Wicked Games ~ Supernatural Book 2

8x02 - What's Up, Tiger Mommy?

Purgatory

Dean turns a slow circle with his axe weapon in his hand. Benny is standing in front of a humanoid monster that is sprawled with its back to a tree.

"I don't think he knows, man"

Dean leans over and puts a hand on the monster's shoulder "Oh, he knows. Where's the angel?"

Dean is menacing the monster, which is chained to the tree. "...Feel that?"

"There's a stream" the monster yields.

"Go on"

"It runs through a clearing not far from here. I'll show you"

Dean holds the tip of his knife against the monster's throat under its chin "How about you just tell me?"

**********

"Go on"

"Three days' journey. Follow the stream. There's a stream clearing. You'll find your angel there" the monster tells him.

Dean looks behind him at Benny, who raises an eyebrow. "You know what, mutt? I believe you"

Dean pushes his knife into the monster's skull from under its chin. We can see the knife blade in its open mouth. The monster chokes and gurgles. Dean pulls out his knife and the monster's head falls forward.

Dean walks away from the monster and past Benny, who follows him.

**********

Warehouse

A young man in a fast-food employee's uniform walks up to Dean "Dean Winchester?"

"Do I know you?"

"Uh, no, but, uh, I knew Castiel"

"You're an angel?" Dean asks.

"This – this was the nearest vessel on short notice. We don't usually come to things like this, but, uh..."

"You're chasing the magic rock?"

"We protect the word of god"

"Well, awesome job so far, uh..." Dean reads his name tag "Alfie"

"Actually, my name is Samandiriel" he corrects him.

"Let's just stick with Alfie"

"I wanted to ask you about Castiel. What happened to her?" Samandiriel asks.

"Well, me and Cas – we, uh – we iced Dick Roman and got a one-way rocket ride to Purgatory for our trouble"

"But you escaped. Did – did Castiel?" Dean doesn't respond "You know, there are some in heaven who still believe, despite her mistakes, that Castiel's heart was always in the right place"

"Are you one of them?" Dean asks.

"I think too much heart was always Castiel's problem" Samandiriel walks away.

**********

Purgatory

Castiel is washing her hands and face at a stream. Dean and Benny approach. "Cas!"

"Dean" She stands up as Dean and Benny walk closer.

"Cas" Dean laughs and hugs her "Damn, it's good to see you. Nice hair"

"Thank you" Her hair has grown longer and she no longer had bangs.

"You should meet somebody. This is Benny. Benny, this is Cas" Dean introduces them.

"Hola"

"How did you find me?" Castiel asks him.

"The bloody way. You feeling okay?"

"You mean am I still..." She points to her head and makes circles with her finger.

"Yeah, if you want to be on the nose about it, sure"

"No. I'm perfectly sane. But, then, 94% of psychotics think they're perfectly sane, so I guess we'd have to ask ourselves, what is sane?"

"That's a good question"

"Why'd you bail on Dean?" Benny asks her.

"Dude—"

"The way I hear it, you two hit monster land, and hot wings here took off. I figure she owes you some backstory" Benny interrupts Dean.

"Look, we were surrounded, okay? Some freak jumped Cas. Obviously, she kicked its ass, right?" Dean asks.

"No"

"What?"

"I ran away" She tells him.

"You ran away?"

"I had to"

"That's your excuse for leaving me with those gorilla-wolves?" Dean asks.

"Dean—"

"You bailed out and, what, went camping? I prayed to you, Cas, every night"

"I know"

"You know and you didn't...What the hell's wrong with you?" He asks, angry.

"I am an angel in a land of abominations. There have been things hunting me from the moment we arrived"

"Join the club!"

"These are not just monsters, Dean. They're Leviathan. I have a price on my head, and I've been trying to stay one step ahead of them, to – to keep them away from you. That's why I ran. Just leave me, please" She explains.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's roll" Benny says.

"Hold on, hold on. Cas, we're getting out of here. We're going home" Dean tells her.

"Dean, I can't"

"You can. Benny, tell her"

"Purgatory has an escape hatch, but I got no idea if it's angel-friendly" Benny tells them.

"We'll figure it out. Cas, buddy, I need you" Dean pleads.

"Dean..."

"And if Leviathan want to take a shot at us, let em. We ganked those bitches once before. We can do it again"

"It's too dangerous"

"Let me bottom-line it for you. I'm not leaving here without you. Understand?" Dean tells her.

"I understand"

**********

Castiel is hanging over the edge of a drop. A hand grips her arm, preventing her from falling.

"Dean! Dean!"

The hand lets go and Castiel falls a short distance. "Aah! Dean!"