Broken, a Destiel Story

Part 12

Sam and Dean were sitting at one of the tables in the bunker when they saw Gabriel and Castiel enter the room.

"Hey," Sam said, standing up. "Cas, you look better," he said, noticing the angel's wings.

Dean didn't say anything. In fact he didn't even look at Cas, just stared at his beer bottle.

Sam looked at Dean, waiting for him to speak, or to at least acknowledge Gabriel and Castiel's presence, but he didn't. "So," he said, turning back to the angels, "we gonna work on this spell or what?"

"First things first, Sasquatch," Gabriel said. "Cas needs a sling of some sorts for his wing. You guys got something around here we can use?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure we can find something," Sam said. "I'll be right back." He left the room and came back a minute later with some pieces of torn up bed sheet. He handed it to Gabriel. "I know it's not exactly hospital grade but it should do the trick."

Sam noticed, the entire time that Gabriel was wrapping the make shift sling around Castiel's wing, under his arm, and around his torso, that Cas was trembling, his eyes closed, and he was taking deep breaths, in and out. And it made him even angrier at Dean who still wouldn't even look at the angel.

"There we go," Gabriel said when he was finished. He pulled out a chair for Castiel to sit down in and turned back to the brothers. "So, you guys want me to help you find this Fruit from the Tree of Life, and the Seal of Solomon, plus use my angel grace to get that rift open," he summed up.

"Yeah, pretty much," Sam said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Wait, you . . . found a way to open a rift?" Cas said weakly. His wings were better but they were still aching. And he felt cold without his shirt and trench coat. He felt a bit awkward too, having his bare chest exposed in the giant open room. On the plus side, he had made it through getting the sling on and having his wings touched without flinching or trying to pull away from Gabriel, so that was a step in the right direction. He had been trembling the whole time, trying to keep visions of Uriah out of his head, and he'd thought of humanity. Their beauty and brilliance, their resilience and courage. He'd thought of their passion and strength, and creativity, and it had carried him through the fear and anxiety.

"Yeah," Sam said with enthusiasm, and hope, showing Cas the book they'd found the spell in. The angel looked it over.

"Blood of a Most Holy Man?" he questioned. "Interesting." He handed the book back to Sam and wrapped his arms around himself, shivering now from the cold.

"Cas, I'm so sorry," Sam said, noticing. "Here," he grabbed a blanket and cautiously, carefully draped it over the angel's back and shoulders, covering his wings. He noticed Cas tense up a little bit as the blanket touched him, but then he relaxed again, realizing he was safe, and warm, and pulled the blanket over himself a little bit more.

"Thank you, Sam," Cas said sincerely. He looked at Dean who, while no longer staring at his beer bottle, still wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Yeah, so just one problem, boyos," Gabriel said. "I don't have an unlimited supply of grace, and I've used some to help Cas here already, and I'll have to use more to get these items your asking for, so using my grace to open up a rift to another dimension too, that's not gonna work. I mean, unless you have a few weeks to wait for me to replenish."

"No, we can't leave Mom and Jack there that long," Dean finally spoke. "They've already been there too long as it is."

"Well, it has to be an Archangel's grace," Sam said, looking at all of them.