Just a Baby in a Trench Coat

Chapter 16 ~ Dean's Distress

Four days in and everyone on Team Free Will was starting to get annoyed. Sam was frustrated by the sloppy nature of the nest which should have indicated an easy hunt, whereas Dean was angry that another person had somehow gotten snatched right from under their noses. Castiel had managed to stay relatively calm, but was now acting as a bodyguard for the teenager he had gotten information from just in case the nest decided to go after her. Gabriel had taken to bouncing around undercover, but his patience was slowly being thrown to the wind.

However, the real problem arose on the fifth day when Dean left to talk with the sheriff about the recently abducted and then never returned.

"I tracked his phone and it shows up in a drainage ditch twenty minutes outside of town. Something's seriously wrong Cas."

Castiel mulled over the information as he held his phone between his head and his shoulder. He had been helping Faith make dinner. Faith watched him as Sam continued, "I don't even know where to start, but that bar we visited earlier this week might hold clues. Gabriel and I are headed there, could you sweep the place where I pinged his phone? Maybe the bastards are hiding out there."

"I'll check it out."

"Thanks Cas, call if you find something."

Castiel hung up the phone, anxiety tumbling through his chest as he tried to make a plan. Faith turned off the oven top and turned to him, "What was that?"

"It seems one of our team members has gone missing."

She gasped, "Your brother?"

"No, I'm apart of a team of four. My brother is fine."

"Oh. Well, anyways, you should go."

Castiel watched Faith carefully, squinting a bit since something was off with her tone.

"I'm not sure if I'll be back soon. Call if anything happens."

Faith nodded her head, humming as she stepped away to glance at the food on the stove. Castiel was suspicious, "You...are you okay with being left alone?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'll be fine."

Castiel hesitated, "You won't go out again, will you?"

"What? No. Of course not. I'll be fine Agent Jackson."

Castiel wanted to argue, to push and see if Faith was lying, but when he glanced at the time he realized he had wasted almost fifteen minutes standing around when Dean was in trouble somewhere.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Castiel affirmed before leaving Faith to her own devices.

Castiel searched the ditch where he confirmed Dean's phone was tossed. After a while of investigation he huffed, trying to quell his nervous energy while he thought about the alternatives. Dean was obviously unconscious, otherwise he would have prayed and Castiel would be able to get a location on him. That, or Dean was being overly obtuse and choosing not to pray to him. Castiel grimaced, it sounded like something Dean would do, especially if he thought he was in an excessively dangerous situation. Dean Winchester wasn't okay with anyone dying unless it was Dean Winchester.

While ruminating, Castiel felt his phone buzz in his pocket. When he saw Faith's number, he quickly answered, cursing and thinking to himself that he shouldn't have left her alone.

"Hey so what if I told you I, like, totally lied earlier?" her voice was quiet and a slight tremble had Castiel in flight before he could even process what he was doing.

"What's going on?" he said into the receiver, slamming down into Faith's backyard, slightly out of breath.

"I went out searching and--"