Chapter Text
Castiel hangs up the phone and wipes the tears from his face. If Dean called him, there is still hope that he’s not lost, that he hasn’t turned off his humanity like Adam suggested to him at his birthday party today.
He gets some much needed sleep even though it was a restless one and then he heads over to the Sheriff’s station to talk to Sheriff Mills. Ever since she found out that her daughter, Amanda, is a vampire as well as Dean and Adam, she’s been helpful to them. She still has it ingrained in her that vampires are bad, but she’s slowly learning that some are good.
“Sheriff Mills?” Castiel asks as he stands outside her door.
“Cas, come in. What can I help you with?”
Castiel walks in and shuts the door so they can have a private conversation.
“I think I got a call from Dean last night. I was wondering if you would be able to track it for me.”
“Of course, what’s the number?”
Castiel gives her the number that had appeared on his phone last night and she clicks away at the keys on her computer.
“It looks like the call came from a cell phone tower in Tennessee, near a bar called Southern Comfort.”
“Thanks, Sheriff. I owe you one.”
“Don’t mention it. Dean and Adam have grown on me. Hopefully you can bring him back home safely.”
Castiel nods and tries to call Adam multiple times with no answer, so he opts to just drive over to his house. When he arrives, he finds Adam getting rid of all the evidence he’s gathered over the past few months of where Dean might be.
“I’m sorry about Andie,” Castiel offers.
“Don’t be. I got my brother’s message loud and clear when he killed her. He wants to be left alone.”
“I’m sure Dean had his reasons for killing her. Maybe he was under duress from Gadreel.”
“You can tell yourself that if you want to Cas, but I know the truth. Dean is gone and he’s never coming back.”
“If he were gone, he wouldn’t have called.”
Adam doesn’t answer him, effectively ending the conversation. Castiel has to hold out hope that his boyfriend isn’t lost to him forever. Castiel leaves and heads over to Aaron’s house. Up until last night, he had been helping Adam track down Dean.
Castiel knocks on the door, but Aaron doesn’t respond right away, so he keeps knocking. He can hear movement inside and Aaron grumbling right before he opens the door.
“Cas, what are you doing here?”
Castiel steps inside the room without being invited.
“I want you to tell me everything you know about Dean and Tennessee. I know you and Adam were working together behind my back, but he’s checked out, so I need your help.”
“No, the reason we didn’t tell you is because it’s not safe for you. Dean is off the rails.”
“He might be off the rails, but he’s still holding on to his humanity, which means there’s still a chance he can be saved. He wouldn’t give up on me, so I’m not giving up on him.”
Aaron pauses and just looks at Castiel, thinking about if he wants to answer or not.
“Please, Aaron, tell me what you know.”
“Fine. Gadreel and Dean have been tracking werewolves all up and down the Eastern Seaboard. We think they might have found one.”
“Well, the best way to find out the location of a werewolf is to talk to a werewolf,” Castiel says with a grin and Aaron does not seem like he is on board with this at all. It doesn’t matter though. Castiel is going to move forward with his help or not.
Castiel sends a text to Lee, and he agrees to meet Castiel at the Roadhouse to talk.
“Do you know why Dean and Gadreel would be hunting werewolves?” Castiel asks when Lee finally arrives.
“I can’t say for sure. I do know that most of us like to lock ourselves up during a full moon so we don’t risk hurting anyone. But, there are some who like to go to the woods or mountain regions where there aren’t any other people around and embrace their shift and run freely. Maybe Gadreel wants to do the same and is trying to find a pack to hang with.”
“Would you know of any place in Tennessee that wolves would gather to shift,” Castiel asks him. He’s happy he’s finally getting somewhere.
“Here, give me your phone.” Castiel hands Lee his phone.
“Thank you so much. I know this is asking a lot, so I appreciate your help.”
“Well, as Amanda likes to inform me all the time, Dean is only in this mess because I bit Adam. I figure I owe it to him to help out.”
Lee gives Castiel’s phone back to him and has a map of the Smoky Mountain region pulled up on his phone.
“My guess is if there are wolves in Tennessee, this is where they are,” Lee says.
“Thank you.”
He meets up with Aaron, who had been waiting for him over by the bar.
“What do you feel about taking a little hike through the Smoky Mountains,” Castiel asks Aaron.
“You want to take a hike through the mountains where there is going to be a werewolf pack on a full moon,” Aaron says more bluntly than Castiel would have liked.
“We’ll be out of there before the full moon,” Castiel says. “If you don’t come, I’ll just go by myself.”
Aaron just sighs, “I’m not coming because I agree with you. I’m coming out of a need for self-preservation. Dean and Adam would kill me if they knew I let you go out there alone.”
It takes them about 2 hours to reach their destination and they begin hiking up the mountain.
“We still have a couple hours left of daylight before the moon makes an appearance. That should give us enough time to find Dean and get out before the wolves begin to shift,” Aaron says as they continue walking.
“That sounds easier than it probably is,” Castiel comments as he takes a sip from his water bottle. Aaron stops and places his backpack on the ground, opening it to reveal a ton of weapons. He hands Castiel something that looks like a grenade with liquid in it.
“What’s this, a vervain grenade?” Castiel asks.
“Wolfsbane,” Aaron responds.
Castiel places the grenade in his backpack and pulls out the Shurley ring.
“Since we’re giving gifts, I want you to have this.”
“Chuck gave that to you. I’m a lost cause. No sense on me using it when you should be the one protected.”
“I’m a doppelganger. It won’t work on me. He only gave it to me in case I have kids someday.”
“Then save it for your kids.”
“Please just take it. I wouldn’t feel right if you got killed because I dragged us out here. You can give it back later if you want.”
Aaron finally accepts the gift and Castiel stands by the edge of the ravine to look at the water. “I can’t believe you think you’re a lost cause,” Castiel says right before he finds himself being flung through the air and landing in the water he was just admiring from a distance. When he brushes the water from his eyes and gets over his immediate annoyance of being pushed into the water, he glances up to see Adam standing there.
“Adam, what the hell? How did you even know we were here?” Castiel demands.
“Thanks, brother,” Adam says to Aaron.
“You called him?” Castiel asks Aaron.
“You think I’m going to let us roam around the mountains on a full moon surrounded by werewolves without backup?” Aaron asks.
“Comeon, Cas. Out of the water,” Adam says.
“No, you were the one that threw me in here in the first place and if I get out, you’re going to make me leave.”
“Of course I am. Being out here is stupid.”
Castiel crosses his arms to prove his point that he’s not budging. He had not expected Adam to walk out into the water to try to retrieve him, though.
“You’ve given up on him, Adam. I’m not.”
“I haven’t given up. I just know how to recognize danger when I’m in the middle of it. This mountain is about to be swarming with werewolves. We need to leave now before I end up being werewolf bait.”
“We’ll leave before the full moon. I promise. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
Adam just stands there and he must realize that Castiel isn’t going to change his mind.
“Fine, but the moment the sun goes down, we’re gone, with or without Dean.”
“Fine,” Castiel tells him.
The three of them begin walking and Adam won’t stop his incessant complaining about how they shouldn’t be out here and Castiel tells him that they will be fine.
“The sun will be setting soon, and we still haven’t found Dean,” Adam points out the more they walk.
“The moon still has a couple hours before it reaches its apex. Stop complaining,”
“Why don’t you both stop complaining? You’re like a couple of bickering siblings,” Aaron says.
They reach the top of the peak and hear a noise. Aaron holds out his rifle ready to fire when they see a man walking towards them with blood seeping from his eyes. He sniffs the air.
“Vampire,” he says as he looks at Adam. He runs towards Adam and him and Adam scuffle. Adam wraps his hand around the werewolf’s throat as he pins Adam to a tree. Aaron fires a dart at him, but it doesn’t phase him, so Castiel throws his wolfsbane grenade for Adam to catch. He cracks it open so that it bursts in the werewolf’s face. He screams out in pain and drops to the ground. Adam kicks him and knocks him out.
“Let me guess, hybrid?” Aaron asks.
“Looks that way,” Adam says.
He picks up the werewolf’s unconscious body and begins tying him to the tree with rope laced with wolfsbane. Since he’s a hybrid now, they need to add vervain as well. Castiel is pouring water laced with vervain on some of the ropes.
“Aaron, here take these,” Castiel says as he holds out the ropes. Adam ends up grabbing them instead. They end up burning his hands.
“Ow,” he complains, as he shakes out his hand to relieve the pain.
“I said Aaron,” Castiel clarifies.
“That’s the last of our supplies. If we want to get to the car before the full moon, we need to leave now. I don’t think this will hold him for too long,” Aaron says.
“We won’t have to hurry if we can get him to talk,” Castiel says.
Castiel walks up to him and touches his face to try to wake him. He opens his eyes, and just as Castiel gets ready to speak, they hear his bones cracking and he starts to scream.
“Wait, is he turning?” Aaron asks.
“It’s still daylight. He’s not supposed to be able to shift until the moon is out,” Castiel says.
“Try telling him that,” Aaron says.
“Shit,” Castiel suddenly realizes the gravity of their situation. “Come on, we need to get out of here now. “If hybrids can shift whenever, they are definitely not safe right now.
They start running as the sun begins to set and it gets dark. Unfortunately Castiel doesn’t see the uprooted tree and he trips over it. When he gets on all fours to stand up, he’s staring into the eyes of a werewolf.
“Cas, don’t move,” Adam whispers.
The werewolf is snarling at him and he thinks that he’s about to die.
“Here, doggy,” Adam says and then takes off at lightning speed with the werewolf not far behind him.
“Let’s go, Cas. We need to leave,” Aaron says.
“We can’t just leave Adam.”
“He can take care of himself.”
“If he dies, it’s my fault. I’m the reason he’s out here.”
“No, I’m the reason he’s out here. I called him. Let’s go. He can catch up to us.”
Castiel decides that it’s useless to protest, so he follows Aaron to the car. They’re only there for a few minutes before Adam walks up.
“Are you okay, you’re not hurt are you?”
“No, I’m fine, get in the car so we can go.”
They drive back into town and Aaron drops Adam off at his house before going back to Castiel’s. Castiel gets into the shower to wash away the day and when he walks back into his room, Adam is standing there staring out the window.
“What are you doing here?” Castiel asks.
“I just stopped by to tell you I’m sorry. I thought Dean was gone, but I was wrong.”
“You saw him out there? Is he okay?”
“No, Cas, he’s not okay. He’s an insufferable martyr and he needs to get his ass kicked, but he can be saved.”
“What happened out there? What changed your mind?”
“I changed my mind because even in his darkest place, my brother still can’t let me die. He ripped out the heart of the crazy hybrid that was after me. I figure I owe it to him to help save his life. I’ll help you bring him back.”
“Thank you.”
“But, before I do. I need you to answer one question.”
“What?”
“What made you change your mind?”
“What do you mean?”
“You were so hellbent on staying on that mountain and you just gave up, so what changed your mind?”
“We were under attack, Adam.”
“You had a bag full of weapons and a teacher with an eternity ring. You could have kept going.”
“It was too dangerous.”
“It was too dangerous going out there to begin with, so what was it?”
“Why are you being like this?”
“What changed your mind, Cas?”
“I didn’t want to see you get hurt, okay? I was worried about you.”
“Thanks,” he says as he starts to walk away.
“Yes, I worry about you. Why do you have to hear me say it?”
“Because when I drag my brother from the edge and deliver him back to you, you might not like what I have to do to return him to his humanity, so I want you to remember that you consider me a friend.”
Adam leaves and Castiel isn’t sure he’s ready for what comes next. He already saw Dean at a not so great moment. He hopes this isn’t worse.
Dean doesn’t know how he’s going to get himself out of this mess. Gadreel’s plans to turn werewolves into hybrids has failed miserably. The entire pack that they finally hunted down are all dead now. They either dropped dead on their own or became too feral and Gadreel had to rip out their hearts. Gadreel’s admission that the transformation should have worked because he completed his spell to break his curse hits Dean like a ton of bricks.
He can’t let Gadreel find out that Castiel is still alive and that’s why it didn’t work. They leave the woods and get into the car that Gadreel compelled someone to drive for them and begin driving. Dean doesn’t bother asking where they are going this time. They arrive at their destination 8 hours later and Gadreel offers him a smile when they step out of the car.
“Welcome back to Chicago,” Gadreel says.
“I don’t even remember Chicago. I spent most of my time here blacked out. This was during my Ripper phase.”
“That’s a shame. The details are what make it spectacular. The word is that the Ripper of Monterey got lonely, so he escaped to the city for comfort. It was prohibition. Everything was off limits then, which made everything so much fun.”
His memories are still slightly foggy, but Dean remembers some of what happened during his time in Chicago. He was a little freer then since his humanity had been turned off at that time.
Chicago 1922
Dean thrusts his hips forward as he works himself through his orgasm all while biting into the neck of the gangster lying beneath him. The man moans as he finds his own release, and Dean drains him of his blood. The feeling is exhilarating as he pulls out and tucks himself back into his pants, wiping the blood from his mouth.
He leaves the man in the car for someone else to find. He has better things to do right now. He knocks on the door of the nightclub, one of the many that are hidden from the police and waits to be let inside. He sees Billie up on stage singing as always and she must spot him. He is a frequent flyer here, so they’ve come to know each other very well.
“Look what my eyes just spied, gentleman?” she says as she takes a break from her song. “Looking for a good time, Mr. Winchester?”
“Save me a dance, Billie.”
Dean walks towards the stage and gets ready to grab a drink from a tray as someone walks by, but a woman with dark hair pinned neatly at the nape of her neck and eyes even bluer than Jimmy’s grabs it before he can.
“Oh, please. Help yourself,” he tells her.
“Oh, I always do,” she says as she steps closer. “Be careful, Mr. Winchester. You’re still wearing your date,” she whispers in his ear before licking the corner of his mouth. “He tastes lovely.”
She starts to walk away, but Dean has to know who she is. He hasn’t run across another vampire for at least 20 years. He gently grabs her arm.
“Who are you?”
She presses her finger against her lips. “Shh.” and then she walks away.
Present Day
“I’ll have to take your word for it. I don’t remember much about that time.”
“Well, maybe being back here can jog your memory a little.”
“Why am I still with you? Your hybrid project failed. You don’t really need my help anymore. Why don’t you just release me?” Dean asks, tired of Gadreel’s games.
“We’re not done yet. It’s time for me to go see one of my favorite witches. If there’s something I’m not doing right, she would be the one to figure it out.”
1922
Dean is laughing it up with some of the men who came over to flirt with him. He hasn’t decided which one he’s going to take to bed later. That depends entirely on which one laughs the most at his joke.
“Sorry to crash the fun boys, but some of us actually came here to hear the music, not you,” The dark haired vampire from earlier says as she walks over to their group.
“I am so sorry, sweetheart. Are we offending you?” Dean asks as the men around him laugh.
“It’ll take a lot more than a baby face like this to offend me,” she says as she brushes her hand against his cheek.
“I hate to tell you, but you’re barking up the wrong tree,” Dean tells her, hoping that she isn’t trying to flirt with him.
She smiles and walks away. He follows and grabs her arm, causing her to turn around.
“So, are you ever going to tell me your name?” Dean asks her.
“Sure, when you earn it.” she leans in closer to whisper in his ear. “Now do Billie a favor and shut the fuck up.”
Present Day
“This looks familiar, I’m sure,” Gadreel says as they walk into the club.
“I can’t believe this place is still here,” Dean tells him. It’s been updated over the years, but the bones still look the same.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” a familiar voice says from in the corner.
“So, a hybrid walks into a bar, says to the bartender..” Gadreel begins.
“Stop, you may be invincible, but that doesn’t make you funny,” Billie says as she walks towards them.
Dean looks at her with an inquisitive glance.
“I remember you,” she says.
“Yeah, you’re Billie,” Dean comments.
“Mmhhm.”
“Shouldn’t you be?”
“Old and dead? Now, if I die, who's gonna run this place?”
“Billie is a very powerful witch,” Gadreel tells Dean.
“I can slow the aging down some with herbs and spells, but don’t worry. It’ll catch up to me one day.”
“Dean, why don’t you go fix us up something from behind the bar,” Gadreel says, dismissing Dean.
“Yeah, sure.”
Dean starts mixing a drink and puts his vamp hearing on full strength as he listens to them talk about how the spell might have gone wrong.
“Every spell has its loophole, but a curse that old, we would have to contact the witch who created it.”
“That would be the Original witch,” Gadreel says. “She’s very dead.”
“I know and for me to contact her, I’ll need help.”
Dean puts the bottle down on the bar as one of the pictures hanging grabs his attention. He pulls it down to get a closer look.
“Bring me Hannah,” Billie tells Gadreel.
“Hannah is a bit preoccupied.”
“She has what I need. Bring her to me.”
“What is this?” Dean asks them, not caring about interrupting their conversation as he holds up the picture.
“I told you, Dean. Chicago is a magical place.”
“This is me. With you.” He holds up the picture of the two of them back in 1922. “This doesn’t make any sense. Why don’t I remember you?”
“You said it yourself. That time had a lot of dark holes.”
He follows Gadreel as he walks outside to where the truck is that he insists on keeping Samandriel’s coffin along with the other siblings Dean has never met.
“If you knew me, then why haven’t you said anything?”
“I’m a little busy right now. Memory lane will have to wait.”
Dean grabs his arm to turn him around, “What the hell is going on? Answer me.”
Gadreel removes Dean’s hand from his arm. “Let’s just say we didn’t get off to a brilliant start. To be honest, I hated you.”
Gadreel tells a version of the story that Dean doesn’t remember.
1922
Dean is biting into a woman’s neck, while Hannah is biting the other side. They have become close friends once they got past their initial couple of meetings. He notices a ring hanging from a chain around her neck that must be her daylight ring.
“It’s beautiful.”
“A witch gave it to me,” she tells him.
“It’s late, Hannah, we’re leaving,” Gadreel says as he grabs Hannah’s arm.
“Get off me,” she tells him, pulling her arm from his grasp.
“Who is this guy?” Dean says as he stands up.
“Dean, don’t, he’ll kill you,” Hannah says as she stands between the two men. “He’s a lot stronger than he looks.”
“So this is the famous Dean Winchester I’ve been hearing so much about. You’re right, Hannah. He does have funny hair. I’m bored. I want to go.”
“Then go without me. I’m not your girlfriend.”
“No, but you’re my sister, which means you have to do as I say.”
Present Day
“Your sister? So I knew another original vampire?” Dean asks, still not really grasping any of this.
Gadreel walks over to one of the coffins and lifts the lid to reveal Hannah with a dagger in her chest wearing the same clothes she had on in 1922.
“I don’t recognize her,” Dean says after getting a good look at her.
“Don’t tell her that. Hannah’s temper is worse than mine,” Gadreel says as he pulls the dagger from her chest. “Time to wake up little sister,” Gadreel says as they both stare down at her, waiting for the spell that keeps the Originals temporarily dead with the dagger in their chest to wear off.
“Well, while we wait for her to wake up, why don’t you really tell me why I’m still here. What exactly do you still need me for?” Dean wants to know.
“Be patient, Dean. All will reveal itself in due time. I do admit though that I learned some of my best tricks from you.”
1922
Dean is sitting at a table at the nightclub talking with Gadreel and Hannah.
“So, what makes you worthy to be friends with my sister, Dean. She’s an Original vampire, pure blood and you’re nothing but a mutt so to speak,” Gadreel asks him.
“Hannah is a lot like me. She likes to indulge in the finer things in life. We can paint this town red if we truly wanted to,” Dean answers.
Hannah adds, “I will admit that I was a little sad when Dean informed me that I’m not his type, but being friends isn’t that bad I suppose.”
They are interrupted by a man angrily walking up to their table.
“What have you done to my wife?” he asks Dean and Dean thinks that the man is going to have to be more specific. He’s fed on a lot of women and men in the last few days.
“And which one is your wife?”
“You know which one. If you don’t leave her alone, I’m going to call Chicago PD to have you arrested.”
The three vampires laugh because it’s an absurd thought that the police will be able to do anything to them. Then, speaking of the devil, Lyla comes walking up the stairs towards them.
“Lyla, can you come here for a minute please?”
The man looks over.
“Thank goodness. Comeon, hon, let’s get out of here,” the man says as he tries to usher Lyla away, but Dean grabs the man’s arm and compels him.
“Have a seat,” Dean tells him and the man sits opposite Dean as Dean coaxes Lyla to sit next to him. He grabs a pocket knife from his pocket and holds Lyla’s hand over an empty glass, cutting her wrist so that her blood drains into the glass. Once it’s full enough he compels her to leave them and go bandage up her wrist. Dean slides the drink closer to the other man.
“Go ahead. Drink up.”
“You’re sick,” the man says.
“I said, drink,” Dean compels him.
The man lifts the glass to his lips and takes a sip, gagging as it goes down.
“I don’t believe I caught your name.”
“Go to hell,” the man says.
“Do you want another drink?”
“Liam, Liam Grant.”
“Thank you, now go ahead and drink the rest. Bottoms up.”
The three vampires giggle amongst themselves as they watch the human drink the glass full of his wife’s blood.
Present Day
“What is the point of all this?” Dean says as he follows Gadreel to the entrance of the warehouse where he talks to one of the men guarding the entrance.
“When she wakes up, you’re going to tell her to meet me at Billie’s bar and then you’re going to offer her your carotid artery so that she can feed until you are dead,” Gadreel tells the man.
The man just nods.
Dean and Gadreel keep walking towards the car that waits outside.
“You still don’t believe that we knew each other, I can tell. So, I’m going to prove it to you. When you were here last, you shared one of your secrets with me.”
“Where are we going?” Dean asks.
“To your old apartment,” Gadreel says as he climbs into the backseat of the car.
When they arrive at the door of the apartment Dean rented when he lived here all those years ago, they notice that the doorknob is missing and the door has been opened.
“Is someone here?” Gadreel asks Dean as they walk inside.
“This place has been vacant for decades. People must break in all the time.”
Dean does sense that someone is here, but it could just be his imagination. It’s been so long since he’s held Castiel that it could just be his mind playing tricks on him. His scent seems to be all over this room.
“I always wondered why you wanted to know Liam’s name, but then you told me your deepest, darkest secret. You keep track of the names of all your victims…” Gadreel says.
“So, I can relive the guilt of killing them,” Dean finishes the sentence for him. Dean always comes back here to write the name down so he doesn’t forget.
Gadreel walks over to the bookcase which is hiding a secret passage to a closet. He opens the door and motions for Dean to step inside as he waits in the room. Dean turns the corner, and it turns out that his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. Castiel is standing there holding one of his journals right in front of the wall that holds the list of all the people he has killed over the years.
Dean wants nothing more than to pull Castiel close to him and give him the birthday gift he didn’t have the chance to give him, but Gadreel is in the room and he can’t know that Castiel is still alive. Dean pulls him close and kisses him quietly, Castiel going pliant in his arms. He’s missed him so much and he hopes that Castiel will be able to forgive him for everything that he has done these past few months. He leans back from the kiss.
“Look what I found,” Dean announces to Gadreel, Castiel with a look of betrayal on his face, but Dean reaches for a bottle of scotch.
“Let’s find someone to drink with,” Gadreel says as they leave. They make their way back to Billie’s bar. She pours them each a drink.
“I thought you were bringing Hannah to me,” Billie says.
“Be patient, Billie. I can’t just conjure her up. You know Hannah, she likes to make an entrance,” Gadreel tells her.
Billie walks away and Dean has grown tired of Gadreel’s games.
“So, this is why you wanted me to be your wingman? Because you liked the way I tortured innocent people?” Dean asks.
“That’s only part of it. I liked the way you tortured people, but you also liked being my wingman,” Gadreel admits as he slides a shot of whiskey towards Dean.
1922
“You know why your family abandoned you?” Dean asks Gadreel. “It’s because they’re jealous. They can never be what you are.”
“An abomination?” Gadreel says.
“No, a king.”
They tap their glasses together before taking a shot.
“You’re a good friend, Gad, I just want you to know that.” Dean says. “I’m glad I met you.”
Present Day
Gadreel just gives Dean a smile and he has a hard time believing that he was ever friends with this vampire, but the proof is in the memories that Gadreel keeps feeding to him.
“So, I’m confused. If we were such good friends, why do I only remember you as the hybrid dick who sacrificed my boyfriend on an altar of fire?” Dean asks.
“All good things must come to an end,” is the only answer Gadreel gives.
1922
Dean and Hannah are dancing together, scoping out the dancefloor trying to see who they can snack on before they call it a night.
“What about that one over there?” Hannah says. “He seems like your type.”
“I prefer feeding on women. I usually only feed on men if I plan on fucking them as well,” Dean tells her.
“Well, maybe we can find a woman to share. I have the same philosophy. Women are much more delicious than men.” Hannah says as she smiles at him.
Before they have a chance to continue their conversation, bullets start flying around the room.
“Chicago PD,” they hear a voice say in the distance.
Everyone starts running towards the exit and Dean and Hannah duck behind the bar. Dean picks up a stray bullet that’s lying on the floor.
“These are all wooden. The police know we’re vampires.”
Hannah has a look of fear on her face as she says, “He knows we’re here.”
“Are you hiding from someone?” Dean asks.
Gadreel interrupts them as he pulls them towards the exit.
“My necklace,” he hears Hannah exclaim and he sees it lying on the floor. He reaches to pick it up, but Gadreel stops him and looks him in the eyes.
“I hate to do this, but it’s for our protection. You’re going to forget ever meeting me and Hannah until I tell you to remember. I truly am sorry for this. You made me remember what it was like to have a brother.”
Present Day
“So, you compelled me to forget you,” Dean says as a statement more than a question.
“It was time for me and Hannah to move on. Better to start over with a clean slate.”
“Bullshit. You were running from something. What would two vampires who can’t be killed be so afraid of that they have to cover their tracks?” Dean asks.
“Storytime is over,” Gadreel states.
Dean glances over at the exit to see his brother of all people standing there motioning for him to come outside.
“I need a drink, a real one.”
Gadreel dismisses him and Dean walks outside. He sees his brother standing there so he pushes him against the building.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Dean growls at him.
“You kill my girlfriend one day and then you save me the next. What are you, good or bad, I can’t tell.” Adam answers.
“Gadreel almost discovered Cas today. You need to get him out of Chicago.”
“Don’t you think I’ve tried that? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your boyfriend is stubborn. He won’t stop trying to save you until he has you checked into vampire rehab.”
“Cas is the key to everything. Gadreel can’t make any new hybrids because Cas is still alive. His witch is seconds away from discovering that. You need to get him out of here before something happens.”
“He just wants to talk to you first,” Adam says as both vampires look over to see Castiel standing a few feet away wearing Dean’s favorite blue shirt.
“I’ll distract Gadreel. You have five minutes,” Adam says before walking back into the bar.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Dean tells Castiel as he walks over to him.
“Where else would I be? I miss you,” Castiel says.
Castiel pulls him close and places a tender kiss against his lips. They hold onto each other and Castiel whispers, “Come home,” in Dean’s ear.
Dean feels Castiel move his arm closer to Dean’s back and Dean backs up to grab hold of Castiel’s arm to see him holding a syringe filled with vervain.
“How much clearer do I have to be? I don’t want to come home.”
Castiel drops the syringe on the ground.
“You don’t mean that,” the dark haired man says.
“Gadreel can’t make hybrids because you’re still alive. What do you think is going to happen to you when he discovers that you’re not dead?” Dean asks.
“You don’t need to protect me Dean. I just want you to come home, so we can be together.”
“I have left bodies from Florida to Tennessee. Innocent people who didn’t deserve to die. I’m not worth saving anymore.”
“I read in your journal that Charlie found you like this before and she helped you. Maybe if you call her, she can help you again.”
“Yeah, she helped me and then I spent the next 30 years pulling myself back together. For a vampire, that’s nothing, but that’s half your life, Castiel. That part of my life is over. We’re over. Stop trying to bring me back home. I don’t want to see you again.”
Dean tries to ignore the tear sliding down Castiel’s cheek as he walks away. The tears slide down his own face as it hits him what he’s walking away from. He loves Castiel more than his own life, but he won’t drag him down with all the damage he’s caused. He deserves to live a normal human life with someone who isn’t a monster.
Adam is already gone by the time Dean walks back into the club to meet up with Gadreel again.
“I’m going to see if Hannah is awake yet, you wait outside until I tell you to come in.” Gadreel tells him.
Dean hears Hannah and Gadreel arguing and then Gadreel yells for Dean to walk in. When Dean walks in, he gets a glimpse of Hannah, but nothing about her seems familiar. Gadreel walks up to Dean and looks him in the eye.
“Now, you can remember,” Gadreel compels him.
Everything comes flooding back and he remembers how close he was with the Original vampires in the early 1920’s.
“Billie needs to have a word with you, sister. She says you have what she needs to communicate with the original witch.”
“Yes, my necklace,” Hannah says as she feels her neck, but doesn’t find what she’s looking for. “Where’s my necklace?”
“Tell me, that’s not what she needs?” Gadreel asks.
The two continue to argue as a memory comes back to Dean of the necklace that Dean found lying on the floor of the club all those years ago, the very necklace holding a ring that now sits on Castiel’s finger. He also remembers a police officer holding up a drawing of Gadreel and Hannah asking him if he had seen them. At the time Dean had answered no honestly since he had been compelled to forget.
Why would a police officer have a sketch of them? Who were they running from all those years ago? Dean can’t remember the name on the police officer’s uniform, but he remembers it started with a B. Dean hopes he can get to the bottom of this, because if there is something Gadreel and Hannah are afraid of, there’s no hope for any of them.