s chest and his mind trying not to appreciate it. Cas produced a lighter from his pocket and lit the twigs after a few unsuccessful tries. Jimmy slapped Dean, causing him to moan weakly and flutter his eyelids.

  “Hurry, Cas, he’s not gonna last much longer,” Jimmy forced out between clenched teeth. He couldn’t bear it if Dean died. The idiot… ‘Let’s go get bitten until I find something with venom.’ What had he been thinking?

  “It’s okay. I’m ready,” Cas crouched down next to Dean and held the fire to the first fang hole. Dean screamed. Jimmy held him down, but mentally curled in on himself. Knowing Dean was in pain and he couldn’t stop it was torturing him.  Cas pulled the fire away and Dean whimpered. Cas quickly applied the fire to the second wound and Dean screamed again. His brother hissed in obvious pain and clenched his eyes shut. Jimmy looked down to see where he was holding the bundle of twigs. The wood was nearly gone and the flames were licking around his fingers.

  “Cas!” Jimmy shouted.

  “It’s fine. Just let me finish,” Cas barked. After one deep breath, he threw what was left of the wood off to the side. It licked at Eve’s carpet for a moment before Cas stood and stamped it out. Dean moaned and slumped to the side. Jimmy slapped his face, but Dean didn’t respond.

  “He’ll be out for an hour or two. You did the same back then: passed out after I held you down and burnt the venom out of your hip,” Cas said, “However, that hydra was significantly smaller and therefore contained less venom. He’ll be fine, though.” Cas nodded and Jimmy got the feeling that he said the last sentence more to reassure himself than anything.

  “We’ve got to get out of here before Eve comes back and lets us play with Mittens’ older brother,” Jimmy lifted himself into a crouch and grasped Dean under his arms.

  “Stop,” Cas placed a hand on his shoulder, “We’ll take him out to the hallway together so you can morph and then we can put him on your back.”

  “If he’s going to ride on anyone’s back, it’s going to be yours,” Jimmy huffed. He still had some pride left.

  “I’m not going to morph. I don’t relish the idea of walking on these,” Cas held up his burnt fingers and Jimmy winced in sympathy.

  “Fine, fine,” Jimmy gave in, “Just don’t tell anyone. Not even Dean when he wakes up.”

  Cas gave him a gentle smile, “Deal.”

DEAN

  Dean opened his eyes to a mold-stained motel room ceiling. He blinked a few times and the two identical pair of blue eyes staring at him from above came into focus. His knee jerk reaction was to sit up as fast as he could, making pain flare up from various places in his body - how did he manage to hurt himself on so many different locations? Memories of being bitten, hit, and thrown across the room suddenly came back to his mind and he laid back down with a groan.

  “My Mom is definitely gonna kill me this time. How d’I get here anyway?”

  His voice was extremely hoarse.

  “Jimmy drove. And try not to die just yet, please.”

  Cas was looking at him with a concerned gaze, all up in his personal space, obviously hunting any more signs of discomfort. Jimmy was standing farther away, his face closed off.

  “Sup with the long face, Jim-Jam?” he threw at him tentatively.

  His answer was the sting of a slap across his face. Jimmy’s features were contorted with anger.

  “Don’t you ever dare pull that stupid stunt on us ever again, Dean Winchester!”

  Scratch that, it wasn’t anger he could read in the Gemini’s eyes. It was fear. Dean turned his head to witness the exact same glow in Castiel’s eyes. The twins had been scared. For his life.

  “I”m okay, boys. I’ll try not to do it again. It’s the best promise I can make right now.”

  He couldn’t meet their eyes because it meant talking openly about feelings, and Dean Winchester didn’t do that.

  He still found himself grunting in pain when the weight of two grown-ass adults crushed on his abused body.

  Dean knew not one of them would ever mention this… -wait… What’s the manly word for for cuddle? Because they totally aren’t cuddling, ok? Anyways…- ever again.

CAS

  Jimmy had driven the Impala to the nearest shittiest motel. Castiel had never gotten his driver’s license, but Jimmy had always been more in-touch with human technologies, despite always claiming otherwise when asked.

  So Jimmy had driven, and Castiel had stayed with Dean in the backseat. HE was feeling conflicted, and he knew his brother felt the same.

  The human was on the brink of death for the second time in a month because he’d refused to hand them over. This wasn’t possessiveness anymore. That was protectiveness. It was… nice. Jimmy and Castiel had been alone for as long as they could remember. If they had parents somewhere, they didn’t know them. Even inside the Gemini community no one even bothered trying to tell them apart, and when your entire kin is made of identical twins, being able to tell a pair apart is the first mark of respect. No wonder Castiel and Jimmy fell in love so profoundly. They only ever had each other to trust.

  The first person to ever know which one was which was the unconscious human drooling on Castiel’s lap.

  The human that had put a collar on them.

  So yeah, Castiel was feeling conflicted.

  “What are we going to do, Jimmy?”

  His twin looked at him in the rear view mirror, his eyes drifting longingly along Dean’s figure.

  “I don’t know, Brother…”

DEAN

  Coming home, Dean was assaulted by his mother (“How dare she?” “Mom…” “I’m gonna kill the bitch!” “Are you sure…” “This is war, Dean!”) and Ellen Harvelle (“If I have to patch you up one more time, boy, I’ll let Rufus do the job, and he’ll make sure you can never walk again. Am I understood?” “Yes, Ma’am!”)

  And this time around, Dean was ordered to not get out of bed. He heard that Mary had gone to Eve’s to find it had been burned to the ground and neither Eve, nor Dick, nor any of their… “pets” were anywhere in sight. Dean hadn’t been allowed to go hunt her down with his men.

  Above all the frustration, Dean was in pain. His tired muscles, the gashes in his body, the burn the venom had left behind, all of it made him feel useless and cranky. Even Jimmy and Cas’ concern became too much, and he ended up yelling at them.

  “Leave me alone. Go bother Sam instead!”

  They’d left the room, looking offended. Dean didn’t care. He was now alone with his thoughts, face to face with what had really been bothering him since his conversation with Eve.

  He called his father.

  John arrived with a hot cocoa that Dean pretended to be annoyed at before drinking.

  “What’s wrong, son?”

  Dean looked at him from above his cup, trying to organise his thoughts before letting his father in on his problems.

  “How come we can see the monsters?”

  If John was taken aback at all, he didn’t show.

  “No frigging clue. I just know that we can. My father can hear them, his mother could see them. It’s just our thing, I guess.”

  Dean had to take a deep breath for the next question.

  “But what about Adam?”

  John turned his eyes to the ground.

  “I think you should be having this conversation with your grandfather. He always was far more interested in our genetics than I ever was.”

  He put a reassuring hand on Dean’s shoulder and left the room.

  Henry arrived in his room twenty minutes later.

  “Hello, Dean. Hello to the Gemini as well,” he threw in the room.

  “Nah, they ain’t here right now. I’ll have to look for them later, but I have questions that need answering first, and I’d rather not have them around for that.”

  Dean didn’t allow himself to be worried about the twins. If what his aunt had hinted at was true, his whole life had just been turned upside down.

 "Gramp, do you think it might be possible we’re related to the Gemini?”

 Henry studied Dean’s face in silence for a long time, and when he did answer, it was very slowly.

  “I have a twin brother. Joshua. He’s a gardener in Canada. You also know your uncle Michael, John’s twin.”

  Of course Dean knew Michael; he was already ten when he left to become a teacher in the Philippines. It was, however, the first time he was hearing about Joshua.

  “But what about me? Or Sam, or… or Adam?”

  Henry looked at him, his face shadowed with pain.

  “You’ve seen Adam, Dean. The poor boy doesn’t need a twin to show his DNA isn’t a hundred percent human. As for you and Sam, I think you should have a talk with Missouri Moseley. She’ll answer all your questions as best she can.”

  His mom’s midwife. Dean’s mind was spinning so much he didn’t know how long he spaced out before the ping of his telephone brought him back. Sam had left him a message.

  <Hey Dean, the Gemini are here with me. You’re cool with that?>

  Well, at least that answered where the hell they’d gone to. And he wouldn’t have them around for his big monster panic. That was good. Wasn’t it?

  With a pained grunt, he stood and started limping his way to Missouri’s door.

Chapter Text

JIMMY

  Dean was in pain. Jimmy understood that. Still, ordering Cas and him to go bother Sam, making it impossible for them to refuse because of this fucking  collar,   forcing them to run two hours and a half to the boy’s college was a bit much. What the hell was going on through the hunter’s head?

  Jimmy threw a look at Cas who was running by his side. He knew his brother was just as worried as he felt himself. Dean was hurting and pushing them away. Why? Did he finally realise they were too much trouble to keep them around?

  “It’s okay, Jimmy,” Cas reassured him, “I’m sure Dean just needed some space…” He trailed off and frowned at the ground passing beneath his feet. While Jimmy appreciated Cas’ effort, it was clear that Dean’s rejection was going to bother both of them for a while. It really shouldn’t, though. He had been the one who practically enslaved them. So if Dean was beginning to find him and Cas troublesome that was a good thing… right?

  Jimmy reached out to touch his mind to Cas’; now that they were closer, they needed to make sure they were still heading towards Sam. One of the benefits of being Gemini was that they could sense and recognize the differences in people’s mental signatures. Cas connected with his brother and they reached out to find the strong, yet sensitive, imprint of Sam’s mind. They picked his signals up a little farther west than they had been before. Jimmy disconnected from Cas and they both adjusted their course.

  The building they stopped in front of didn’t smell so much like Sam. He must be visiting a friend.  Since the building was a dorm, the doors were locked and Jimmy had to wait for a group of students to leave before slipping in with Cas close behind him. They followed the pull of Sam’s mind up to the second floor and came to a halt in front of room 234.

  “Can we just stop here?” Jimmy wondered, but immediately felt the pull of the binding collar demanding he actually lay eyes on Sam. Heaving a sigh, he began pawing at the door, hoping Sam would hear. Cas joined him after a few moments.

  “What’s that?” they heard Sam’s voice, muffled by the door.

  “What’s what?” a second voice answered.

  “Don’t you hear that?” Sam asked.

  “That’s the air conditioner, Sam,” the second voice responded dryly.

  “No, I know what an air conditioner sounds like,” Sam’s footsteps approached the door and after a few moments it swung open. Immediately, the pull of the collar relaxed and Jimmy heaved a sigh of relief.

  “Hello, Sam,” Cas said and pushed past Sam into the small room. Sam cocked his head strangely and looked a little past Jimmy’s left shoulder.

  “Hey, guys. Where’s Dean?” Sam moved out of the way after feeling Cas’ shoulder brush up against him.

  “He ordered us to come bother you, so here we are,” Jimmy explained and then followed Cas into the room. Sam’s eyes somehow followed him.

  “Why can I see your shadows?” Sam blurted out.

  “Who are you talking to?” the other person sounded exasperated as he came up behind Sam, “Um, Sam. No one’s there. Are you feeling okay?”

  Sam laughed through his explanation, “No, Kevin, these are my brother’s bodyguards. They, well, they aren’t exactly human.”

  “They aren’t human!” Kevin squeaked, “Why did you let them into my room? They’re going to kill us!” He hopped up on the bed and stood in a defensive posture. Jimmy looked at Kevin and then looked at Cas. Sometimes human were so strange.

  “Kevin, if I’m having a conversation with them do you really think they’re going to kill us?” Sam raised his eyebrows and spread out his hands. Kevin blinked and his body relaxed a little.

  “Ugh, enough with the theatrics. Can we just rest here a bit? We had to run almost two hours,” Jimmy complained and laid down on his side.

  “There are intelligent monsters!” Kevin screamed and launched himself off of the bed. He grabbed Sam by the shoulders even though Sam was significantly taller. “Do you know what this means!”

  “Yes! Relax. You’re probably annoying them,” Sam set his hands gently down on Kevin’s forearms.

  “Damn, right,” Jimmy growled and flicked his tail at Cas who just shrugged noncommittally.  

  “Can I talk to them? Wait, how can you talk to them? What type are they? Can you see them? Is there….” Kevin shot out rapid fire questions until Sam stopped him.

  “Whoa, whoa. You know what? Sit down,” Sam pushed Kevin back down onto the bed, “Calm down. One question at a time. I was born with the ability to hear monsters. Don’t know why. They are Gemini and I can’t see them…” Sam squinted in Jimmy’s general direction, “At least, I couldn’t.”

  “There are real, live Gemini in this room and they speak English!?” Kevin looked like he was about to faint from excitement.

  “Yeah, they’re pretty cool once you get used to them,” Sam chuckled “Let me shoot Dean a text and then I want to know what happened.” Sam pointed at Jimmy. He pulled out his phone and tapped on it for a moment before slipping it back in his pocket. Kevin was staring at the wall Cas and Jimmy were leaning against. Cas shifted uncomfortably and Jimmy leaned closer to him.

CAS

   Kevin  was annoying. After his initial shock, he asked a million questions per minute, giving no one time to actually answer. He continued until Sam managed to cool him down with a look and a threat to leave and never talk to him again if he didn’t shut up right then.

  “Sorry about him. He gets… enthusiastic,” Sam sat down in a chair and wove his fingers together, “So what’s going on with Dean?”

  “He’s just frustrated and in pain,” Cas felt slightly guilty for Dean’s wounds. He’d been fighting for them both times he’d been injured. “Plus, Eve mentioned something that seemed to upset Dean a great deal.”

  “Hmm?” Sam leaned forwards.

  “She offered him information about Adam,” Jimmy explained.

  Sam’s eyes widened, “Did he get it?”

  “No. He didn’t agree with her conditions. She wanted us for her farm,” Cas sneered. Jimmy muttered angrily next to him about how no one was ever going to lock his brother up ever again. Cas felt a surge of warmth and wrapped his tail around Jimmy’s back.

  “Wow,” Sam rubbed at his neck and stared into the distance.

  “What is going on?” Kevin apparently couldn’t stay silent for long. Sam threw him an annoyed glance, but otherwise ignored him.

  “Who is Adam?” Cas asked softly. Sam pinched his lips together and thought for a moment or two before launching into the story.

  “Mom never married Dad for love. They get along just fine, nothing wrong about that, but after she had Dean and I, two monster-perceptive sons, they just started having their own lovers. Kate Milligan was my dad’s steadiest relationship. When Dean turned eleven, I was barely eight, Kate got pregnant. Our half-brother, Adam, was born in September. Except the poor kid was born with patches of scales on his neck and jaw, and hands, and a lot of other places. His looks drew his parents apart. They couldn’t take it, the constant hate… And my little brother, he grew up in all this, the rejection, the slurs… Without Kate and my dad protecting him constantly, someone would have managed to kill him somehow. And Dean… He loved Adam so fiercely. For him, family goes before anything else. We were his brothers; nothing else mattered. But his care wasn’t enough and Adam ran away when he was 14. Dean looked for him, everywhere, he was like crazy. Except our brother has spent his life avoiding Hunters, so I guess he got pretty good at hiding and Dean never found him. Alive or dead.”

  Castiel couldn’t listen anymore. He could only imagine the pain. The guilt. How could Dean be strong enough to live with that, and still be such a kind, giving soul - that enslaved him, but maybe things aren’t exactly what they look like, ok?

  They had to do something.

  “We should find Adam,” Cas whispered into the ground.

  “What? Cas, Dean tried for years and couldn’t find him. And he’s one of the best trackers there are,” Sam explained.

  “He’s still not a Gemini,” Cas looked up, silently daring Sam to argue, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't see him.

  “You think you could…” Sam raised one eyebrow, “I mean, you do have those freaking mind powers, so  that might…”

  “Mind powers!” Kevin exclaimed. Sam dropped his head into his hands. “Sorry, sorry. Saving all questions for later,” he sulked.

  “Just tell us where he was last seen,” Cas requested. He needed to do this for Dean.

  “I should probably introduce you guys to Charlie…” Sam started.

  “No! Not another friend,” Jimmy interrupted and Cas glared at him.

  “... if you’re really gonna do this. She can hack anything.”

  “Let’s go, then,” Cas stood.

  “We were kind of studying for…” Kevin argued, but shut his mouth with a snap as Sam sent him a death glare.

  “We can do that later. Jimmy and Cas are here now, so we might as well get it done. That exam isn’t for another week anyway,” Sam shrugged.

  “Okay,” Kevin chewed his bottom lip, “Can I come with you?”

  “Sure, Kevin,” Jimmy shot Sam a murderous look but remained silent, “Just keep the questions to a minimum.” Kevin nodded furiously and stood up so quickly that he knocked a pile of papers off of his desk. He didn’t seem to care that much.

  Sam rolled his eyes and grabbed his keys. “Let’s go see Charlie.”

DEAN

  Missouri Moseley lived ten minutes away from Dean’s room. Dean got there in freaking thirty. All of this because of his fucking leg, his fucking hip, his fucking…

  The door suddenly opened, revealing a disappointed-looking Missouri.

  “You better stop swearing behind my door, boy, or I’ll have to have a word with your mother.”

  Dean was looking at her with wide eyes, so she sighed and explained.

  “I was by your mother's side when she gave birth to you, Dean Winchester, I know when you’re brooding in front of my house. Now get in, have some cookies.”

  Slightly unsettled, the hunter followed the tiny midwife into her kitchen.

  “So tell me, what brings you here? I haven’t seen you since the birth of your youngest brother, and you weren’t taller than my kitchen counter, so I know it’s no courtesy call !”

  Dean swallowed and lowered his eyes.

  “You’re right… It is about Adam. Well, kinda. Erm…”

  As much as her pointed and somehow knowing glare was making him uneasy, it also forced him to get the words out.

  “Why don’t I have a twin ? My father and grandfather both have one, why don’t I ?”

  The look in Missouri’s eyes turned sympathetic and she put a warm hand on his back.

  “Oh, Dean… But you did have one… He didn’t make it to the end, and you were born alone.”

  If Dean had to use a word for the emotion he was feeling right now, it would be sudden grief. Someone he had never known made a hole in the twenty-six years of his existence all at once, and it was painful. There, in this pretty kitchen with lace curtains, half a cookie on the table, Dean Winchester was crying, in the arms of a woman that saw him being born. Saw the dead body of his stillborn brother following him into the world.

  After twenty minutes of crying and shaking, Dean was finally able to get it together and finished the overdue conversation.

  “Do you think I might have… Gemini ancestors ?”

  Missouri’s face crunched up for a minute.

  “You have been hunting those creatures all your life, Dean.”

  Dean sighed. He knew that. And it was the main problem, wasn’t it? He didn’t suspect he had Irish blood, or Vietnamese ancestors. He was talking an entire other species, one that he’d been at war with since he could walk.

  “But what if?” His voice was almost a whine, roughed up by his sobs, his broken heart, and his doubts.

  Missouri worried her lip for a few seconds before she answered.

  “I’m not saying you do have Gemini ancestors, but what I can tell you is that if anyone had, it would be the Winchesters.”

  Oddly enough, despite her obvious concern, the man was actually feeling relieved. If anyone could be a monster, hiding in human skin, the next door neighbour, the mailman or the last fashionable icon… Maybe they weren’t so bad? Maybe being friends with, let’s say, a couple of them wouldn’t be such an unspeakable thing, right?

  Killing them, on the other hand, would now be a much worse crime to commit.

  “I have to look into it,” he finally concluded.

  “You do,” she agreed, then added hesitantly. “I know this guy, he seems a bit wonky at first, but he’s a very brilliant mind, and has a very interesting library.”

  Dean looked at her, expecting more. She was still looking a bit uneasy.

  “What’s wrong, Missouri?”

  “His name is Chuck. Chuck Shurley.”

  Dean froze, “Shurley as in…?”

  “Yes. He’s Amara’s brother. You might have to get her to help you. I am sorry, boy.”

Chapter Text

SAM

   Sam stopped in front of Charlie’s door, which was covered in cut-out pictures of strong female leads and various medieval weapons. That must have meant that she won the bet with her roommate. Huh, so she really could recite a straight twenty minutes from Lord of the Rings while hacking into the Pentagon. Pretty impressive. Sam knocked twice and waited a few moments before knocking again. When there was still no answer, he pounded on the door and shouted, “Charlie! I know you’re in there! Take your headphones off!”

Ouch, Jimmy muttered, No need to yell.

The door was thrown open a moment later. “Hey, bitches! Get in here. What brings you to my kingdom?” Charlie was grinning as she walked back to her desk. Sam was always left feeling slightly inadequate looking at Charlie’s massive computer setup. He didn’t even know what half the things did and he considered himself fairly intelligent and computer-smart.  

“Well, you know I always like to see you, Charlie,” Sam hedged, still unsure of how he was going to ask Charlie to help him.

“Sam Winchester. I know you. If you just wanted the pleasure of my company, you would have skyped or called me. You’re way too attached to your technology,” Charlie gave him a pointed look and he frowned.

“Like you’re not,” he gestured to the massive amount of electronics piled on her desk.

“Fair point,” Charlie nodded and glanced lovingly at her computers, “My statement still stands. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want something.”

Sam sighed, “Yeah, you’re right. As usual.” He didn’t really want to have to dredge up memories of Adam and share them with Charlie, but he was going to have to. If the Gemini really could find Adam, Dean would die of happiness. Sam sucked in a deep breath.

“Okay, here goes. I need to track someone down,” Sam said, finally taking a seat on Charlie’s bed. Kevin shuffled along behind him and comically sat down very carefully next to him. Sam rolled his eyes. The dork must be trying to avoid the Gemini. Sam could see their shadows all the way on the other side of the room. They were discussing how one of the characters covering the posters on Charlie’s wall was vaguely reminiscent of some monster acquaintance of theirs.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” Charlie minimized a fantasy game she had been playing, “What’s the name?” Sam blocked memories of defending Adam from bullies and muffling laughs together as they snuck out after Dean. He focused on the facts and mechanically reported them to his friend.

“Adam Milligan. He won’t have any police records or anything. He disappeared five years ago at fourteen. He knows how to keep a low profile, though,” Sam explained. Charlie knew about his family’s less-than-legal occupation, so this didn’t surprise her.

“Cool beans. A five-year-old case which probably has little to no evidence,” Charlie said, flipping her hair a little, “Anyway, I’ll need a physical description and age to start with.”

“Okay, um, blonde hair, fair skin, he’s probably shorter than me or even Dean but, of course, I don’t know. He’d be… nineteen by now,” Sam nodded.

“Got it. Let’s see if the police have anything on him since he disappeared…” she furiously typed and Sam watched as the public website for the police department flashed by followed by several very official-looking pages and black windows containing only white text, “Okay… take a look at these pics,” Charlie pushed away from the screen and Sam hurried over to look at the pictures: mug shots, pictures of witnesses, and even of victims. After three pages of young, blonde-haired men, Sam came to the end of the photos. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed that he didn’t find his brother. He glanced back and saw Charlie and Kevin having an animated discussion about some ancient language. Sam cleared his throat and backed up from the computer.

“So that’s a no go?” Charlie asked as she wheeled back to her desk. Sam nodded and Charlie’s smile turned slightly manic, “Good, a challenge,” she wiggled her eyebrows and brought up two different websites on two different screens, “Strap in for the ride, ‘cause this is gonna be fun.”

Two hours and too many photos to count later, Charlie had found Adam in the DMV database and Kevin had left to get back to studying. Adam had gotten a driver’s license under the name Luke Castellan. From there it was a simple matter of tracing the card he had used to pay for the license to a bank account and reviewing the deposits and withdrawals. The last activity was shown as a year ago when he had paid for a meal at a local diner. Previous to that, he had been receiving steady payments from a bookstore called The Scribe of God. Sam asked Charlie to print off the picture, which she did with a few clicks.

“Thanks, Charlie,” Sam clapped a hand on her shoulder while staring at the picture of his little brother “You’re the best.”

“What are friends for, right?” Charlie grinned up at him, “Also, you now owe me the new World of Warcraft.”

“You earned it,” Sam chuckled, “Bye, Charlie.”

“Good luck, my valiant knight.”

“Shut up,” Sam opened the door and watched two shadows pass through before closing it behind him.

The bookshop was surprisingly not that far from Charlie’s dorm. A short stop at Sam’s room for an outfit change and a fifteen-minute walk brought Sam, Jimmy, and Cas to the doorway of the small, quaint, slightly cluttered business. A small bell jingled as Sam opened the door. He stepped inside, the Gemini close behind him. On first inspection, the store seemed to be empty; a little too full of books but without an owner or employees.

“Hello?” Sam called out, hoping for an answer.

Wow, this place is weird, Jimmy muttered.

Yeah… it smells like non-humans, but not, Cas replied, sounding equally troubled.

There was no response to his greeting, so Sam felt that it was safe to talk to his monster friends, “What does that mean?”

Like someone had rubbed lots of them and then trailed their hands over all the books, Cas answered.

I don’t like it, Jimmy half growled, It makes my skin itch.

Sam heard some form of purring and the two voices went silent. On the wall, he saw two faint shadows rubbing up against each other, seemingly offering comfort. Suddenly, a short, portly man crashed through the door backwards, a large paper bag in each hand. He turned around so abruptly that he almost crashed into Sam.

“Oh for the love of god, of course this is when I get a customer,” the short man grumbled, “I’m supposed to ask ‘How can I help you?’ but would you mind holding off on answering that until I’ve finished my lunch.”

“I’m afraid your lunch will have to wait, sir,” Sam said, donning his serious face. He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out his fake F.B.I. card. “I have some questions for you.”

“Aw, crap. What’s happened this time? Someone murdered on Main Street? I don’t know anything. Leave me out of it,” the man dropped his bags on the desk and dropped into the chair behind it.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Mr…?” Sam waited.

“You can call me Marv. Now, if you want more, come back with a warrant,” he snarked and produced a sandwich from the nearest bag.

I’m not going to get anything off of him unless you ask him some leading questions, Cas kept his voice at a whisper even though Marv couldn’t hear him.

His real name’s Metatron, Jimmy snickered, No wonder he calls himself Marv.

“Okay, Marv,” Sam blinked hard, refocusing on the conversation and organizing his thoughts, “I have some questions for you about a previous employee.” He retrieved the picture of Adam and held it out for Marv. “When was the last time you saw this boy?”

“Don’t know. Looks vaguely familiar,” Sam tried not to grimace as Marv talked around a mouthful of food, “Could just be I see a lot of blonde people nowadays.”

He remembers Adam, but just knows that he used to work here and just didn’t show up one day, Jimmy told Sam, Whatever happened to your bro, I don’t think this douche was involved.

“If you can remember any details at all,” Sam handed his card to Marv, “Give me a call.”

“I told you, I don’t…” Marv trailed off as someone burst through the door carrying a large bouquet of flowers.

“Marv! You’ve actually got customers!” the short flower man exclaimed. He seemed to be a ball of energy and Sam wondered who had allowed him to have so much caffeine and/or sugar. “I’m proud of you, putting yourself out there.” The man’s smile was infectious and Sam found himself fighting back a responding grin. He stepped back as the man leaned over the desk to place his bouquet in a waiting vase. He stood back up and Sam noticed three things at once: the man was shorter than he seemed at first, he was wearing a shirt with his name, Gabriel, stitched under a logo declaring he worked for Elysian Fields, and he had a pair of the most gorgeous whiskey eyes Sam had ever seen.

Gabriel was staring up (way up) at Sam with a cocky smirk on his face, “And who do we have…” His voice trailed off as his gaze drifted down to the two items Sam was still holding: Adam’s picture and his fake badge, “...here? You’re F.B.I.?”

Ooh… we’ve got something with this one, Jimmy crowed.

Ask him about Adam, Cas instructed simultaneously.

“Yes, I’m here about a missing person. Do you recognize him?” Sam asked as he held both the badge and the picture out for further inspection.

“Um, well, no,” Gabriel was shooting glances at Marv who was studiously ignoring them, preferring to direct his attention towards a book and food.

“You don’t sound too sure there,” Sam said in what he hoped was a tone implying that the F.B.I. did not deal lightly with liars.

“What I do know,” Gabriel leaned in close to Sam who bent down to hear, “is that you’re not real F.B.I.” He pulled away and winked flirtatiously at Sam before slapping a receipt in front of Marv. “Pay up old man. You may have the frequent customer discount, but they still aren’t free.”

Marv lazily put down his book and pulled the receipt towards him. His eyes widened. “I can’t...” he glanced at Sam and cleared his throat, “This is outrageous! Your prices have nearly doubled.” The poor man had absolutely atrocious acting abilities.

It was an understatement to say that Sam was confused by this point, but he did know that something was off about those two. While he was only getting the creeper vibes from Marv, something was shifty with both men. Sam cleared his throat directing their attention away from each other and back to him. He was going to ask once again, hoping that the Gemini could gather something from at least one man.

“So you’re both sure that neither of you have ever seen Luke Castellan, sometimes known as Adam?” He was including as many pieces of information as he could to try to spark a memory.

“Nope!” Gabriel replied a bit too cheerfully.

“I never said I was sure. I said ‘I don’t know’. So you can’t sue me if somehow he’s connected back,” Marv spat out and popped open a can of soda. Sam squinted at the man, deciding whether or not to pursue the topic. Jimmy had already said that he didn’t know anything of importance. He was just being difficult for the sake of being difficult.

“Well then. I’m off,” Sam handed another of his cards to Gabriel, “Call me if you remember anything,” he said meaningfully.

“Okay, sugar. Is this good for private calls, too?” Gabriel smirked at him, knowing full well that this couldn’t possibly be an official F.B.I. phone number. Sam rolled his eyes.

“Don’t call unless you have something important to say,” Sam said and backed out of the door, watching as it clicked shut, putting Gabriel out of sight.

He’s… different, Cas commented.

Yeah, but a kind of funky, good kinda different, Jimmy added. Sam agreed. There was something refreshing about Gabriel.

As soon as they were a good distance away from the bookstore, Sam decided it was time to get some answers from his monster friends, “Okay, spill.”

JIMMY

Jimmy exchanged one last look with Cas before he started speaking.

"This Gabriel guy... I'm not sure who he is, but..."

"We could feel distress emanating from him. There was Adam's face, not like in the photograph, we could clearly see the scales. And there was this woman...", Cas interrupted.

Jimmy snarled.

"She's related to his disappearance somehow.", he went on.

Cas nodded and finished: "Gabriel reeked with fear just thinking about her!"

Sam sighed, rubbed a hand down his face, and breathed in for a moment before nodding:

"Ok, two things: firstly, stop doing this twin thing where you need the two of you to construct a sentence. I can barely see you, so it's creeping me out. Secondly, do you know what this woman is like ?"

They both answered in the affirmative at the same time just to piss him off.

"Okay, good, there's someone I'd like you two to meet."

Her name was Anna. If Jimmy understood the loving stares and sweet smiles, she was Charlie's girlfriend. They both had the exact same hair color, and he wondered if anyone ever mistook one for the other and how that might make for awkward situations before he remembered he was in love with his literal twin brother.

Sam had explained to her that Anna was an art student who specialized in those police sketches they sometimes did on TV. All the twins had to do was to describe the woman to Sam who would pass the instructions to Anna. The girl didn't know she would actually be sketching for two invisible creatures and looked utterly thrilled at the prospect.

"This is very exciting! I can never exercise outside of my lessons, and now I'm working on an actual case! If I can help you find your brother, Sam, you owe Charlie and I a crate of beer."

And just like that, she had her sketchbook opened, pencil in hand, and Cas and Jimmy were trying to detail every memory they had of her face.

"She had a bun."

"And a terrifying smile."

"No, no teeth."

"Not scary like I'm gonna eat you, more manipulative, and fake, like she's pretending to be nice."

"But it doesn't reach the eyes."

"Yeah, round eyes."

"But expressionless."

"Actually, the top half of her face is so relaxed, it's like she's a robot."

"Nah, you draw the cheeks too round, they need to be flatter, but reddish.”

"And her nose is a bit larger, I guess ?"

"And a lower chin."

"The brows are perfect, though."

And it went on and on for almost an hour, leaving them exhausted but with an almost perfect picture of the woman they saw in Gabriel's head.

"You're sure this is her, no mistake?" Charlie asked once more. After Sam confirmed, she put the picture in one of her machines that must have been a scanner.

"I'm going to put her in a face recognition program to try and find a name."

After a few beeps and some more flashing lights, Charlie turned towards them with a winning smile.

"Got her. Her name is Naomi Adler and I have an address in Salem, Nebraska. You could almost go now, it's not quite two hours away, if you leave now, you can get there before sundown."

Jimmy was getting tired, but he could feel they were getting close to something, and they had to check what was really going on.

Cas and he had already traveled almost everywhere in the United State in their life while trying to avoid the persistent Hunter that kept finding them anywhere they went, but he felt like he had moved more since he met Dean than ever before.

Cuddled against his brother in the back seat, he watched as they drove through the I75, the light outside fading more and more. Yet he resisted sleep. In Gabriel's mind, Naomi's face was associated with such an alarming amount of fright that Jimmy didn't dare lower his defense. Cas seemed to share his mind as he shifted nervously next to him.

"I think we're here," Sam said finally.

They exited the car, taking in the suburban house sitting in the middle of a pretty and neat lawn covered in cheery-looking garden gnomes.

"Well, that's not creepy at all," Sam commented under his breath as he walked up to the door and rang the bell, the twins right behind him, as tense as they all could be.

Less than a minute later a woman opened the door. An old woman. Something was wrong.

"N-... Naomi Adler ?" Sam asked.

The woman looked him over disdainfully.

"My name is Josephine Henriksen, I never heard the name of Naomi Adler before in my life."

Jimmy felt like a rock falling in a well, sinking deeper and deeper into exhaustion.

"Sam, are you sure you have the right address ?" Cas still asked.

The tall man nodded imperceptibly, and started talking again:

"What about the people who lived here before you, do you think it might have been..."

"I have been living here for thirty years, you stupid. Now get away before I call my son. He works for the FBI, you know!" Josephine interrupted him with her shrill voice.

Sam immediately backed away.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, Ma'am, I was given false information."

As they got back in the car, Jimmy felt like punching something and would have done so if Cas hadn't been here, soothing him with the tip of his tail.

"So, that was a dead end," he still spat angrily.

Sam nodded, obviously tired.

"We still have an option, though."

The twins perked up just in time to see a small blush taint the young man's cheeks.

"Well, we could try and find the florist who sells the flowers to Marv and..."

"Trace back to Gabriel to interrogate him." Cas finished. Then added with a soft smile. "I'm sure that could work, but Jimmy and I really need to rest. Do you think you could drive us back to Lawrence?"

Sam thought it over for a second, then nodded.

"Of course, guys. That's no problem. I can see your eyes now, by the way. Nice blue.”

Chapter Text

DEAN

    Chuck Shurley lived and kept his private library in Columbia, Missouri. Considering Dean was in Lebanon, Kansas and Chuck was known to be generally reclusive and unwelcoming to visitors, he was going to call ahead rather than travelling to the next state over just to be turned away. Dean reached into his pocket and removed his cell phone, hands trembling slightly from nerves. He looked down at the number Missouri had given him and typed it into the phone.

    It rang long enough that Dean was prepared to leave a message when Chuck picked up.

    “Hello?” he sounded hoarse and hungover. Dean pretended not to notice.

    “Chuck Shurley? This is Dean Winchester.”

    “Are you calling about my magazine subscription? Cause I’ve already told you that when I cancelled it I meant it and…” Chuck began to sound angry and Dean was quick to cut him off.

    “No, no, I’m not from the magazine,” Dean corrected him, “I’m, well, I used to date your sister.”

    “Oh! That Dean,” Chuck said his name like it was laden with unpleasant meaning.

   “Yeah, uh, that Dean. Anyway, I need to find an obscure bit of information and heard that your library is the place to go,” Dean cleared his throat.

    “What information?” Chuck asked sharply.

    “Well, that’s… private,” Dean responded.

    “Then my library is private,” Chuck retorted. Dean groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t willing to tell anyone that he suspected that he was descended from Gemini, much less Amara’s brother.

    “Come on. I’ll be in and out and you’ll never even know I was there,” he attempted to bargain.

     “You know, I might be a bit more willing to help you if I hadn’t heard my sister bitch about you for over a month. That kind of ruins any tolerance I might have ever had for you. So just, go away and find some other library owner to bother,” the phone made a small noise and the call ended. Dean pulled it away from his face and stared at the screen. Then he slammed his phone down on the table.

    “Shit!” he yanked a chair out and fell into it. He now had three options: give up the search, find another library that might have the information he was searching for (unlikely), or make nice with Amara so she’d let him in.  Dean grimaced and let his head drop into his hands. The last one was the only good option and it was dreadful. When he and Amara split, he had hoped to never see or speak to her again. But, of course, that was apparently unavoidable. Just his luck.

    He picked up the phone again and breathed a small sigh of relief when the screen wasn’t cracked. It wasn’t like he couldn’t buy a new one, he just liked his phone and was generally too busy to get a new one. Dean rubbed the top of his thigh and stared at the black screen. What the hell, it couldn’t be that bad. He turned on his phone and went to the contacts. His thumb hovered over Amara’s name for a moment before he screwed his eyes shut and called her. He brought the phone up to his ear just as she answered.

  “I knew I’d eventually hear from you again, Dean.” Her voice travelled through the phone smooth as silk, causing shivers of dread to run down Dean’s spine. Her voice sounded entirely too smug for his liking.

  “Amara,” Dean said through gritted teeth, “I’m calling to ask a professional favor. Not to forgive you.”

   “You know that every favor comes at a price. Especially the professional ones. What are you willing to give me?”

    “What do you want?” Dean asked, wary as to what her response might be.

    “Your forgiveness. I’d like to be friends again.” He could hear her smile and he once again wondered how he hadn’t noticed when he first met her that very wrong feeling her voice caused in his gut.

     “All I want is for you to let me into your brother’s library for a few hours. That’s really not on the same level as just forgetting all the shit you put me through,” Dean growled.

    “Oh, honey,” Amara cooed, “Only you remember it as… shit. We were the perfect couple.”

     “Of course you’d think that,” Dean muttered and stood to pace the room. “If I promise to invite you to whatever shindigs my mother throws, would that make you happy?”

     “Your mother invited me to that monster reception a few weeks back. I don’t think invitations are in short order.” Dean could hear her smirking and plotting and it took all the self-control he had not to just throw his phone across the room.

    “Damn it, Amara! Just tell me what the hell you really want!”

    “A date. After the library. Just you and me to get to know each other again. It’s been so long.” Dean froze. Was the information really worth it? Did he need to know his ancestry? He thought of Adam’s scales and his own dead twin and he knew that he did. That this information was more important than avoiding an evening with Amara. Plus, he wouldn’t actually be alone with her. He’d be bringing the twins with him.

    “Drinks. And that’s it. Then we both go home and forget this whole damned thing ever happened. Deal?” For a split second, the hope that Amara would sigh and tell him to forget it and she’d just unlock the library for him and call it even sang through his mind.

    “Deal,” Amara purred and Dean’s hopes went out the window, “I’m actually in Columbia for the week. Will you be available tomorrow?”

    “I can be there by noon.” Dean was more than ready for this conversation to be over.

    “Perfect. I look forward to seeing your handsome face again,” Amara said and then hung up. Dean stood with the phone up to his ear for a moment before slowly lowering it. He felt kind of small and defeated. And Dean Winchester does not feel small and defeated. A sudden desire for Jimmy and Cas to be back washed through him. Maybe he’d feel larger with his two friends, um, bodyguards with him. Immediately he berated himself for being so weak and tucked his phone into his back pocket, resigning himself to the whole ordeal.

    An hour later and all he’d accomplished was brooding and cleaning most of his gun collection. A sharp knock came at his door. He put his eye up to the peephole and peered through. Sam stood there looked part bored and part irritated.  Beside him Dean could see two spiky blue and black backs. He hurried to open the door.

    “It’s been all day and all I got was one text. What have you three been up to?” he asked, moving out of the way of his giant brother and the two Gemini.

    “This and that,” Sam answered, knowing that Dean couldn’t hear their monster friends, “Nothing too thrilling.”

    “Uh huh,” Dean responded. He’d asked the question just because, but now he felt that there was something his brother wasn’t telling him. “You had two Gemini following you around for a day and you did nothing too thrilling?”

    Sam huffed a small laugh and looked towards Jimmy. “Yep, that’s exactly what we did.”

    “What did he just say?” Dean demanded.

   “Just that you’re one to talk and he’s tired of watching you clean weapons all day.” Sam’s grin was not unkind, but he was obviously amused at his brother’s expense. Dean narrowed his eyes, but let it slide. He was tired, Jimmy had fallen asleep with his head on Cas’s shoulder, and Sam seemed to be fighting back a yawn.

    “Stay here for tonight, Sammy. You look like you could use some sleep. I know I could do with a good seven hours,” he patted Sam on the shoulder and walked him towards the door.

    “Thanks, Dean. Good night. See ya later,” Sam waved and took off down the hallway, probably to the room their mother insisted on keeping for him. Dean turned back to the room and watched Cas gently lowering Jimmy to the floor. He then stood and morphed to his human form.

   “Are you okay, Dean?” he asked, “You seem… concerned.”

  “I’m peachy. Just need a good night’s sleep,” Dean responded briskly, “We’re getting up early tomorrow and taking a little road trip. So get some rest.” Cas frowned a little, seemingly hurt at Dean brushing off his concern. Dean sighed. “Okay, look, tomorrow I gotta see this girl who’s a total babe but one twisted motherfucker. So forgive me if I’m a tad antsy right now.”

   “Oh... I understand.” Cas blinked and seemed to understand a lot more than Dean had said.  “We’ll be right beside you, if that’s a comfort.”

    Dean grunted, “Thanks, Cas.”

   “Good night, Dean,” Cas said fondly and then morphed back and curled up next to his twin. Dean switched off the light, flopped onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling, willing sleep to come faster than he felt it would.

SAM

   His alarm’s shrill tone roused him from sleep sooner than he would have liked. 5:30 AM. But, he had a three and a half hour drive back home and important things to do. He had classes today, but not until the afternoon, so he was hoping to have time to find the flower company, Elysian Fields, and, hopefully, Gabriel. And if he really had to, he could skip his English class. Mr. Wyatt didn’t take attendance or give pop quizzes and his paper was already mostly finished.

    Sam was hoping that the Gemini would want to come with him, but by the time he had gotten dressed and down to Dean’s room, they were gone. A passing hunter told him that they’d left about half an hour ago. Sam sighed and resigned himself to driving back and searching for Gabriel alone. Before he left, Sam decided to look up Elysian Fields on his phone. They were surprisingly easy to find compared to the difficulties of yesterday. They had several locations nationwide and one just over five miles away from Sam’s dorm.

    “See you soon, Gabriel,” Sam muttered, tucking his phone into his pants pocket. He sat down in his car and started the engine, debating the wisdom of dressing as an F.B.I. agent again to see Gabriel. He eventually decided that he would go dressed as an agent just in case he needed to question other employees about Gabriel’s whereabouts. He pulled up to his dorm at 9:30, got dressed quickly, silently thanked Dean for refusing to let him get a room with a roommate who would have detained him or been overly curious, and was on his way again by 9:45.

     The flower shop was nothing much. Tucked away between two larger businesses, it seemed designed to pass by unnoticed. While the pictures on the website had been filled with twirls of color and rainbow explosions, this business was understated; well-maintained but not well-advertised. Sam walked up to the door with both hands swinging loosely at his sides, trying to exude a calm, confident demeanor. He rapped his knuckles on the door twice and waited. He was just about to knock again when the door flew open.

    “Sam! Great to see you again. My charms brought you back this quickly, huh?” Gabriel’s eyebrows danced on his forehead as a charming, flirtatious grin spread below them.

    “Gabriel,” Sam said, “Just the man I wanted to see. May I come in?” Gabriel’s smile faltered a moment and he looked almost nervously over his shoulder. He definitely had something to hide.

    “Are you here to talk about A…. that missing person?” Gabriel asked in a low voice.

    “Yes,” Sam responded, trying to work out exactly what Gabriel was nervous about.

    “Well then, maybe it would be best if you took me to some secure interrogation room, agent,” Gabriel said in the same low voice. He was being watched. Or recorded. It didn’t really matter. Gabriel had information he wanted to give but he wasn’t comfortable giving it there.

    “Of course,” Sam said, studying Gabriel and trying not to notice those distracting eyes, “If you’ll follow me…” He trailed off as Gabriel retreated into the business with a finger to his lips. As soon as Sam stopped talking he moved his arms in a clear indication for Sam to keep talking. Ah. He must be trying to fool his surveillance into thinking he was still in the doorway. Something about the man made Sam trust him, so he continued talking while Gabriel disappeared into the back of the shop.

    “...um, yes. Actually before you come with me, I’ll need you to sign some of these papers. Consent forms and forms basically promising that you won’t lie to us. One moment while I find them in my bag,” Sam paused a moment to think while pretending to find the papers. Either Gabriel was one tricky little man and had either escaped out the back or called someone to come take care of the strange man outside his door, or he was retrieving something of value. Or maybe disposing of surveillance on his own body. “Here we are,” Sam continued after an appropriate pause, “Sign here and…. here. Simple enough.” Gabriel appeared at the back, no longer dressed in the Elysian Fields uniform. Ha! So Sam’s last guess was right. “And we’re ready to go. Follow me, Mr…?”

  “Just call me Gabe,” Gabriel smirked at him and walked ahead of him towards his car.

   “Alright, Gabe,” Sam paused as they both entered the car, “Where to now?”

 “Well, Sam Winchester, wherever you’d like,” Gabriel settled back in his seat, carefully eyeing Sam to see how he would react. Sam pinched his lips together slightly and started the car.

    “So you know who I am.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Are you kidding? I know everything about you. Your family is one of the big players, even if they are mass murderers,” Gabriel’s tone went dark for a moment but then his smile sprung up to reach his eyes giving them an extra sparkle, “Plus you’re hot.”

    Sam scoffed but otherwise ignored Gabriel’s last comment. He turned left. He wasn’t really going anywhere, just driving. He turned right. “So what do you want to tell me?” he finally asked when it seemed Gabriel was not going to volunteer anything on his own.

     “It’s not about what I want to tell you. It’s about what you want to hear from me and what you’re willing to do to get it,” Sam glanced at his passenger and he could see a hardened layer to them that hadn’t been there before. Or maybe it had but it had been too covered in sweetness and smiles to see.

    “I don’t know what you expect me to do for you. I’m just a law student,” Sam said and immediately cursed his stupidity. He’d let his thoughts about Gabriel disrupt his focus and he may have just lost the only playing card he had.

    “Oh, not you, Sam - your family. You see, I know where Adam is and who has him. And I know how desperately the Winchester clan would love to have him back,” Gabriel’s speech cut off and he went stiff, “Unless you’re working alone and the other Losechesters have just given up.”

    Sam didn’t respond.

    “Just my luck,” Gabriel groaned, “I find a Winchester who needs something from me and he’s the black sheep of the family.”

     “That’s not very nice,” Sam said and on a whim threw what Dean called ‘the puppy dog eyes’ at Gabriel. There was an audible noise as Gabriel’s mouth popped open and his eyes widened. He quickly cleared his throat and looked away.

     “Sam, Sam, Sam. Are you trying to seduce me?” Gabriel’s voice was no longer the hard shell he had put on while bargaining. Sam considered that a victory. Of course, it wasn’t the hyper, happy voice either, but Sam could get it there.

    “Maybe. Would it work?” Sam glanced at Gabriel from under his eyelashes and gave him a small, lopsided smile. Gabriel pretended to ignore it.

    “Oh, I don’t know. There are a few obstacles. Like your clothes. And you needing to drive.” Gabriel was genuinely smiling again, voice laced with amusement.

    Despite himself, Sam chuckled. “Okay, sure. Now what I was going to say…” Gabriel interrupted.

    “What you were going to say is that you’ve never met anyone as devastatingly handsome as me.” Gabriel eyebrows were bouncing up and down on his forehead again.

    “I didn’t know you were a mind-reader, Gabe,” Sam responded dryly.

    “I read a lot more than minds,” Gabriel said and somehow managed to make it sound as dirty as possible.

    “Oh? And what do you read in me?” Sam asked, genuinely curious as what his answer would be.

    “That, Sammy, is a conversation for another time. Next date, perhaps?” Gabriel said, leaning closer to Sam.

    “This was a date?” Sam asked, trying not to smile from the grin and twinkling eyes he could feel being poured onto the side of his face.

    “You better hope it was or your whole ‘I’m so cute look at me’ routine wouldn’t be half as effective.”

    Sam raised one eyebrow at Gabe who just smirked and implied dirty things with those gorgeous eyes of his. Sam suddenly found that he needed his entire attention on the road to make the left turn at the stop sign on 32nd Street.

    “You know, I do have more to offer you than my charm,” Sam started, trying to get back to his original purpose that they had almost completely left behind, “Depending on your request, it is highly likely I will be able to fulfill it.”

    “Fine, we’ll put our business faces back on,” Gabriel pouted for a moment and it was utterly adorable. Then, in a flash, he was back to that hard, calculating person. “I know who has your half-brother. The same person is my true employer, not the flower front. And the same person has my brother, too. That’s the only reason I’d work for that bitch. I need you to tell me that you are capable of rescuing my brother and that he will be as high a priority as yours.”

    “I have two… very capable fighters on my side and they can be incredibly stealthy. I fully trust them to rescue anyone from anywhere,” Sam said, hoping Gabriel would take his word for it and not ask to meet them or anything. He had no idea what his opinions on monsters were. Though the twins had seen Adam with his scales in Gabriel’s mind.

    Gabriel studied Sam’s face for a moment. “Non-humans. You have non-humans working for you. That could work. They’d have to be very stealthy though... this woman is powerful.”

    “They’re Gemini. They can handle it,” Sam replied. Gabriel whistled in admiration and turned to look out the window.

    “You know that they’re not how most people think they are, right?” Gabriel whispered.

    “Yeah, I know. They’re as human as the two of us,” Sam said. Gabriel made some sort of aborted snort and tried to cover it up as a cough.

    “Okay, Sam my man. Naomi Adler is her name and if you’ll give me something to write on I’ll give you her address,” Gabriel began digging around in Sam’s glovebox. Sam reached into his door pocket, retrieved a pen and a pad of paper, and handed them to him. “Now, if you look on the beautiful but terribly inaccurate web, you will find an address for her. That will not be it. Don’t go there.”

       “Too late. Been there, done that.”

    “Really? You’re a bright, little cookie. I didn’t think you even knew her name.” Gabriel did sound truly surprised, which was completely reasonable. He’d only obtained the information by having two mind-reading, invisible monsters for friends. Sam pulled the car into the parking lot in front of Gabe’s work. He slid into a space on the other side of parking lot from the flower shop and put the transmission into park.

    “Do you want my business card to show Naomi if she asks where you went?” Sam asked.

    “Nope, still got it. I was considering calling the number,” Gabriel replied.

    “Business or personal?” Sam glanced over at Gabe who was leaning closer to him with that adorable smile and twinkle in his eyes.

    “Why can’t I have a little bit of both?” He smirked, darted forwards to kiss a surprised Sam on the cheek, and bolted from the car. Sam watched as he sauntered across the parking lot. He briefly considered getting out and going after Gabe but he had work to do. He put his car in drive and headed back to his dorm, mind spinning the entire time. If Naomi had both Adam and Gabe’s brother imprisoned, who knows what else lay behind inside her mansion. It didn’t help that her mansion was in fact Sauer Castle, a place made relatively famous for its tales of being haunted.

Chapter Text

DEAN

    The six-hour car ride with the twins hadn’t been unpleasant, but that wasn’t saying that it was pleasant, either. They were pissed that Dean wouldn’t tell them what he was researching, but he wasn’t ready for anyone to know his suspicions. Especially not people who happened to be Gemini themselves. If it turned out he was descended from Gemini he’d tell them… eventually. And if he wasn’t, there was no point in getting them all riled up over nothing. Dean nodded to himself in the driver’s seat and glanced in the rearview mirror at Jimmy and Cas who had both elected to sit in the back.

    “Almost there. Two more miles,” Dean announced. No one reacted. He might as well be alone in the Impala except for the heavy silence that filled every corner of it. He sighed and spoke again. “You know the rules. You’ll have to shift before anyone sees you. You got it?” - silence - “Do you understand?” Dean asked, getting angry. Two non-committal grunts sounded from the backseat and Dean figured that was the best he was going to get.

    When he pulled into the long driveway leading up to Chuck’s library, he was still as mentally unprepared to see Amara as when he left that morning. Yet there she was, clad in a flowing gold and black dress and leaning up against a pillar, obviously trying to look sexy. It didn’t matter though. Everything would be fine. He could handle it. He parked the Impala and hopped out. He turned back to open the back door for Jimmy and Cas to make sure they actually followed him into the library. As much as it made him feel weak, he didn’t want to be alone around Amara.

    The two Gemini jumped out of the car and lazily padded around the yard, stretching their back after such a long car ride. Dean glanced up to Amara and saw her eyes riveted on him. He took a deep breath and began walking towards her, counting his steps to keep his mind busy and away from worrying. He glanced over to either side and saw Cas on his left and Jimmy on his right. They might be pissed, but at least they were still sticking close.

    “Hello, handsome,” Amara smiled and pushed up off of the pillar to stand. She swung her hips as she strode towards him but, for once, Dean didn’t feel compelled to watch them.

    “Are you gonna unlock the door or what?” Dean asked sharply.

    “So rude,” Amara simpered, but turned towards the doors anyway. She produced a key from somewhere in the folds of her dress and fit it to the lock. With a soft snick, the doors unlocked and Amara swung one open. Dean strode inside, brushing past Amara even as she tried to smolder at him.

    “How are things organized in here?” Dean turned in a circle, looking at the staggering number of books. The library had two floors. The center of the second floor was cut away, allowing Dean to easily see the dozens of shelves containing hundreds, thousands, of books stored above his head. Directly in front of him lay three tables with a few chairs scattered around each. All three were buried under papers and books, presumably Chuck’s writing and research. To either side laid more books than Dean wished to count.

    “Well, I’m sure Chuck has some method to organize them, but if I ever have the urge to try to find something in this dump I use the computer system,” Amara answered and pointed straight forwards. Dean nodded and headed to the back of the library. He glanced behind him and saw both Amara and the twins following. He compared the gentle grace with which the twins walked to the practiced sway Amara moved her entire lower body with.

    Dean pulled out the rolling chair and sat down. He pulled himself up to the computer and swizzled the mouse, hoping he wouldn’t have to ask Amara for a password. A bright white screen popped up with large black text covering it listing categories he could search in. As he was scanning the list for something like genealogy, Amara bent over behind him and slung an arm over the back of his chair.

    “May I ask what you so desperately needed to research, or is this one of those top secret missions from Mommy?” she whispered in his ear. Dean shivered and had to force himself not to jerk away.

    “Amara. Back off,” Dean warned, his voice getting lower.

    “Baby,” Amara smiled and moved even closer, “We’re going on a date tonight. I think we should get used to being close… to trusting each other again. Our bond is stronger than our time spent apart. It will never break. Remember that.” Her tongue darted out and licked a stripe up the back of his ear. She then stood up and made a show of walking to the far left side of the library and picking out a book. Dean stared after her for a moment, disgusted and, if he was being honest, more than a little freaked out.

    “Just focus, Winchester. The faster you find answers the faster you get out of here,” he muttered to himself and clicked on the history genre.

   An hour (or more, honestly he had lost track of time) Dean had three books spread out on the table, one of which he had already discounted as being useless. Of the other two, Dean was only able to read one, the other being written in a foreign, runic script. He was becomingly increasingly frustrated with the English one; it had declared itself to be a history of human-monster interactions, but it was more like how humans learned newer and better ways to kill monsters.

    While dragons are certainly a prize worth risking life and limb for, the Gemini are in a class all by themselves. If killed properly, almost all of their organs have a unique and amazing use. In 1873, Abel Winchester developed the bullets which…

    With a noise of disgust, Dean slammed the book closed and shoved it across the table. He watched as it flew towards the edge and right off onto the floor. It landed with a thump that echoed in the silent library. Both Cas and Jimmy jumped a bit and turned their heads to look at Dean from where they were curled up together against a bookcase. Amara glanced up from where she was lounging one table over, but quickly slid her gaze back to her phone when she saw the sour expression on Dean’s face.

     "You know what?" She sighed. "I’m growing tired of being stuck in this stuffy library and your pathetic brooding. I'm going to get some fresh air; please make sure to be a better company tonight."

This was just typical Amara, constantly gnawing at his self-esteem. Dean took a shuddering breath and decided to ignore his pride, now that Amara was gone, and to seek for help.

"Can either of you read this shit?"

The Gemini shifted their attention back to him, visibly not expecting to be included in his very secret endeavor. Cas shifted back, features scrunched up in a guarded expression that morphed into surprise when his eyes fell on the book.

"This shit, as you call it, is our mother language. This was written by own of our species!"

So Cas, the nerd, snatched the books and began reading enthusiastically, soon joined by a mildly curious Jimmy.

"Dean," the latter commented, his voice unsure. "Would you care to explain why you're searching into Gemini's bloodlines?"

Castiel raised his eyes to throw him an icy look. "Do you still wish to annihilate us, Winchester?"

His voice was so hard and dark it sent a shiver of fear (and definitely nothing else) down his spine. He desperately wanted to correct his assumption but that meant outing himself. Great, he had had no qualms about his bisexuality and he was now having a... A monster panic.

"It's just... Well, my aunt planted the seed of doubt in my head, and I learned I have a stillborn twin brother, and my dad and granddad both have twins, and I have the true sight, so I was wondering if maybe, somewhere, I might have, you know, a Gemini ancestry."

Dean Winchester was babbling. And he was only met with two blue eyed concerned stares.

"Let me get this straight," Jimmy interrupted. "You think that you might be one of us?"

Dean blushed sheepishly.

"To a certain degree?"

"Huh," Cas simply commented while turning his gaze back to the book in his hands. "Well, we can answer that right now."

Dean watched Cas read for a few minutes before he got antsy.

"Are you going to check your own family?"

When he was answered with a double, placating "No.", he decided to get back to his previous nail biting.

CASTIEL

Jimmy and Castiel parents had died so soon after their birth, neither had any memory of them. At first, they had stayed with distant relatives, Hannah and Hael, but those died as well as soon as the younger Gemini knew how to read and count. Castiel had mourned them like he would have grieved actual parents. He didn’t want to relive such an experience by reading his parent's names. That would get him to close to them. To wondering what had happened. He only allowed such stray thoughts in the dark, in the intimacy of Jimmy’s embrace after a very long day.

No, this was about Dean.

And it was huge.

Could this pathetic little hunter that sought them for so long, this gorgeous man that wormed his way into their heart… be one of them? It sure would explain how they never managed to get into his mind. Gemini were naturally protected against mind intrusion - to an extent at least. Jimmy and he just weren’t strong enough. Why weren’t they strong enough? Ha, it didn’t matter. This was about Dean.

Dean Winchester.

Castiel squinted his eyes. Could it be?

“Jimmy, look at that.”

Immediately, his twin was at his side, and they both could feel Dean’s gaze on them, both hopeful and terrified.

What Castiel was looking at was an oddity. A Gemini with a last name. Of course, his kind didn’t have the same alphabet as human did, so it might be lost in translation, but… Kôlet  Huinshestah could be an approximation for… Colette Winchester?

The twins shared a look. Could this Gemini have married into Dean’s family? And have kids? The book did indicate she had descendants, although the information didn’t go any further than 1908, which was the year the book had been written.

“Dean…” Jimmy started.

The hunter visibly blanched and Castiel’s brother caught his hand, as if instinctively, and the man shied away from the touch, obviously startled although not displeased.

“Come on, kiddo, it’s not so bad, it could be worse. You could be a hundred percent human, now that would suck like a bitch.”

Castiel threw him an unimpressed look but Jimmy smiled back, proud of himself enough not to bother with anyone else’s opinion at the moment.

Dean was still having trouble putting his thoughts together, muttering nonsense under his breath. Castiel gave him a minute. Jimmy didn’t.

“You know, after that, going on a date with Miss Psycho Bitch doesn’t sound too bad.”

This clearly was and wasn’t the good thing to say, as Dean did get back from whatever weird mind space he just went, but on the other side of the coin, he started swearing, running around the library like a headless chicken trying to hide evidence of his presence.

“You gotta hide, guys, she could be back any minute, now, she better not see you.”

He stopped in his track to throw them a hopeful glance.

“You’re coming with, right? You’re not letting me alone with her? Who knows what kind of evil she can spew on me today and I do not want to go back to her machinations., I had enough for a lifetime. You believe me, right?”

His eyes were open wide with sincerity, and a hint of fear.

“We’re not going anywhere Dean,” Castiel assured him.

“Yup, you’re family, now, you’re stuck with us!” Jimmy added. When Castiel realized he was right, he couldn’t decide if the feeling in his gut was good or bad.

Amara was a profoundly unpleasant person. She was well mannered, conventionally beautiful - and obviously aware of the fact - and behaved like an even-tempered person, but Castiel and Jimmy could see flashes of something dark behind her eyes every time her date recoiled from her touch or declined the proposition of going someplace more private. Dean was clearly uncomfortable in her presence and rather than backing off, she got mad.

“I have always been on your side, Dean. When your brother abandoned you, I was there. When your mother made it clear she cared more about him than you, I was there. And today, even after all I’ve been through because of you, I still went out of my way to help you, and still, you deny me something we both want? Something is wrong with you, Dean.”

Her words were poison, but the man flinched as if he actually believed her. Castiel suspected Amara was targeting Dean’s insecurities on purpose and it made his blood boil.

“I think I should go,” he told her darkly while standing up, throwing a fifty on the table.

The twins followed him to his car in front of the upscale café Amara had chosen for their date. His face was so pale it appeared green and his movements were robotic but they shifted silently as they got in the car to find a cheap motel room.

Chapter Text

DEAN

As soon as they got home the next day, Dean went to bed. As it was still early, he suggested the twins to go spend some time outside. He needed to be alone. Truly alone. He was the same species as Cas and Jimmy. He wasn’t human. Not completely. What did it mean? He couldn’t keep on killing so-called monsters, now, could he? Well, he was never too bothered when killing other humans before, but he now felt uneasy thinking of gutting a siren. Go figure.

And now, someone was knocking on the door. Someone human - or human shaped but the hunter, well ex-hunter, knew that the Gemini weren’t dumb enough to go around on two legs.

“Who’s this?” he grunted solely in case it was his mom.

“Dean?”

Not his mom, but close enough. Dean rushed out of bed to unlock the door and face a petite figure standing proudly before him.

“Joanna Harvelle, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Cut the bullcrap, Dean, you’ve been moody for weeks, and we’ve barely talked in the past few months.”

That was true. He had grown up with this blonde spitfire, but three months prior, his mom had chosen her as her successor and she had to undergo a special training with her in order to do so. Dean himself had been preoccupied with twins - first hunting them then just… spending time with them. All in all, they’d been too busy to spend time together as they did when they were teenagers.

Dean conceded with a sigh.

“So spill, Winchester, what’s got your panties in a twist?”

Knowing he could never get her to let it go, he let her into his room.

“I saw Amara today-” Dean started.

Jo gasped, and hit him in the shoulder, effectively interrupting him.

“Are you completely out of your fucking mind? What were you thinking? Amara’s a snake you can’t go back to her like that!”

“I’m not, Jo, listen to me!”

Her mouth snapped closed but her eyes screamed bloody murder.

“Yes, she was spewing her crap on me, yes it hurt, but the point is… I don’t want to go back. I thought if I saw her again I would, but… I feel nothing for her. Well, I feel disdain, but my point is… I’m free of her!”

Jo contemplated him with a confused expression.

“Then why all the gloom?”

Dean took a minute to contemplate his answer, searching in her eyes what to do. She was his best friend apart from Sammy, she had known of his first man crush before everyone, they had survived their first hangover together and she had been there after the whole Amara fiasco. This was the least he owed her.

“The twins, the Gemini twins,-”

“Yes, Dean, I know what twins you’re talking about, what about them?”

“They can shape shift. They have a human form.”

She stared at him with a stony face for a very long time without speaking. Feeling awkward, Dean kept talking, ripping the proverbial band-aid, so to speak.

“I also happen to have Gemini in my genealogy, which makes me part mons- creature? I guess?”

Yeah, he couldn’t exactly use the term monster anymore. Sounded kind of derogatory. Not that creature was any better.

Jo seemed to have trouble getting her bearings together.

“And why am I the last one to know this? How come Mary never told me, you’d think this is number one priority piece of info!”

“I’m sure she would’ve told you if she knew,” Dean reassured her. She addressed him with a pointed glare.

“You’re the only one that knows. I’ve seen their human shape since their capture, but I only know about my own… heritage since about five hours, so…”

He hadn’t expected to be slapped, but then again, he probably should have.

“You mean that you went to see Amara and she told you all about you being a magical being and you fell for it? Also since when do you keep that kind of secret, didn’t you think we might have needed to know that?”

Dean let her finish her tirade and proceeded to apologize and explain how he discovered the particularity in his lineage. Oddly enough, she remained quiet until he was done.

“Then I went to this stupid date with her, and she tried to bring me down, like she always does, but it didn’t get to me that bad this time. I don’t know, Cas and Jimmy probably grounded me.”

“By just being there?”

He nodded, absent mindedly. She sighed and stood up.

“Ok, big boy. Now what I’m going to do is get back to my room and let it sink in that my best friends are related to the things my family has been killing all my life and then I’m going to get back to you and we’ll marathon Indiana Jones, got it.”

Dean would never say no to Harrison Ford.

SAM

When his phone started to ring obnoxiously in his empty dorm room, Sam hadn’t expected the caller ID to be Jo Harvelle’s name.

“Hey Jo,” he grinned into the phone.

“Sam, Dean is smitten.”

Her serious voice made him start before her words made him squint.

“What do you mean smitten? The last I heard he was sulking in his room. How did he go from emo to sappy?”

“No, you don’t understand. Apparently, the Gemini can turn human and if his description of them is anything to go by, they’re the human looking version of the words ‘hot bod’.”

Jo wasn’t making any sense.

“What do you mean turn human? Don’t you think Dean would have mentioned it?”

She let a dry laugh escape her mouth. “Not if he doesn’t want to share, he wouldn’t.”

And yeah, she had a point. After a long-suffering groan, he asked her: “But why smitten? Just because they look good doesn’t mean he’s suddenly in love, you know.”

“He had a date with Amara but didn’t even care about her because they were there.”

Sam wanted to tell her that she was wrong, that it could be anything, but… it was Amara. And the twins themselves seem quite determined to find Adam. He doubted it was solely to save the man they never met, their motives were more… close to heart.

“Shit, Jo, what do we do? Actually, no, don’t answer that, I know exactly what we should be doing.”

He told her about Jimmy, Cas and him trying to trace back Naomi and his latest discoveries.

“This is amazing Sam! I’m gonna request a private face to face with - I should anyway, it’s kind of my job as Mary successor’s - and I’ll tell them we’re meeting to plan this Friday, how does that sound?”

It sounded like a plan.

DEAN

As she had promised, Jo was back an hour later with a determined look on her face.

“I want to talk to them,” she ordered. Her tone didn’t leave room for arguments.

“Go ahead,” Dean answered. “They’re in the room.”

“No, I want to look at them in the eyes. And I want them to answer.”

The twins, who had returned in the meantime, exchanged an uncomfortable look and turned to Dean, obviously asking for help. Alas, in this situation, Jo had the upper hand.

“Go ahead. You can trust her.”

His word was apparently trustworthy now because they shifted with no more hesitation. Jo eyed them sternly for a few moment, gauging them.

“Hello Cas, Jimmy. Now, Dean, leave the room.”

The twins took a shared panicked expression and Dean frowned.

“Now, Jo, I can’t do that…”

She looked surprised. “Why? They have collars, they can’t hurt me.”

Blood left Dean’s face at those words. He hadn’t been scared for Jo, he had been scared for them. He trusted nonhumans he had known for a few weeks but not his best friend since forever. Jimmy’s face was scrunched up in resignation, but Cas was still gazing up at him with imploring eyes.

“I’ll see you two later, I promise you.”

Dean winced when his voice cracked but knew he couldn’t go against Jo in this situation. He left the room and did his best to not glue his ear to the door to try to hear what was being said in there, despite the nerve wrecking wait of five entire minutes. After what Jimmy opened the door, Cas on his heels. The latter put a hand on Dean’s left shoulder with a reassuring, almost tender, look.

“Go spend time with your friend, Dean. We’ll be there tonight.”

He then joined Jimmy who pretended not to look their way and they shifted to go explore the hallways. Dean felt a strange pang in his chest but Jo was waiting for him with Indy so he plastered his most genuine smile on his face and joined her on his bed.

Watching the well-known movies was so ingrained into his bones that Dean got lost in it almost immediately, admiring Harrison Ford’s glorious backside while joking with his good as sister about plot holes and wonky lines. He was so full of popcorn and so relaxed that he almost fell asleep when a bloodied Jimmy barged into the room, eyes wide and tear rolling down his cheeks. Worst of all, he was alone.

JIMMY

People all over the compound was staring at him, trying to stop him, grabbing him by his leather jacket, but he pushed them away without a second thought. He had to find Dean. Dean could help. He protected them. He could save him.

As soon as he arrived in his room, as soon as he saw the hunter look at him with those stupid worried green eyes, Jimmy ran into his arms with a full-body sob. Dean was talking, but Jimmy could not hear.

Finally, reason made its way through the mist of panic and he found himself babbling:

“We wanted to please you, Dean, be so good for you, we tried to find Adam, we didn’t want you to know, cause you had so much on your mind, and Sam and Jo helped us, we were supposed to meet, but we wanted to do it tonight, because you were so miserable because of this Amara bitch, so we went, and we found him, Dean, we found him, in this horrible prison, with those other people, fuck, Dean, it’s terrible down there, but, but, they… they found us, and, and… Cas! Oh, shit, fuck, Cas sacrificed himself so I could go, he’s still down there, they got him…”

Jimmy was feeling light headed and Dean was staring at him, still holding him, his face flickering between concern and anger.

“Ok, calm the fuck down, we can’t save Cas if you’re not calm.”

Jimmy took a deep shuddering breath but the tears were still flowing freely. Dean turned to Jo.

“What do you know about this, I heard your name in there.”

Jo was looking guilty and terrified.

“I was only told about it this afternoon when I called Sam, but the twins weren’t supposed to barge in there without us, we were supposed to…” she cut herself, knowing her explanation wasn't doing any good.

Dean guided Jimmy to his bed so he could sit and get over his anxiety.

“Ok, so what I gather is: you know where Adam and Cas are, in some kind of prison with other people?”

Jimmy managed to gather his thoughts to explain the situation more clearly:

“Her name’s Naomi. She captures nonhumans for a reason we don’t know. Probably experimentation.”

Dean nodded, visibly filing information in his brain to come up with a plan.

“Ok. Ok. Well, I suggest we find Sam and mom, and… and we kill the evil bitch, how that sound?”

CAS

Castiel had gotten captured. Again. Sitting in a corner of his new cell, he sighed in desperation. If he thought the cage Dean had originally kept him in had been secured, then this basement was a fortress. Naomi had not left anything to chance and every single stone around him was covered in aggressive sigils.

There was one thing, just one, that his new prison had the previous one had lacked: company.

All around him were a dozen silhouettes, more or less slouched, behind their own bars. To his right was a very old nymph whose bark like skin had started to rot. To his left, however, sat a tall man seemingly lost in thought. He wouldn’t have held Castiel’s attention hadn’t it been for the very colorful wings sprouting from his shirtless back.

“Are you a rainbow bird?” he shouted, taken aback by the volume of his own voice.

The bird turned his glassy blue eyes towards him with a curious expression.

“Am I?”

Cas tilted his head. Did he not know his own species?

“Don’t worry about good ole Balthazar, Naomi wiped his brain clean, the poor thing.”

Castiel turned towards the front of his cell. On the other side of the hallway, a young man with exceptionally long hair was staring right back at him.

“Hi, newbie. Name’s Samandriel. I know everyone here, I’ve lived in the castle before everyone. Before Naomi even.”

The Gemini paid closer attention to his inmate. He didn't look a day over twenty, but he was so obviously malnutritioned that he could be forty for all Castiel new.

“My family owned the joint for a century before she arrived a decade and a half ago and she slaughtered them all. All except me, cause living pure blood dragons are hard to come by these days and even harder to keep in captivity, so a 6-year-old lizard? I made her day when she found me.”

Samandriel sounded almost blasé talking about the death of his family, and his own fate. Then his words hit him.

“Wait, you’re a dragon? She has a dragon and a rainbow bird?”

Samandriel smiled sadly at him:

“And a Gemini. I mean, she already kind of had one, but not as pure.”

“What do you mean kind of had one?” Castiel wondered.

“I guess he means me.”

In the cell next to the young dragon sat an adolescent boy, his neck covered in scars and face bruised. Castiel felt something twist in his guts.

“You’re Adam, aren’t you?”

Immediately the man rose to his feet to get as close to Cas as he could.

“How do you know my name?”

Castiel then understood why Adam was as scarred as he was: Naomi had removed his scales.

Chapter Text

JIMMY

    Dean burst open his door, causing Jimmy to jump in surprise. He had one hand trailing behind him, fisted in Sam’s shirt and dragging him into the room. Sam looked confused and possibly offended. He pushed Sam down to sit in the one chair.

    “Sam… this is Jimmy,” Dean announced in a tense voice. Sam stood up slightly and offered his hand.

    “Nice to meet you, Jimmy.” He still looked confused, but obviously still thought being polite was important.

    “No, Sam,” Dean spat out through his teeth. “Jimmy. As in Jimmy and Cas. As in Gemini Jimmy.”

    “But…” Sam trailed off. “He’s human.” Jimmy decided that Dean had left all the important information out, so he took over.

    “Gemini are shapeshifters. In fact, a lot of what you call monsters are. We have our Gemini form and a human one.” Sam sat in the chair, staring at Jimmy with his mouth hanging open slightly.

    “How does it work? Like, do your molecules rearrange themselves or is it more of a second-skin-bone-structure thing?”

    “Sam!” Dean barked. “Go nerd out later. Cas is captured because of your fucking secret Adam investigation and we need to get him back. So, Jimmy. Tell Sam what happened.”

    Jimmy tried to block the memories and just let the words flow out of his mouth. But he couldn’t help it. The anticipation they felt as they snuck past the guards and slunk silently down the deserted hallways; the adrenaline and fear as an entire group of twenty or so guards exited a room right in front of them; the anger and desperation as they lassoed Cas and began to drag him down, adding more ropes and nets to contain him; the despair as Cas screamed at him to run and find Dean; and finally the shame while he backed up and fled, leaving his brother to be dragged away by the guards. When he was finally done, he dropped onto Dean’s bed and buried his face in his hands. Dean patted him on the back, his hand lingering just a moment before he dropped to the ground and pulled out his grenade launcher from under the bed.

    Jimmy zoned out for a moment, trying to pull himself from the despair and guilt that threatened to swamp him. When he eventually pulled his head from his hands, he saw Dean striding angrily around his room, strapping all sorts of guns and knives to his body, and alternating between forming a rescue plan with Sam and just outright yelling at him for keeping the whole Adam investigation a secret.

    “Jimmy, do you think you can do that?” Dean asked, breaking through the fog that had been clouding his mind.

    “What?” he said as he tried to pull his mind back to the present and out of the tornado of swearing and worry that was currently tearing through his brain.

    “Can you describe the layout of the facility and where the guards are and stuff?” Dean repeated as he tossed Sam a knife.

    “Yeah, I’ll try,” Jimmy responded, “Cas… Cas and I didn’t see too much of it, but enough to know what places to definitely avoid.”

    During the next half-hour, Jimmy helped Dean draw a rough diagram of Naomi’s place and placed red x’s where he knew guards would be. Mary also joined them during that time and Sam abandoned the map project to explain the entire situation, including the human form of the twins, to her. She stayed quiet for the entire explanation, though her face had Jimmy worried that she could start yelling at any second. She only spoke once Sam was obviously finished and, surprisingly, it was in a calm, even voice.

    “Dean, I think we should save the weapons for later. I’ve heard of Naomi and she is not someone you want as your enemy. Diplomacy first. I’m going to send Bobby with a message for her and you will stay here until she’s agreed to a meeting.”  And then she left.

    Dean stood still and pursed his lips. Jimmy grit his teeth. They had to rescue Cas now! What use was diplomacy?

    “Dean. You can’t possibly listen to her. Cas is in there suffering while we negotiate,” Jimmy growled, baring his teeth.

    “She has a point,” Sam argued, “If negotiation works, we have less chance of being injured or killed. Cas has a better chance of making it out alive. And if diplomacy doesn’t work… at least we have a backup plan.” Jimmy growled and morphed back to his Gemini form. He paced the room, debating whether he should listen to the Winchesters or break out and find Cas himself. The problem was that he needed their help. And of course the fucking collar.

    “I’m only waiting two hours. If we haven’t heard by then, I’m going in,” Dean announced as he bent down to open a cabinet. He pulled out a bottle of whiskey, poured a decent amount into a cup, and drank it faster than Jimmy thought possible. Then he poured another glass.

    “Dean,” Sam warned, “Being drunk is not going to help your negotiation skills.”

    “You know me, Sammy,” Dean said between sips of whiskey, “Never had any skills to begin with.” And with that, he downed his second glass. Sam scoffed and looked away.

    “I’ll be in my room. Come get me when Mom’s ready,” Sam announced and stalked out. Jimmy made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat and sat down in the middle of the room, pointedly staring at Dean.

    “I know, Jimmy,” Dean sighed, “But we’ll get him back. Don’t worry.” Jimmy whined because his head was filled with nothing but worry.

DEAN

    The small of Dean’s back vibrated with the knowledge that a gun he probably shouldn’t be carrying was snugged up against it. He was walking next to his mother with Sam and Jimmy following them. The empty warehouse they were approaching appeared abandoned, but Naomi had promised she’d be here.

    “Okay, everybody,” Mary said, “Let’s keep this professional. Absolutely no threatening. Only negotiating and bargaining.” She looked at everyone, but her glance lingered on Dean. He just pursed his lips and nodded curtly. He wasn’t going to promise anything. He’d do whatever it took to get Cas back, even if he had to kill this Naomi bitch to do it.

    They reached the entrance to the warehouse and Dean pulled open the rusted, squeaky door. Inside, a few dull light bulbs did a very poor job of lighting the large, open space in front of them. Mary led them to the center and then stopped.

    “We’ll wait here. She should be here any minute,” Mary whispered. Suddenly, a whirring mechanical sound echoed around the building. Harsh LED lights sprang to life, revealing a much cleaner space than Dean had originally thought, as well as a woman he assumed was Naomi walking with a slow air of grace towards them. He was surprised that she was alone.

    “Good evening, Winchesters,” Naomi said, her professional voice matching her dark blue pantsuit. “I hope you found this place without too much trouble.”

    “It was the perfect location,” Mary responded, “Thank you for agreeing to this meeting.”

    “Of course,” Naomi smiled with a few too many teeth and Dean cringed internally, “I gathered from your message that you are here to bargain for a creature from my stock?”

    “Not just anyone,” Dean explained in as calm a voice as he could possibly manage, “You captured a Gemini earlier today. He’s one of my guards. He’s the only one we want.”

    “Ah,” Naomi said. “Why then was one of your monsters breaking into my home?”

    Dean’s mouth paused halfway open. Telling her about Adam was most certainly a bad idea. She probably knew who he was already and wouldn’t hesitate to kill him just to cover up the evidence. But what reason could he give that would result in her giving Cas back to him?

    “It was not meant as an act of aggression,” Sam said, saving Dean from responding. “As you have likely noticed, they have binding collars and occasionally they take their orders the wrong way. We had heard about the local rumors surrounding your… home and we believed that it might be a hot spot for monster activity. As hunters, of course, that would interest us. We ordered them to check it out, not to invade your home.”

    Naomi said nothing for a moment as looked Sam up and down. “I see the youngest Winchester has a silver tongue. Excellent story.” Dean felt his nails digging into his palm before he realized that he’d clenched his fists. Diplomacy was not working!

    “Consider this,” Mary said, stepping calmly towards Naomi. “You give us the Gemini in return for two nymphs we currently have captured. You know how valuable their bark can be.”

    “Please,” Naomi scoffed, “Don’t insult me. I have enough nymphs to last me decades.” Dean saw Jimmy stiffen out of the corner of his eye. Even though nymphs were as dumb as the trees they resembled, he must not like to hear about any non-humans held for their monetary value.

    “What monsters would you find valuable?” Mary asked, “As you know, we are the best hunters in America. We can find what you need.”

    “What I need,” Naomi paused, “Is a Gemini. Do you have another you would like to trade?” Her cruel eyes settled on Jimmy and Dean had to grab his arm to keep him from rushing forwards to volunteer. In fact, his grip on Jimmy was also the only thing keeping Dean from ripping Naomi a new one.

    “No,” Dean said firmly, making a flimsy attempt to keep his anger from bleeding into his voice. “Give us the Gemini, or you will regret ever meeting us.”

    “Dean,” Mary warned.

    Naomi laughed a hard, cruel laugh. “Threaten me all you want, boy. I’m afraid I won’t be giving you what you want today. As long as there’s nothing, I’ll see you later.”

    Dean saw red. In a single motion, he let go of Jimmy and retrieved the gun he had stashed in his jeans. He shot, aiming for Naomi’s knees, hoping to cause maximum pain. In the blink of an eye,  Naomi was five feet to the left and Dean’s bullet buried itself uselessly into the far wall.

    “You’re going to be regretting that pretty soon,” Naomi hissed. Dean automatically shot another round but, instead of moving away, Naomi just raised a hand. The bullet bounced off of and landed on the ground with a soft plunk which seemed deafening in the silent building. Dean suddenly understood why Naomi had come alone. She bent to pick up the bullet and examined it carefully.

    “Dean,” Mary urged, “We’re leaving. Now.”

    “No,” Dean growled and rushed Naomi who promptly dropped the bullet and spread her legs in a solid stance. At the last minute, Dean dropped to the ground and tackled her legs, expecting to knock her over. Instead, he slammed into two pillars as solid as stone. The one on the left moved backwards and kicked him right in his solar plexus, sending him halfway across the room. He sat up, struggling to catch his breath. Sam swore somewhere to his right and he saw Jimmy morphing in midair as he leapt at Naomi, aiming for her throat.

    “Dean, you stupid idiot,” Mary said as she offered him a hand and pulled him up. “Now we have to fight her.” Dean took his first deep breath since the kick and turned to face Naomi again, ready to deal out twice the damage she did to him. His eyes widened as he saw Jimmy, suspended in midair, Naomi holding him up by the throat with one hand while her other had one of Sam’s arms twisted painfully behind his back.

    “Hey!” Dean shouted, feeling a blinding rage build inside of him, “Let them go!” He and his mother ran towards Naomi. She tossed Jimmy against the wall to the left and he collapsed with a whimper. Then she pulled Sam in front of her like a human shield, shoving him into Mary and sending them both tumbling to the ground. Dean managed to get a good punch in, socking her in the jaw and most likely damaging his knuckles, before she wrapped her hands around his neck in a vise-like grip and began to back up, Dean forced to go with her.

    Mary and Sam were back on their feet, but Jimmy remained slumped against the wall. Sam took a step forwards, but Naomi’s grip tightened ever so slightly around Dean’s neck.

    “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Naomi shouted across the warehouse, “At least if you like Dean with his head attached.”

    “Just give him back unharmed and we’ll leave you in peace,” Mary responded, obviously tense, “We really didn’t want any trouble.”

    “Go back to your car. I’ll release him when you’re all inside,” Naomi said. Dean tried to signal to his family to just leave, but his hands were a little preoccupied with keeping Naomi from completely choking him. Sam gave Dean a look which said Get out of this alive and carefully sidestepped to try to rouse Jimmy. Naomi hissed in warning, but let it be when she saw Sam’s intention.

    “Hey, Jimmy,” Sam reached out a hand to shake him, a little uncertain as to where Jimmy actually laid, “I really need you to transform back. I can’t carry you like this.” Jimmy groaned slightly and then began to shift back slower than Dean had ever seen. When he slumped back against the wall, he was mostly human. At least human enough that Sam could carry him.

    “You’re lucky I’m feeling lenient today. Otherwise, you’d have a war on your hands,” Naomi called after them. “And remember, the Gemini is mine,” Dean grunted in anger and tried to kick the woman behind him, but her grip tightened around his neck and he suddenly couldn’t breathe.

    “Dean!” Mary cried. Naomi eased up on her stranglehold and Dean gulped in a large breath of air. “Okay, we’re leaving,” Mary said, placatingly. She opened the door and ushered Sam out as he struggled under Jimmy’s weight. As soon as the door closed, Naomi threw Dean down on the ground. His hands immediately went to touch his tender, bruised throat.

    “Now’s the fun part.” An evil grin spread across her face and kicked Dean hard on the side of his head. His ear began to ring as he struggled to stand. “Oh no, I’ll have none of that,” Naomi announced and clocked him under the jaw, causing his teeth to slam together painfully as he stumbled back. Before he could gain his bearings, she was gripping him by the longer hair on top of his head and punching his face twice in quick succession. Then she released his hair and swept his feet out from under him, causing him to drop to his knees. He heard a kneecap crack and desperately hoped he hadn’t broken it.

    He spat out some blood and wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. “You done?” he taunted Naomi.

     “Not anywhere close,” she growled and reached inside her suit jacket, pulling out a thin, curved knife. With an almost invisibly fast punch to the chest, she knocked Dean onto his back and then straddled his legs which burned with the pain of being bent backwards and overstretched. She grabbed his shirt and sliced it open. Then she placed the cold steel against his stomach.

    “Each time you see this, you will remember me and how you could never possibly hope to defeat me,” she whispered into his ear and then the tip of the knife sliced into his stomach.

    Dean grit his teeth, desperately trying not to scream. He didn’t want Sam or Mary to come running back in after him. His world constricted to lines of fire being carved into his stomach. It seemed to take an eternity before Naomi jumped off of him with a satisfied smirk on her face. She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped Dean’s blood off of the knife.

    “Goodbye, Dean Winchester. You should hope for your sake that we never meet again.” Naomi turned around and walked out the doors at the opposite end of the warehouse. The LED lights shut off and Dean was left in almost complete darkness.

      He grunted as he levered himself up, pushing past the multitude of aches and pains complaining from all over his body. He managed to make it to his feet and then to the doors, struggling to open them on his own. He felt so lightheaded. The blood loss must be getting to him. He banged on it, hoping someone would hear and let him out. The door flung open and Dean fell forwards onto Sam.

      “Oh my god, Dean!” Sam exclaimed. “What happened?”

    “Naomi,” Dean growled. “Just get some gauze or something. I’ve got to stop this bleeding.” Sam helped him limp to the car and then up into the backseat next to a mostly unconscious Jimmy. As soon as he jumped into the passenger’s seat, Sam ordered Mary to drive straight to Ellen. He then pulled off his shirt and leaned back to press it to Dean’s stomach.

    “Hold it there.” He looked at Dean with worry painted across his face, “Don’t you dare pass out on me. We’ll get you stitched up soon, okay?” Dean made a noise of agreement and did his best to stay conscious. One thought kept him awake, kept him angry and determined: whatever he had to do, Naomi was going to pay and they were going to get Cas back.

Chapter Text

CAS

    Cas had estimated that he’d been there a day now. There was no natural sunlight, so it was pure speculation, but he had been fed two meals which Samandriel told him was the regular daily amount. He hoped that Jimmy had gone to get Dean and that the whole Winchester clan was going to be bursting in here any minute to rescue them all, but he didn’t really expect it. Why would Dean risk the lives of his people for a monster? In which case Cas desperately hoped that Dean didn’t let Jimmy come here alone. Maybe the binding collar would be good for something after all.

    A door somewhere to his left banged open, echoing off of the seemingless endless rows of cages. The nymph next to him curled up in the back corner of its cell and whimpered and Balthazar began humming a cheerful tune, seemingly oblivious to the fear radiating off of everyone else.

    “What’s…” Cas began to ask.

    “Sssh!” Adam warned, “Be quiet.”

    A guard walked straight up Cas’s cage and held a key up to the lock. Cas glanced desperately at Adam and Samandriel, but they just returned his gaze with pity and fear. A young hydra somewhere to his right began hissing and spitting as a woman came to stop in front of Cas. He gulped as he recognized her from Gabriel’s thoughts.

    “Hello, Gemini,” Naomi said coldly. “It appears that the Winchesters have some sort of attachment to you. They came to me begging to have you back. They wouldn’t take no for an answer, so I left Dean with a special parting gift. Now I’m going to make you all mine just in case they get any crazy ideas.” Cas backed up as far as he could in the cell, panic and worry for Dean clouding his mind. Naomi turned to the guard. “Open the cage.”

   With a slight snick, the door glided open on oiled hinges. Naomi walked in with a large needle in her hand. “Hold still. This will only hurt for a moment,” she said. Cas eyed the open door and jumped to his left, intending to run as fast as he possibly could, but a grip on his front leg stopped him dead in his tracks.

    “Not so fast,” Naomi growled and plunged the needle into the base of Cas’ skull. He heard Samandriel cry out his name before a burning fluid was injected into his neck. He collapsed as soon as Naomi released him, scrabbling to reach his neck, desperate to tear out the pain. Eventually his body stilled and he felt his mind fading away from the pain and the worry and everything that made him Cas. Vaguely he felt the collar be removed his neck and then replaced a little while later.

    “Up,” Naomi commanded and Cas rose to his feet, his mind too clouded to even understand what his limbs were doing. Naomi patted him on the head. “Now you’re a good pet. Follow me.”

    Cas’ legs took him out of the cell, but he didn’t even notice his surroundings. He padded obediently behind Naomi, aware of nothing but the fog wrapping him up and lulling his mind to sleep.

JIMMY

  It took no less than three, excruciatingly long, painful, days for Dean to be well enough to move. Naomi’s carving wasn’t deep, thankfully, and as soon as Dean was able to, he got out of bed, took Jimmy by the sleeve and together they started walking towards the Impala.

  Jimmy wanted nothing more than just get to Kansas University, hole up in Sam’s dorm and start planning how they would get his brother back. However, waiting in front of the car, was standing a very frowny Jo Harvelle.

  “Where do you think you’re going, Winchester?”

  Jimmy could see that Dean was torn between his duty to answer to Jo, and his desire to just take his car and go. If Jimmy had a say in it, they would already be on the road.

  “I have to do something, Jo. Sam promised he would help me find a way, I have to get to him.”

  To that, Jo huffed. She didn’t sound disapproving, just… disappointed.

  “And you would’ve gone without me? I’m your best friend, Dean, you could try and include me in your plans, a bit more…” she sulked.

  “This isn’t a social outing, here, this is a rescue mission!” Dean argued.

  Jo threw him a stare, complete with a sassy raised eyebrow and all.

  “Which is why I have to be there to assure you respect your mother’s policy on the matter,” she answered, sounding smug.

  Dean started for a second and Jimmy, having waited more than his share, took the decision for him.

  “Get in the car, if we’re not on the road for Lawrence in five minutes I’m leaving alone and you can’t stop me.”

SAM

  Dean’s face was still bruised when he, Jo and Jimmy entered his room. Jimmy’s gaze narrowed on Kevin sitting in his desk chair.

  “I’ve done some research,” Kevin said. “I’m here to help, not… harass you.”

  If Dean was confused, he didn’t show, “Ok, well, do you have anything useful?”

  Kevin grinned, obviously appreciating being included in the whole ordeal.

  “Sam told me that Naomi was inhumanly strong and fast, so my first instinct was to study every non-human there is to find out what species she might be. We ruled out Gemini because her eyes do not glow and she doesn’t have a twin, swamp witches don’t have any superior physical abilities without the aid of a spell, which doesn’t seem to be the case, Rainbow Birds alter reality, not their own bodies. Not a siren either because she would need constant access to a large amount of water…”

  “I don’t know,” Dean interrupted. “Lilith has a pet siren and she keeps him in a tank.”

  Kevin seemed skeptical.

  “I don’t think the siren must be very happy in a mere tank. They tend to need at least a lake to be comfortable to live.”

  Dean chuckled, “Well, the last I’ve seen of Lucifer, he was a grumpy bastard who hated everyone, so…”

  Sam cleared his throat, reminding his brother of the issues at stake.

  “So, not a siren. The only other non-human I think might disguise themselves as humans are…”

  “Dragon.”

  Everyone turned towards Jimmy who was talking for the first time.

  “Aren’t they extinct?” Sam wondered.

  Kevin shifted, obviously uneasy.

  “While her superior strength and tendency to collect a hoard might indicate that she is in fact a dragon, they still tend to stick together and… She slaughtered an entire family just to live in this castle.”

  Silence followed.

  “So she’s not human, but she’s not non-human either?” summarized Jo.

  Sam shook his head, hopelessness starting to seep in his bones. It’s not like they could ask her, anyway.

  Wait.

  “Wait!” he exclaimed. “I think I know someone who might tell us more…”

  Dean frowned at him, his mouth twisted in his typical ‘protective older brother’ scowl.

  “Sam…”

  But Sam ignored him, his phone already out of his pocket.

  “Sam, I don’t think this is a good idea…” Jo argued, probably trying to side herself with Dean on the matter, but already a familiar voice was resonating through the speaker.

  “Well, well, well, if that isn’t the Winchester kid. Miss me already?”

  Sam sighed. Of course Gabriel had to taunt him while on speaker with his brother in the room.

  “This is a business call, Gabe. It’s about Naomi.”

  The whole room stood silent, waiting for an answer that took it’s time to come.

  “I’ll be right there.”

  And then, there was the tone.

 When Gabriel made his entrance, Sam could already feel the tension go up three notches.

  The young man had a huge grin on his face despite the despair easily readable in his eyes. Sam suddenly realised Gabriel had the same coping mechanisms as his brother - hide from the problem with jokes and rudeness, ignore the problem until everything explodes, pretend everything is fine when everything is quite obviously not fine - and he wondered what that meant about himself. He shrugged it off, he would have time to talk it out with Kevin later, when the situation wouldn’t be crap anymore.

  “Gentlemen! Milady…” Gabriel greeted them, earning a huff from both Jo and Dean.

  “Alright, cut the crap Clowney,” Dean grated. “Tell us what you know.”

  Gabriel rolled his eyes in Dean’s direction, “Well, Brad Pitt, if I knew why I’d been summoned it’d make the whole ordeal that much easier, yknow.”

  Dean groaned but Jimmy interrupted :

  “My brother has been kidnapped by Naomi, we tried to negotiate his return with the evil bitch herself, but things turned… violent.”

  Gabriel winced, his eyes sliding over to Dean’s face : “Hence the bruised… everything?”

  Dean didn’t answer, staring at him with cold eyes.

  “We need to know how she got so physically powerful, and you are our only insider,” Jo, ever the professional one, took over.

  Gabriel nodded, closed his eyes a second and started talking. His voice was so strained Sam felt the unexpected urge to burrito him in a pile of blankets.

  “She’s a scientist. Not the ‘cure cancer’ type, let me tell you, more of the ‘DNA manipulation for evil purposes kind’. She…” He paused. “She uses the non-humans in her hold to experiment on many thing, but also to have access to prime ingredients. She turned herself into a freak. Her little serum contains some bits of hell hound, nymph and even dragon blood. She saved one of them only for that one purpose. She’s sadistic and a psycho!”

  Dean grunted : “If she is evil incarnate why are you still working for her, why didn’t you betray her before, why now?”

  If Sam hadn’t been watching Gabriel intently, he would have missed the slight glaze of his eyes. “She’s holding my brother prisoner, prodded into my brain to cut off my power and she even cut my wings, I can’t do it on my own, but you are the Winchester, you have Gemini on your side, you can still help me.”

  Sam felt his blood run cold. “What do you mean wings?”

  A lonely tear ran down Gabriel’s cheek. “I’m a rainbow bird. Balthazar, that’s my brother, and I fled our nest because the old bastards are old fashioned. Despite their names they aren’t exactly the most tolerant towards same gender relationships so we left. We were homeless, jobless, ignorant of the ways of the world, so when Naomi came to us we didn’t even question it and we agreed to work for us. Less than a week later, it was already hell.”

  By then he was practically sobbing and when Sam put an arm around his shoulder Gabriel burrowed himself in his flank.

  Jimmy sighed wistfully, obviously not far from tears himself.

  “But we don’t have a Gemini pair anymore. Cas is with Naomi now, and we were cut off from the rest of our species as well, we have no contact with anyone. The closest person to a Gemini that I know off is Dean.”

  “Yeah,” Dean huffed. “And my twin died in the womb, so there’s that.”

  “What?” Sam exclaimed.

  His brother had had a twin? They were related to Gemini? Why was this new information? 

  A little cough could be heard from one corner of the room. Everyone turned to Kevin.

  “I know I was supposed to remain silent, but I might have something that could help..?”

  When no one answered, all eyes still focused on him, Kevin blushed and kept going.

  “If your twin died before birth, his soul might still be attached to you, so with the help of a swamp witch, we could retrieve his soul, attach it to an artifact, and then artificially recreate the soul bond between a full blooded Gemini pair. You could even shift into your Gemini shape.”

  As he was talking, Kevin became animated until he ended up borderline frantic.

  Dean was staring at him slacked jaw. Well even more than everyone else in the room also were.

  “Kevin… Just how much research did you do exactly?”

CAS

  Cas sat up groggily, half aware that he was back in his cage. He turned his head to the right only to whip it away as the light stung his eyes.

    “Cas?” he heard Adam ask. Cas tried to look at him but wasn’t really sure which of the two blurry shapes was him and which was Samandriel. He tried to say something, but wasn’t sure if gibberish or nothing made it out of his mouth.

    “You were gone for three days and then unconscious for several hours,” Samandriel piped up, “We were worried.”

    “You don’t look so hot…” Adam said.

   “I… drugged... groggy,” Cas managed, feeling like a fool but lacking the brain power to do anything about it.

    “Cas she’s coming back,” Samandriel warned and Cas heard him rattle the door  to his cage.

    “Hey. Sweetheart, be quiet. You getting in trouble isn’t gonna help him,” Adam whispered. Cas blinked, the haze over his eyes clearing a bit more, enough so that he could see Adam holding Samandriel’s hand, both of them staring at him with concern in their eyes. The cell door creaked open and he was staring directly at Naomi’s legs.

    “Time for another dose,” she announced and unceremoniously stuck a needle in the back of his neck.

Chapter Text

DEAN

That couldn’t be, right? He couldn’t go from his 100% human self right into an actual shifting Gemini in just a few weeks, it was too much for him.

Then again… Naomi had Cas. Sweet Castiel taking such care of his brother, badass Castiel teaching Dean how to defeat a hell hound, brave Castiel fighting a hydra by Dean’s side…

“Where would we even find a witch?” he whispered, half hoping no one would hear him.

But Kevin did, oh, how he did. “There aren’t many covens left in North America, only three in the US of A. The closest ones would be the McLeod.”

Dean cursed.

“And why, pray tell, do you want to see my mother?”

Dean made his best to not punch Crowley in his slimy face but his patience was wearing thin.

“I clearly recall telling you that it wasn’t any of your business,” he grunted back.

“And I clearly recall not being your messenger boy, so get your ‘business’ elsewhere!”

As soon as he was done with this sentence, Jimmy had him up against a wall, a sneer on his handsome face.

“You are going to get your mother, now. And you aren’t going to ask any question until we decide you should be told everything, am I understood you maggot?”

Crowley was many things, a coward being one of them. After a difficult swallow, he hastily nodded.

“She’s in her office. Upstairs, at the end of the corridor…”

Jimmy let him down on the ground and made his way to the staircase, Dean on his heels, quietly impressed by the display of strength. Maybe he would get the chance to defeat Naomi after all?

When Rowena opened her door, her features morphed into a well-crafted expression of surprised. The thing with Rowena is that you could never tell what she was genuinely feeling because she manipulated her face like a butcher his knife.

“The Winchester boy, what a pleasure! Do come in!”

She eyed Jimmy as he passed her, probably trying to guess who he could be.

“So... Dean. How is your mother? Dear Mary and I never have the time to visit each other, that is such a shame. She truly is a lovely woman.”

Dean acknowledged her pleasantries with a nod, but he didn’t have time for politeness.

“I know that you are a witch.”

Or subtlety.

For the first time since he’d known her, Rowena actually looked taken by surprise.

“I… I do not know what you mean, I am a very respectable-”

“I need your help with a spell. I can pay.”

She squinted at him.

“Dean Winchester, if this is some kind of a trick, you better be sure I will curse this pretty bottom of yours.”

Despite the venom in her voice, Jimmy snorted. Dean shot him an annoyed glare.

“I need to become a Gemini. I have the potential in my DNA, but I need you to retrieve my stillborn twin’s soul and bond it to mine.”

“..beg pardon?”

Dean swallowed hard, and Jimmy took over.

“If you don’t help us, some wicked psychopath will successfully use a Gemini to her advantage, and I’m asking you, witch, where will you be, what will you do, when she comes for you?”

Rowena pointed her chin up for a few seconds, allowing her pride to cover for her fear.

“You mentioned payment?”

“I’ll fight in the arena again.”

“Dean, no!” Jimmy was looking at him with wide scared eyes. “You can’t do that…”

“I’ll rescue Cas first, don’t worry, you’ll have your brother.”

But Jimmy kept shaking his head. “Of course I want my brother back, but I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for it. You’re my… friend, Dean. I care about you too…”

Rowena let out a self-satisfied sigh. “How cute. Dean, I’ll oversee the arrangement with your mother. Now, if you could let me study my books…”

She got up, her petite frame planted firmly in front of her impressively furnished bookshelf.

While she was looking for the right volume, Jimmy went back to his arguing.

“You can’t seriously consider this, Dean…”

“I’m a fighter, Jimmy. That’s what I’ve done my whole life.”

“But-”

“And I know I’m not gonna hunt anymore, not with all that I know now. I’ll battle wild beasts in the arena, monsters that can’t be controlled, dangerous ones. One stone, three birds, I get rid of a potential threat, I satisfy the McLeod greed and I fight like I was trained to since my childhood. It’s the only way, Jimmy.”

His bright blue eyes studied Dean for a few more seconds, distraught reading clearly in them before he finally nodded with a pained smiled.

“You better always come out of it alive, Winchester. I wouldn’t forgive you otherwise.”

“Boys.”

They turned back to Rowena looking at them smugly with a thick book open on her desk.

“Retrieving the soul of Dean’s brother should not be too difficult. I only need something to fix him on. Something tangible that you can wear on yourself at all time. Recreating the bond, however, will require some… ingredients.”

Dean could hear the hesitation in her voice.

“Ingredients?”

Rowena gave him one of her fakest, brightest smiles. “The first is… pixie dust?”

Dean clenched his jaw. They had had pixie dust until about three weeks ago until they sold it all to Lilith. Pixies were a hard bunch to catch and he couldn’t envision himself leaving for Pennsylvania to hunt those tiny bastards, with their tiny nipples, and-

“What’s the second?” Jimmy interrupted.

Rowena turned towards him.

“The second ingredient, my dear friend… Is your blood.”

Before Dean could think himself out of it, he was half bent over the desk, a handful of red hair captured in his fist.

“You will not bleed Jimmy, witch, or I’ll seriously consider slicing your throat!”

“Calm down, before I turn you into an actual squirrel, I didn’t mean more than a pint,” she spat on his face.

He released his grip from her only when he felt Jimmy’s finger on his bicep.

“It’s okay, Dean. I’m always happy to bleed for my brother.”

Rowena smiled sweetly at the Gemini.

“Excellent. All we need is that pixie dust, then.” Her face turned sour as she looked over at Dean. “You wouldn’t happen to know where exactly you can find such a thing, do you?”

With a cold dread draping over his guts, Dean nodded.

“Expect a visit as soon as I’ve got it.”

“Perfect, I do not need much, just a few ounces. Oh, one last thing…”

“What is it, Rowena?”

“How do you feel about needles?”

He knew something was terribly fishy in this one sentence, but he didn’t have time to worry about it. Cas needed his help.

So he shrugged and left.

CAS

   Cas had been conscious and clear headed for over an hour now. He really hoped Naomi wouldn’t inject him again. What could do that to him? Being a Gemini, most human drugs wouldn’t affect him… maybe it was siren venom? That would give him the groggy feeling but didn’t explain why he listened to Naomi and not the siren she had stolen it from. Unless… Maybe she’d been feeding the siren her own blood. That would do the trick.

    Cas shuddered. He couldn’t imagine what else Naomi was capable of. What did she have in mind for him? Naomi wouldn’t go to all of the trouble of injecting him with siren venom if she was just going to let it wear off. Also, his binding collar was missing. She had to have something planned.

    “Cas, I know you’re nervous, but please stop pacing,” Adam pleaded, “You’re making Balthazar anxious.” Cas glanced to his left and saw the poor rainbow bird curled up in a ball and rocking back and forth.

    “Right. Sorry,” Cas said and sat down. His tail brushed against the floor as it twitched back and forth. “What do you think she’s going to do?”

    “I dunno,” Samandriel said, “I’ve been here a long time and I’ve only seen her use the siren serum a few times. Usually, I never see them again unless they’re by her side as her bodyguards.”

    “I think I faintly remember her using me as a bodyguard,” Cas commented. When Samandriel didn’t respond, he let his mind drift to Dean and Jimmy. Had Jimmy made it out? Had he told Dean what happened? Would Dean even come after him? No. He knew Dean would.

    Cas bent this neck to one side and then the other, feeling the absence of the collar and more keenly the absence of Jimmy and Dean. He looked over at Balthazar who was frowning as if he was trying very hard to remember something… anything. Cas couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. A door was thrown open and Cas heard the all too familiar footsteps of Naomi.

    “Well, Gemini, I believe I’ve fixed our little problem.” She unlocked the cage and entered it, flanked by two hell hounds wearing binding collars. “Your previous owner obviously made this himself, so it took some extra time to modify. Now be a good boy and hold still while I put this back on.” She held out Cas’s binding collar. He recognized it because of the comfort padding Dean had added. He glanced fearfully at the small depository that had housed Dean’s blood. He backed up, already knowing what Naomi had done. He was not going to be bound to her.

    Both of the hell hounds crouched down and growled menacingly. Cas held back a whimper. There was no way he could defeat both of them in such a cramped space and without Jimmy. He hated feeling so powerless.

    Naomi approached him and he felt her cold hands brush against his neck as she secured the collar. When she pulled away, Cas couldn’t help the expression of hate that crossed his face.

    “Now with that and the siren venom you’ll do exactly as I say. Forever,” Naomi smirked, “Come now. It’s time to get your next dose.”

JIMMY

    Dean guided him to an innocent-looking building. A sign at the door was advertising Bingo night every Wednesday. Jimmy threw Dean a confused frown.

    “You have no idea how much the elderly love their little ‘pick -me-up’ pills. Bingo night guarantees both a face and a steady clientèle.” Dean opened a door on the side, revealing a flight of descending stairs. Jimmy followed him down.

    At the bottom of the stair stood a heavy steel door adorned with an impressively big lock.  Dean started banging.

    “Ruby! Open up. It’s Dean Winchester. Come one!” After thirty seconds of steady knocking a voice could be heard on the other side.

    “What do you want Winchester? If you’re bringing the Feds with you, I’m skinning you.”

    “Calm down, Cortese. I have business with Lilith. It’s kind of last minute; didn’t have time to make an appointment.”

    Jimmy could practically hear the hesitation in this Cortese girl’s silence before she muttered a ‘fine’ under her breath and unlocked the door, opening it just enough for Jimmy to see one beautiful brown eye and the barrel of a gun pointed at him.

    “Who’s dark and handsome?” she spat.

    “Customer,” Dean answered curtly.

    “He clean?”

   “Who do you think I am, Ruby? A rookie?”

    Ruby finally let the door open enough for them to enter. Jimmy was once again surprised by her stature. Rowena hadn’t been what he had expected for such a fear-inspiring woman and Ruby has an impressive amount of spite in her small body. Jimmy winced at his own thoughts. He would have to work on his prejudices.

    “Lilith is in with Lucifer. You might want to wait until she’s done with him or she’ll be cranky.”

    “Lilith is always cranky. Show us the way, please.” Ruby rolled her eyes but pointed at a corridor.

    “Just walk that way. You can’t miss it.” Jimmy bowed his head at her as they passed, earning himself a raised eyebrow. They didn’t have to walk for a very long time. Just as they walked around the corner, they found a big room with an eerily blue lighting. Jimmy didn’t have time to wonder where it came from before he spotted the huge water tank taking up an entire wall. Inside was swimming a very distraught-looking siren, his shark like features, all angles and long fins, illuminated from all sides. Before him stood a tall and elegant blonde woman, cooing at him. Jimmy felt irritated just looking at her.

    “Lilith!” Dean’s voice was booming in the empty room. The woman turned to them with a sneer.

    “How did you get in here? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

    “I’ll be quick,” Dean argued, “I just need a bowl of pixie dust.”

    Lilith snorted dismissively.

    “Right. As if you could afford it.”

    Jimmy contained an amused laugh as the siren rolled his eyes and called his owner a bitch.

    “You seem to forget that I’m the one you bought it from.”

   Lilith shook her head. “You could never give me as much money as I could obtain myself from selling the drugs I make with it.”

    The siren hit the glass of his tank with his double tails, hissing ‘Murderer!’ at her.

    Jimmy frowned. “What do you mean?” The siren turned to him with hopeful eyes.

    “You can hear me?”

    Hearing the desperate edge in his voice, Jimmy smiled gently at him and nodded. Lilith as looking at him with frantic eyes. The siren threw himself in Jimmy’s direction.

    “You have got to help me! The lights are spreading poisoning radiations in the water! The whole tank gets more toxic every day. Please turn off the lights...”

    Horrified, Jimmy repeated the words to Lilith, who looked like she could have collapsed on the spot, and then she left the room, yelling orders to clean the tank and to save her friend.

    Dean took the opportunity to slip a few words in Jimmy’s ear.

    “You distract her. I’m going to try and find her supplies room.”

    A few seconds later, Jimmy was alone with a very relieved siren.

    “Thank you. She claims to love me, but she almost killed me just to look at me.”

    “Look at you?” Jimmy wondered.

    “She found a special brand of light making me visible to the human eye, even when I’m underwater. She kept it on constantly. Name’s Lucifer by the way.”

    “Jimmy,” he answered.

    Something started whirring, but Lucifer assured him that it was just the water getting filtered.

    “They don’t do it as often as they should,” he added, showing his terrifying teeth. “And I haven’t seen open waters since she abducted me a decade ago.”

    The sound of a hurried pair of feet warned them of Lilith’s return. Jimmy had nowhere to hide when she threw herself at him. The last thing he had expected from her was a bear hug.

    “Tell me everything. What else does he need?” She hadn’t even noticed Dean was gone. And so, he started translating.

Chapter Text

DEAN

Dean wasn’t familiar with the place that much. He’d been there once or twice for transactions but had never been given the grand tour. He just had to trust his guts and follow the main corridors like he belonged to the place. Lilith wasn’t the most trusting person on Earth and maintained a limited number of employees so the joint was pretty much deserted. Still, better not attract unwanted attention.

Until there it was, the most conspicuous double doors in the history of villain lairs. Chromed with blurred windows. It screamed nasty business, and nasty business was what Dean was after. So, with all the confidence in the world, he pushed them open and entered the room.

Except this wasn’t a storage room like he’d expected. No, in some ways, this was even better. This here was the laboratory. and in the laboratory was working Lilith’s scientist. The moron, because he was a moron, was looking at him through his goggles above his surgical mask. On the table before him laid a dead body open in half. Dean did his best to ignore it.

“Hello, Alastair.”

“Dean,” Alastair replied with this sickly nasally voice of his. Dean cringed internally. “Would you explain to me what the hell you are doing here?”

“Lilith told be to ask you for a pouch of pixie dust.”

The squint in Alastair’s beady eyes told Dean he hadn’t bought into the lie.

“And why, pray tell, would she allow you to get away with such a precious cargo? With naught but a spoonful of it, we can produce half a ton of a very expensive drug. It’s extremely high demand in Chicago right now.”

Dean set his jaw. Alastair was a little bitch and he was sick and tired of having to deal with him. He got closer to Alastair, dutifully avoiding to look at the corpse, and whispered right in the moron’s face.

“You listen to me, Alastair. I’m not asking for pixie dust for kicks. I need it, and you are going to provide it. Now. Or I’m burning the place.”

Alastair sniggered, his putrid breath made Dean want to gag before someone cleared his throat behind him. In less than a second, Dean had his back to Alastair, and a gun pointed to the new comer.

There stood a small brunette woman, staring at his firearm with a smug expression. She knew he wouldn’t shoot. So did he. He lowered the gun.

“Hey, Dean. Nice seeing you around those parts,” she greeted, her voice raspy and seductive.

“Sorry about the gun, Meg, you startled me,” Dean apologized.

“It’s okay, I understand, you were too busy measuring your dick and comparing it to Alastair’s. Lucky for you, I’m not a child, so… catch.”

Dean put his hand up to catch the packet Meg threw at him.

“What…”

“Pixie dust. You said Lilith told you to get some? There you have it. Now leave and stop threatening to put fire to things, it makes the corpses nervous.”

Dean was so thankful he could have kissed her. Knowing better than doing that he nodded at her and didn’t react when she patted his butt on his way out. Dean didn’t even take the time to turn around to see Alastair’s disgruntled face.

JIMMY

    Lilith was like a child. Capricious, loud, but ultimately helpless and desperate. All the while Dean was gone, she pressed him with questions, wanting to know how to take care of her siren, and what he was saying. It was becoming obvious she legitimately cared for him. Lucifer himself seemed less grumpy and didn't stop expressing his thankfulness to Jimmy for saving his life and Jimmy didn't translate his snarky comments to Lilith. She may have almost killed someone with her neglect but she still owned the place and Jimmy intended to get out of there with Dean and him both alive.

    "I don't even really want to go back to the open waters, you know. I'm to used to solitary life, but I wish I could have my privacy. I can't even leave the tank to shake my legs on solid ground when she's not around."

Jimmy shot him a curious look.

"When a siren is dry, we take human form. Don't tell her that, I don't want her to see me like that."

Lilith was looking at him expectantly.

"Maybe add a curtain for his privacy, he likes to have control over his own space," Jimmy fabulated.

He knew he said the good thing when Lucifer nodded gratefully at him with the closest thing to a smile he could manage.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Dean sneaking behind Lilith to leave the place.

"Well, it's been good to be here, I'll be going now, but trust that I'll be around to make sure Lucifer is well, and all."

He left the room under Lilith’s baffled stare, trying to look as inconspicuous as he could manage.

No one stops them on their way out but Jimmy only allowed himself to breathe when Dean started the Impala.

"You got it?"

Dean's answering smile was blinding.

"Cozy in my pocket. We can now get back to Rowena..."

Dean took a deep breath, suddenly seeming out of sorts.

"I'm going to meet my brother, and officially become a Gemini... Will you think any differently of me?"

Jimmy stares at him for a few minutes. Would he think different of Dean when he would get rid of his humanity for good? Cas and he hadn't been around another of their species since their aunts died.

"Yes, I will. Humans suck. When you're not human anymore, maybe I'll actually start liking you."

Both Jimmy and Dean knew this was a joke. Dean had become the best friend Jimmy had ever had outside of his brother and they both already liked him more than reason. Dean didn't know that last part, of course.

Rowena had been waiting for them. She was still in her gown but her desk looked completely different. Less 'head of a criminal family' and more '300 years old witch'.

"Nice setup," he commented. "Not quite the swamp I was picturing."

Rowena's face scrunched up as if she had sucked on a lime.

"Please, James, my kind left those damp, stinky hell holes centuries ago. We also managed to find spells to help with our... Aesthetic condition..."

Jimmy shuddered. He had seen pictures of what swamp witches really looked like and was so glad that wasn't what he was subjected to right then.

"Now, Dean, I am going to call on your brother's soul and trap him in this pendant." She was holding a horned bronze amulet in the palm of her hand. "As soon as he's in here, you'll wear it on your chest and I'll bond the two of you with Gemini blood and pixie dust, do you understand?"

Dean was laser focused on Rowena's words and Jimmy hoped it was a good sign. The witch took Dean's wrist in one hand and the amulet in the other. The words that came out of her mouth next came from a language so ancient Jimmy had no knowledge of it. The room was cool but Dean's forehead was covered in sweat. Jimmy refrained from wiping it off.

Jimmy didn't expect the pendant to shine so brightly when it did and lost his vision for a few seconds before the dark spots disappeared from his eyes and he witnessed Dean's awed expression as he looked down his chest.

"I have a twin brother in there?" His voice was so fragile Jimmy knew he was witnessing a moment of rare vulnerability from his friend.

Knowing he had to change the subject to save Dean from all those feelings he was allergic to, he turned to the witch. "You said you needed my blood?"

Rowena looked at him like the cat that got the cream and caught the hilt of a knife between her tiny fingers. Next to him, Dean tensed up.

"Don't you have a syringe for this kind of thing?"

"This is witchcraft, not surgery," she retorted and Jimmy swallowed difficulty.

He uncovered his arm, trying to relax and just let it happen as she slashed across his forearm, and let his blood drip in a bronze bowl.

Soon, it was over, and Rowena was pouring a tiny amount of pixie dust in it.

"Why did you need so many if you're gonna use so little?" Dean complained.

Rowena shrugged. "There is many more spell where this can get useful, you know? Now remove your shirt."

"What the hell?"

She didn't answer, fixating him with a placating gaze. Dean reluctantly undressed and Jimmy allowed his eyes to roam over his freckles covered skin. Those last few months, Dean had been burnt, hit and stabbed, but all the scars and bruises only added to the pure sex appeal he exuded. Jimmy shook his head to get back to the moment and noticed Rowena had a long steel needle in her hand that she was burning with a candle.

"What's the sharp edge for?" Dean asked aggressively.

Rowena dismissed him with the wave of her hand. "If you want the bond to hold it needs to be... Skin deep."

DEAN

Rowena intended to tattoo him. This wasn't part of the plan. He grabbed the closest thing his right hand could find, namely Jimmy's arm. The fucker was looking so smug.

"Scared of needles Winchester?"

"Do I look scared?" he retorted.

"Honestly, yeah," the Gemini answered.

"Hush now boys," Rowena said while rubbing alcohol to Dean's left pectoral. "This is but a tiny sigil, it'll take... Two hours tops."

" Two hours? ", Dean managed to say before Rowena planted her blood covered needle in his chest.

The hellish stinging sensation went on for way too long according to Dean. Jimmy was very much amused by that.

"Come on, big and strong hunter, you got burned by a hell hound and let a hydra bite you multiple times on purpose but a tattoo’s got you squirmish?"

"I can kill a hound, I can fight a hydra, but how do save yourself from a tattoo?" Dean whined in answer.

"You could always ask me to stop," Rowena chimed in.

"No. I gotta do it. For Cas."

When Dean turned back to Jimmy, he saw the Gemini had sobered drastically. Dean let go of his arm to catch his hand and held it tight. Jimmy gave him a small grateful smile and Dean kind of wanted to kiss him and that was kind of fucked up, and-

"Almost done! I just need to fill it..."

Dean got back to his chest, a much-needed distraction. The design looked like a star in a circle of flame.

"Once you're done I'll be able to talk to my brother?"

"I have no idea," Rowena confessed. "Your situation is kind of unheard of."

So Dean closed his eyes, trying to ignore both the pain over his heart and the warmth of Jimmy's hand still in his.

He immediately knew when Rowena was done. Like a switch in his head, he felt a presence, occupying half his mind space and Dean wondered what used to be there. Was half of his mind missing all this time and he just never knew? Gently, he tried prodding at the presence and it felt it tense immediately. No words came from it but he could feel the distress leaking from it in heavy waves.

"Dean."

He snapped his eyes back open and stared into Jimmy's blue gaze.

"Rowena says you should try shifting to seal the bond. Do you think you can do it?"

"How do I do that?"

"It's like ordering your arm to move. Try it." Jimmy's voice was so cautious, like he was trying not to scare him or something.

Well, Dean wasn't a wounded bird, he could shift if he wanted to.

Letting go of Jimmy, he got up to stand in the middle of the room and thought real hard 'let's shift!'.

And, oh, what an odd sensation. Like standing up after you sat on your leg for hours. Dean focused on the tingling sensation and almost didn't notice the noise inside his head like someone was crying.

'Hello?' he tried.

The crying stopped. 'Dean? Is that you?'

'Yeah, it's me. Are you my brother?'

'I don't know who I am, I spent all those years on the edge of your conscience, everything was blurry and muted but all of a sudden everything went so bright and loud and it hurts.'

'Oh, well, buddy, I guess you got born today. You never really had the occasion before now. Do you even have a name?'

'Why would I have a name, nobody ever gave me one.'

Dean took a few seconds to ponder about this. 'Do you want me to give you one? I mean, it might end up being a stupid name, but I could try.'

'That would be very nice of you if you don't mind.'

Dean felt really dumb. He had never thought of having children of his own once he got over ten, and even then, the name he had thought about was...

'I like this one,' his unnamed brother interrupted.

'Which one?'

'The one you just thought. Zepp. It suits me. I did like it when you hummed their songs in your head.'

If he had cheeks left, Dean would have blushed in embarrassment.

'Okay, Zepp. Welcome to the world.'

A nudging on his shoulder brought him back to reality and he looked up. Jimmy was staring down at him with a perplexed expression.

"What's wrong, Jim-Jam?"

"You... Are very tall. And large. For a Gemini at least. Also, you have horns."

Dean tried to frown.

"What does that mean?"

"I think you are not one hundred percent Gemini, Dean. If I didn't know any better I might say you have draconic descent."

Chapter Text

SAM

    Dean and Jimmy still weren’t back and he was starting to get worried. He wanted to call them, but who knew what kind of situation they were in? A phone call could be disastrous.

    “Come on, Sammich,” Gabe said from where he was lounging on Sam’s bed, “Don’t worry. They can handle themselves. And Rowena is mostly friendly.”

    “It’s the mostly part that I’m worried about,” Sam responded.

    “Look,” Gabe began, “It’s my brother’s life that’s resting on this plan as well as your friend’s. But me, or you, being all nervous and freaking out or whatever isn’t helping anyone.”

    “I know, I know,” Sam mutters, running his hands through his hair, “I just know that sometimes Dean acts without thinking and fucks things up.”

     Gabe snorts. “I know a thing or two about impulsive brothers.” Before Sam could respond, Dean and Jimmy opened his door.

     “Come on. We’re drawing up a battle plan in the war room,” Dean called and then headed down the hallway. Sam sighed in relief. They were safe.

     “Finally,” Gabe declared and hopped off of the bed. Sam followed the shorter man all the way to the war room where Mary, Jo, Dean, and Jimmy were gathered. Surprisingly, Bobby, Ellen, Kevin, and a few extra gunners were there as well.

    “Do they know…” Sam started, gesturing at Bobby and Ellen. Mary nodded before he could finish.

    “I thought it would be best to get some extra back up. And your little friend here,” she motioned to Kevin, “was found knocking on the front door and asking if you’d found Cas. When I said no, he was very insistent that he be allowed to help.”   Kevin smiled sheepishly and looked at Sam who smiled and nodded his head at him.

    “Okay, now,” Dean said, looking a bit like he was pretending not to have a migraine, “We know from Jimmy that the place is heavily guarded. We assume by both men and creatures. This is not a takeover. It’s a rescue mission. Focus on finding Cas and getting him out. Jimmy and I’ll take care of Naomi. She’ll tell you your specific jobs,” Dean pointed at Mary. He stepped away from the table and motioned for Sam to follow him.

    “Sam, I need you to do something for me,” Dean said.

   “Okay. What do you need?” Sam asked, watching Jimmy join them and stand a little closer to Dean than Sam thought was absolutely necessary.

    “Mom’s gonna be focused on taking Naomi’s stronghold, no matter what I say. Naomi has caused us plenty of grief and I’m sure Mom would love to take her out of the game. I need you, and Kevin if you can rope him in, to be focused on Cas, okay? Even if we can’t get past Naomi, you need to get Cas out. I need you to promise me that,” Dean looked up at Sam, and Sam could see the desperation in his eyes, even though he tried to hide it.

    “Of course,” Sam said, holding back from putting a hand on Dean’s shoulder. His brother wasn’t overly fond of what he’d call ‘chick flick moments’. “He’s my friend too and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him.”

    “Anything more , you mean,” Jimmy muttered, looking ready to murder someone. The noise of movement interrupted their conversation as everyone stood up to collect their supplies and organize themselves.

    “I better go,” Sam said, and then turned back to his brother, “I’ll bring him back for you.” When he got back to the group, Gabe handed him a gun from the stack on the table.

    “Ready to kick some butt, Winchester?” he asked, one eyebrow cocked and a smirk playing around the corners of his mouth.

    “Sure, Gabe,” Sam smiled indulgently at him. Before Sam could react, Gabe reached around and slapped Sam’s butt, winking at him as he did so.

    “Hey!” Sam yelled, “You said kick, not hit. And this isn’t the time for jokes!”

    “You’re right,” Gabe said, a look of sadness passing over his face, soon replaced by forced cheer, “But they make this a little more bearable. So why not?”  

    Sam chuckled, “You have a unique outlook, Gabe.”

DEAN

     So we’re going to fight her? Zepp asked, shifting through Dean’s memories of Naomi.

    “Yep,” Dean replied. “But with you here, it’ll be a piece of cake.” He knew he was faking the confidence, and Zepp called him out on it.

     Yes, I can feel exactly how much you believe that, Zepp said sarcastically.

    “Just shut up,” Dean muttered good naturedly as his mother walked over to join him and Jimmy.

    “Dean, I’ve called in a favor from Abaddon that I think you’ll find useful,” Mary said and led Dean over to a rather large, black box. “I want you to use this on Naomi the moment you see her. Catch her off guard, okay?” She opened the box to reveal a beautiful, hand-held rocket launcher. Dean’s eyes widened.

    “Now that’ll take the bitch down at least a few notches,” Dean said reaching out a hand to touch it. “Please tell me Abaddon is letting us keep it.”

    “It wasn’t that big of a favor,” Mary replied, smiling softly at him. Then she leaned over and hugged Dean, who stiffened awkwardly for a moment before hugging her back with one arm. “I know you care about Cas very much, but I care about you. Make sure you get out alive, okay?”

    “Sure, Mom,” Dean said. He felt a wave of sadness from Zepp.

     That’s the first hug I’ve had from my mother, he explained. Dean tried to throw what he hoped were positive thoughts towards him while listening to Mary.

     “You’ll use the rocket launcher on the doors and then follow Jimmy to where he thinks she keeps her prisoners. If I know Naomi, that’s the room she’ll run to defend. We’ll keep the guards off of you and try to get to the command center. If we’ve taken it and you still haven’t returned, we’ll send a team after you. If you do find him, Ellen and Kevin will be waiting in the truck to give medical attention, cause god knows what Naomi has done to him.”

    “Awesome,” Dean said and hefted the rocket launcher. Mary smiled, patted him on the arm, and walked down the hallway towards the exit.

    “You ready?” Jimmy asked.

    “Hell, yes,” Dean replied.

     Absolutely, Zepp said simultaneously.

    When they got to Naomi’s castle, it was dark and Zepp was nervous so Dean was nervous. At least that’s what he was telling himself. Jimmy was huddling close to him, glaring at the doors and muttering curses under his breath.

    “Don’t worry. We’ll get him back,” Dean reassured Jimmy, putting his hand on his shoulder. Dean stiffened, suddenly realizing that with how close Jimmy was standing, it was kind of like he was hugging him and immediately moved to pull his hand away. Jimmy’s hand flashed up and held it in place.

    “Yeah, we will,” he said, “But just in case something doesn’t work out…” he trailed off and leaned closer to Dean. Dean was trying very hard to look anywhere but those beautiful chapped lips cause that would be totally inappropriate except… Jimmy seemed to be staring at his. Dean took a sharp breath in and stayed very still.

    He felt the ghost of a breath along his cheek and then soft lips were pressing against his. Dean’s hand gripped Jimmy’s shoulder tighter and pulled him a little closer, but then Jimmy was pulling away, taking the warmth with him. Dean’s mouth popped open and he couldn’t find a single word to say, even though dozens of questions were flying around in his head.

    What about Cas? Wasn’t Jimmy with him? Didn’t they kind of hate him because of the collars? Was this a one-time thing? Please let this not be a one-time thing.

     Shush and just enjoy it, Zepp complained. Dean frowned and tried to do just that, but his mind kept on worrying.

    Jimmy gave him a little, inscrutable smile and then looked over Dean’s shoulder. Dean followed his gaze and saw Jo stalking over to him.

    “Dean, when you’re ready,” she whispered in his ear. Everyone was in position, ready for Dean to blow open the door. His lips still tingling and his mind still racing, he trained the rocket launcher on the doors, braced himself, and pulled the trigger. There was confused shouting from the guards inside and Jo led her team, jumping into the castle with a shout.

    Dean stood and ran to the doors, trying to slip past without any guards following them. Jimmy pushed past him in his Gemini form.

     This way, he said. And while this was totally not the time, Dean was suddenly extremely happy that one of the perks of being a full blown Gemini was being able to hear the twins in both of their forms. A scream from a guard with a fresh bullet wound in his leg pulled Dean back to reality. He hurried after Jimmy, listening for any signs of approaching guards.

    After several turns, Dean heard the stamping of feet. Jimmy crouched down, ready to fight. Dean dropped the rocket launcher in exchange for a pistol. Luckily, there were only four men. Dean shot two, one in the knee and the other in the stomach, while Jimmy… mauled the other two.

     I know you like him, Zepp commented, But I think he may need some anger management.

     “How would you feel if your twin brother and the love of your life was being experimented upon,” Dean muttered as he scooped up the launcher and chased after Jimmy.

    “Wait! Jimmy!” Dean called, stopping the Gemini in his tracks. Dean pointed to a sign pointing to the right which read ‘Lab Animals’. Jimmy growled low in his throat and sprinted down the hall. Dean ran after him, barely keeping up when suddenly he rounded a corner and almost collided with Jimmy who was standing stock still and snarling ferociously. Dean looked past and saw Naomi casually leaning against the wall; a black door labeled ‘LABORATORY ANIMALS’ behind her; and Cas, coiled and ready to pounce, beside her.

     “Cas!” Dean called, relieved because he didn’t seem to be injured. Naomi chuckled.

    “He won’t respond to you,” she said, “He’s mine now. Kill them, Gemini.” Dean’s eyes darted between Naomi and Cas before he dropped the rocket launcher and kicked it behind him. He couldn’t use it on Naomi without hurting Cas. Jimmy sprung at Naomi but was tackled by Cas midair. Dean stared in horror for a second until he noticed Naomi walking towards him.

     “Let’s do this, Zepp,” Dean hissed and focused on morphing.

    “You Winchesters never learn. So stubborn. Don’t you remember that you have no hope of beating… me...” Naomi’s smug smile fell off of her face as she watched Dean morph into a Gemini; pure muscle, teeth, and claws. He lunged at Naomi, aiming for her throat, but she punched him out the air just in time. He landed on his feet, skidding just slightly. Jimmy and Cas tumbled into the wall next to him, Cas furiously trying to get his teeth around Jimmy’s neck and Jimmy doing as absolutely little as he could and not be eaten alive.

    His attention was ripped away from the twins by the sound of rushing air. He only just managed to avoid a sharp in the stomach from Naomi. He jumped to the side and circled her, keeping low to the ground.

     Go for her ankles, Zepp suggested, If she can’t stand she can’t really fight.

    A snarl ripped out of Dean’s throat and he leapt forwards, allowing himself to crash down at the last minute. Naomi’s open fist grabbed nothing but air as Dean latched his jaws around her left ankle. He could feel the strangely tough skin break under his teeth and the salty taste of blood wash over his tongue.

    Snap it, Zepp said. Dean bit down harder, feeling the crunch of bone as Naomi screamed and fell to the ground. He let go and pounced on top of her, ready to claw at her throat. She thrust her chest upwards, causing him to topple onto his side. Pain flared up his left foreleg. Naomi was on all fours in front of him. Her bun was almost completely unraveled, but her teeth were bared in a snarl and she obviously still had a lot of fight left in her.

    Dean stood and jumped to the side, trying to get behind her faster than she could turn. When she immediately faced him head on, it was obvious that wasn’t going to work. He swiped at her with his paw, but she grabbed it with one hand, squeezing hard enough that Dean had to suppress a whimper. He pulled it back and it almost collapsed under him before he managed to steady himself. Somewhere to his right, Jimmy and Cas broke something in their struggle. Dean couldn’t think about them right now.

    Dean circled to Naomi’s left. She matched his every move. Then suddenly, she darted forwards and both her hands were around his neck. He tried to shake her off, but she just held on, letting herself be thrown around. Dean was panicking. He couldn’t breathe. Zepp was panicking as well and it made this so much more terrifying. Then Dean heard an awful sound, the most horrible noise he’d ever heard. Jimmy screamed.

    Dean saw red and then gave into to Naomi’s grip, allowing her to choke him and wrap her body around him. With his vision going black around the edges, he rolled over and let his full weight crush Naomi. The grip on his neck let up. He didn’t any take time to appreciate it. Instead, he flipped back onto his feet and ripped his claws through Naomi’s throat, nearly severing her head and sending blood flying everywhere. Then he dashed over to Jimmy and Cas.

     Cas had his teeth around Jimmy’s throat and blood was leaking out, but Cas seemed frozen in place, not attacking, but not backing off either. Jimmy looked desperately at Dean who promptly gripped the top of Cas’s mouth and pried him off of Jimmy’s neck. Jimmy darted away from Cas, watching him warily. Cas was just standing there, trembling, small snarls dying on his lips before they could really come out.

    “Cas, buddy, you okay?” Dean asked cautiously. Something in Cas seemed to snap and he leapt at Dean, teeth and claws both headed for his throat. Dean jumped to the side, letting Cas fly past him. Cas skid to a stop and just stood still, panting.

    “Cas, just lemme get close and I can get that collar off, okay?” Jimmy asked and edged towards his brother. Cas growled and almost swiped at Jimmy, but stopped short.

Chapter Text

 CAS

    Cas knew the moment the siren venom stopped working. He was clear-headed and he… had his mouth around Jimmy’s neck! He tried to let go, to jump back and apologize, but he couldn’t. The binding collar was telling him to kill his brother. When the new Gemini came and pried his jaws off of Jimmy, it was such a relief. But then they were just standing there, perfect targets. He could take them out so easily.

    “Cas, buddy, you okay?”

    Before Cas knew it, he was in the air, eager to bite down on this unknown Gemini’s throat. Luckily, he dodged Cas. Cas stood there, locking all his muscles in place. He would not kill his brother! He wouldn’t kill anybody.

    “Cas, just lemme get close and I can get the collar off, okay?” A growl felt like it was ripped from him and he lost control for a second, regaining it just in time to avoid clawing Jimmy.

     “Dean!” he heard Jimmy say. He glanced up and saw Jimmy motioning vaguely. Dean was here? Where was he? He didn’t want to hurt Dean either. He carefully lowered himself to the ground, closed his eyes, and locked his muscles in place. The more steps he had to take to hurt Jimmy or Dean, the better. He trembled once (footsteps to his right), twice (a voice behind him), and then something relaxed in the back of his mind. He heard a snapping noise and opened his eyes to see the shattered pieces of his binding collar falling to the ground.

    “Dean? Did you get it off?” Jimmy asked.

    “I didn’t touch it,” the other Gemini answered. Cas glanced back at… Dean? But he wasn’t a Gemini. And he didn’t have horns.

    “Cas? Did you break that yourself?” Jimmy asked, looking at his brother and approaching slowly.

    “I couldn’t hurt you,” Cas whispered and reached up to touch Jimmy’s neck, “I could have killed you. I am so sorry.”

    “I...I’ve never heard of anyone ever breaking a binding collar by themselves,” the-Gemini-who’s-apparently-Dean said, sounding impressed.

    “I always said you were too stubborn for your own good,” Jimmy said and rubbed up against Cas. He purred, happy to be reunited with his brother.

    “Come on, we’ve got to go. See if the others need help,” Dean said and started to walk down the hallway.

    “Wait!” Cas said, “Adam, he’s here. And there are others who need help.”

    “Back here?” Dean asked, bounding up to the black door.

    “Yes. Naomi should have the keys on her. In one of her pockets.” They all looked at Naomi’s mangled, bloody corpse. Jimmy swallowed loudly, morphed back to human, and then began carefully digging through her pockets. When he found her keys, he tossed them to Dean and then hastily wiped his hands off on his clothes. Cas stared after Dean, admiring the green, brown, and gold pattern covering his scales.

    “Yeah, we definitely have some stuff to talk about,” Jimmy said and slid closer to Cas.

DEAN

    After all these years, Dean was finally going to find Adam. Logically, he could accept that, but he wasn’t feeling like he was about to see his brother again. He was feeling like he was getting ready for disappointment. He passed by cages filled with nymphs, hydras, blood virgins, and hell hounds. He knew that those were brutes who wouldn’t know the difference between him and one of Naomi’s collared monsters, so he decided to free them later. Then he came to the end where the cages weren’t rattling and the monsters weren’t hissing and growling at him. He quickly morphed back to his human form and looked in the first cage.

    A man with rainbow wings was waving one hand in the air as if catching snowflakes. He didn’t seem to notice Dean. Dean went to look in the next cell when someone called from behind him.

    “Dean!? Is that you?”

    “Adam!” Dean cried and fell to his knees in front of his brother’s cage. “I’ve been looking for you for years!” he said, hovering between relief and anger.

    “Yeah, well I didn’t wanna be found for a while. I guess now that my scales are gone…” he reached up and touched his neck.

    “Did Naomi do that to you?” Dean demanded, wishing he could resurrect her so he could make her death more slow and painful. Adam just nodded. Suddenly, Dean remembered the keys and fumbled with them before sticking them in the lock. He pulled the door open and watched as Adam immediately went to the cage next to his.

    “Samandriel, too,” Adam said and smiled fondly at the long-haired boy sitting calmly in the cell. A little too fondly, Dean thought. He unlocked the cage and then turned to the rainbow bird.

    “Him too?” he asked.

    “Yeah, Balthazar’s harmless. As for all the rest of them… they probably wanna rip your guts out. Best to leave ‘em there,” Samandriel replied.

    “Cool, good to know,” Dean replied absentmindedly, not really being surprised by that information. He opened the cage, but Balthazar just stayed seated, staring up at him.

    “I’ve got him,” Adam waved Samandriel off and hauled Balthazar up.

    “Are you Gabriel?” he asked, “I’ve been dreaming about a Gabriel.”

    “Nope, he’s not,” Dean said, leading them out, “But Gabriel’s waiting for you outside.”

SAM

    The last shot rang in the room and everyone stood in silence, listening for any sign of life, any sign of resistance.

    “I think that’s all of them,” Mary declared and lowered her gun, “Bobby, Jo, you guard those two exits. Sam, go and get Kevin and Ellen. Some of us need medical attention. Gabriel, check on Dean and Jimmy. Take a radio and call if they need back up.” She holstered her gun and looked satisfied, surveying the command center. Sam smiled and jogged out through the maze of passageways. It took a moment to remember the way, but it wasn’t long before he was exiting through the wreckage of Naomi’s doors.

    “Kevin! Ellen! Can I get you to come inside, please? We’ve taken it, so we just need a few patch ups,” he called. The two jumped out of the truck, gathered a few bags, and headed towards Sam.

    “How many injured?” Ellen asked sharply.

    “At least three, I’m not entirely sure. And I’m not sure about Dean and Jimmy. They haven’t come back yet.” Ellen nodded and walked swiftly into the castle, Kevin hurrying after her. In no time at all, they were back with Mary and the others. Jo was ordering who was to receive attention first while Mary examined the logs and records strewn across a table in the center of the room.

    Ellen began treating a bullet wound in Bobby’s shoulder. He hissed and grunted while Ellen just scowled and told him not to be such a baby. Sam switched his attention to Kevin and the way he followed Ellen’s every move. He recognized it as the way he used to follow his mother around. He hoped Kevin had found someone he could look up to.

    “Sam!” Mary called, pulling him from his thoughts, “Gabriel hasn’t radioed and isn’t responding. Go check on him.” He nodded, slightly concerned, and took off at a jog. Two turns later and he found Gabriel, along with a rag tag team of beat up men.

    “Hey, Sam,” Dean said wearily,  “We found Adam.”

    “Adam,” Sam said, a ball of worry that had been growing ever since his little brother had disappeared unraveling in his chest. He stepped forwards and wrapped Adam in a hug. “I’m so glad to have you back.”  

    Adam smiled awkwardly and patted Sam’s arm. “Glad to be back,” he muttered and glanced at a boy with excessively long hair. The boy smiled at him and Adam seemed to relax.

    “Come on,” Sam said, “Mary was worried about you.” He headed towards the command center, lifting the radio to his mouth.  “I found them. Everyone’s okay. And, Mom… they found Adam.”

    “Well that’s a relief,” Mary responded, “I’ll see you when you get back.” Sam clipped the radio back to his belt and looked behind him.

    “So who are you two?” he asked, gesturing to the rainbow bird and the long-haired boy.

    “This is my boyfriend, Samandriel,” Adam said, reaching out to take the other boy’s hand.

    “And this is Balthazar, my brother,” Gabe announced, more hyper than Sam had ever seen him. “Some people say he’s the handsome one, but I’m hoping you disagree,” he said, throwing a wink and a flirtatious smile Sam’s way.

     Ignoring him, Sam nodded to the two newcomers, “Nice to meet you both.”

    Samandriel smiled politely and said, “Adam’s talked about you. I think we’ll get along really well.”

    “Do you have peaches?” Balthazar asked. “They’re my favourite.”

    “Um… at home, yes, but not here,” Sam said, noticing the slightly vacant look in Balthazar’s eyes for the first time.

    “Apparently Naomi wiped his brain. No memory,” Gabriel said, just a sliver of the light being replaced by anger in his eyes, “If the bitch wasn’t already dead, I’d kill her myself.” Balthazar reached out a hand and placed it on his brother’s shoulder.

    “Don’t worry. I will find you lots of beautiful women,” he said seriously. Gabriel snorted and then broke out in laughter.

    “The only beautiful woman I want is 6’ 4” and mouth-wateringly muscular,” Gabe teased.

    “Oh, god,” Dean moaned, “Please stop. I’m going to throw up.” At that, Sam chuckled. He turned around and started walking backwards.

    “I’d love to see that. Come on, Gabe. Keep it up.” He smirked at Dean, who scowled back, and then wiggled his eyebrows at Gabe before facing the front again.

    “Don’t you dare,” Dean growled.

    “Samshine, are you really asking me to flirt with you?” Gabriel asked, ignoring Dean completely.

    “Only if you want to,” Sam said, “And if you don’t I might have to start some of my own.” Sam heard Dean groan and smiled to himself.

    “Well if that isn’t the most convincing argument to stop, I don’t know what is.” At that moment they turned a corner and saw the entrance to the command center.

    “Guess we’re going to have to wait,” Gabe said, “Maybe we could pick it up at 7 pm in that restaurant on 42nd street?”

    “Sounds great, Gabe,” Sam replied. As soon as they entered the room, Ellen and Jo rushed up to the four prisoners and Dean and Jimmy. They seated them down in the corner and Kevin and Ellen began cataloging their wounds. It soon became obvious that Balthazar had no physical injuries, so Kevin was tasked with sitting with him, a task he seemed to be enjoying very much. Dean, of course, refused medical treatment until everyone else had had all of their scrapes bandaged up. Ellen diagnosed him with a sprained shoulder and a bruised neck, but there was nothing much she could do for either.

    Jimmy was a little more beaten up and Cas had a few cuts and scrapes, but on the whole, everyone was okay. Sam felt someone approach him and he glanced over. Mary was standing next to him and scanning the room.

    “Today went as well as we could expect,” she said. “No one died and we didn’t have to make a truce with Naomi.” She focused her gaze on Jimmy and Cas who were hugging each other in relief. “I suppose we’ll have to change the family business now that two non-humans are part of that family.”
    “I was thinking a protection group for the shifters. Working to spread awareness of them and providing a safe place,” Sam suggested. Mary hummed briefly.     

    “Not a bad idea. We’ll see what where that takes us.”