[Supernatural Fic] Practically Human 5/18
Jul. 7th, 2010 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daylight_darknightAnother sad chapter and it only gets worse. I'm really going to have to write a fluff story next.
Title: Practically Human 5/18
Characters: Castiel, Bobby, Dean
Rating: PG-13 for swearing and a little violence and disturbing stuff in later chapters
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Drama
Word Count: ~18,000 in 18 in little chapters
Spoilers: Up to the end of season 5
Summary: Some things are a lot easier to deal with when the world is ending.
AN: This takes place in a slight AU where season 5 ends almost the exact same way except Castiel's powers are never restored and Bobby is still in a wheelchair. While Dean goes off to keep his promise to his brother, Castiel ends up left behind at Bobby's as he tries to adjust to his new life as a human.
Chapter 5
Castiel was browsing through the volumes in Bobby’s study when he found the notebook. It was wedged between a copy of an ancient Greek lexicon and a book on fairy tales. The black ink of detailed notes and careful drawings filled the lined pages, but it was the handwriting itself that made Castiel pause and left him with an odd weight in his chest and a tightness in his throat.
He remembered seeing the same flowing, cursive words filling the lines of another book as Sam sat hunched over a table, his right hand constantly writing, his left moving from book to book. Every so often, he’d look up pushing back the long bangs from his face and ask Castiel a question, his eyes full of open curiosity. He always had questions and unlike Dean, was appreciative of the answers.
Castiel recalled other things too: A fierce, steely gaze worn as Sam defended the life of a child he’d just met, a quiet presence by the bed as Castiel recovered from the rigors of time travel, a shared look of mutual concern as Dean stormed off in anger, a steadying hand on his shoulder as he found himself swaying from the effects of alcohol, Castiel’s own words to Anna: “Sam Winchester is my friend.”
When Castiel had been suffering from the attack on his grace by the Whore of Babylon and the lingering effects of his first hangover, it that been Sam he’d found at his side. Sam had put aside his anger and fear about his brother to make sure Castiel was alright.
The former angel’s eyes stung painfully and he wiped at the liquid pooling there. Tears, he realized frowning at the water glinting on his fingertips. They refused to stop. Despite his best efforts, the tears continued to roll down his cheeks. Drops fell marring the pages of the notebook and as he breathed out, the air seemed to shudder in his chest.
From behind him came the creaking sound of Bobby’s wheelchair.
“What you up to, Feathers?”
Castiel would have responded but his throat seemed to have painfully closed in on itself leaving him voiceless.
“Cas?”
As the hunter pulled up beside him, Castiel saw his eyes go to the notebook still clutched in the former angel’s hands. Bobby’s shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes hanging his head low. After a moment, he took a deep breath and reaching up, carefully pulled the book from Castiel’s fingers before setting it aside.
“I know. I know,” he said his voice catching slightly as he patted Castiel gently on the arm. “I miss him too.”
******
“Ben’s a smart kid, really smart,” Dean announced with a tiny hint of pride. “I tried giving him a hand with his homework, but I don’t think I was much help. It’s not like I’m big in the academic department anyway.”
“I always considered you to be fairly intelligent,” Castiel declared.
“Thanks, I think. I thought Ben was practically a carbon copy of me with all the classic cars and classic rock, but really, school and books were always more….” Dean trailed off and cleared his throat. “Anyway, I was just trying to help Lisa out and after the whole bully incident, I thought helping with homework was a safer bet.”
“Bully incident?”
“I was just trying to teach him to defend himself!” Dean insisted indignantly. “Dad started teaching me that sort of stuff by the time I was six. I don’t know how Lisa’s manages to pull off this whole single parent thing plus run her own yoga studio. Ben might be smart but he’s still a handful.”
“Your father managed.”
Dean snorted. “Dad was lucky that we were smart enough to look after ourselves. It’s not like he ever did much parenting.”
“He also had you to look after Sam,” Castiel reminded him, once more feeling a tightness in his throat as his thoughts again turned to the younger Winchester.
Dean remained silent on the other end of the line. It had been almost two weeks and Dean had yet to speak of Sam. Not even his name had been mentioned, and sometimes Castiel wondered if Dean had decided it would be easier to simply forget.
“Does looking after Ben remind you of caring for Sam when he was a child?” he asked hoping to bring back good memories.
“Look, can we not talk about this right now, or ever?” Dean’s gruff voice caught slightly sounding even hoarser than usual. “I just… I can’t…”
“Dean…”
“I have to go.”
The line went dead and Castiel put the phone down with a sigh.
Sam’s last request to him had been to look after Bobby and Dean as best he could and Castiel had voiced his doubts. Now, those doubts were being proven true, as there seemed to be nothing he could do to help Dean.
Chapter 6
Title: Practically Human 5/18
Characters: Castiel, Bobby, Dean
Rating: PG-13 for swearing and a little violence and disturbing stuff in later chapters
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Drama
Word Count: ~18,000 in 18 in little chapters
Spoilers: Up to the end of season 5
Summary: Some things are a lot easier to deal with when the world is ending.
AN: This takes place in a slight AU where season 5 ends almost the exact same way except Castiel's powers are never restored and Bobby is still in a wheelchair. While Dean goes off to keep his promise to his brother, Castiel ends up left behind at Bobby's as he tries to adjust to his new life as a human.
Chapter 5
Castiel was browsing through the volumes in Bobby’s study when he found the notebook. It was wedged between a copy of an ancient Greek lexicon and a book on fairy tales. The black ink of detailed notes and careful drawings filled the lined pages, but it was the handwriting itself that made Castiel pause and left him with an odd weight in his chest and a tightness in his throat.
He remembered seeing the same flowing, cursive words filling the lines of another book as Sam sat hunched over a table, his right hand constantly writing, his left moving from book to book. Every so often, he’d look up pushing back the long bangs from his face and ask Castiel a question, his eyes full of open curiosity. He always had questions and unlike Dean, was appreciative of the answers.
Castiel recalled other things too: A fierce, steely gaze worn as Sam defended the life of a child he’d just met, a quiet presence by the bed as Castiel recovered from the rigors of time travel, a shared look of mutual concern as Dean stormed off in anger, a steadying hand on his shoulder as he found himself swaying from the effects of alcohol, Castiel’s own words to Anna: “Sam Winchester is my friend.”
When Castiel had been suffering from the attack on his grace by the Whore of Babylon and the lingering effects of his first hangover, it that been Sam he’d found at his side. Sam had put aside his anger and fear about his brother to make sure Castiel was alright.
The former angel’s eyes stung painfully and he wiped at the liquid pooling there. Tears, he realized frowning at the water glinting on his fingertips. They refused to stop. Despite his best efforts, the tears continued to roll down his cheeks. Drops fell marring the pages of the notebook and as he breathed out, the air seemed to shudder in his chest.
From behind him came the creaking sound of Bobby’s wheelchair.
“What you up to, Feathers?”
Castiel would have responded but his throat seemed to have painfully closed in on itself leaving him voiceless.
“Cas?”
As the hunter pulled up beside him, Castiel saw his eyes go to the notebook still clutched in the former angel’s hands. Bobby’s shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes hanging his head low. After a moment, he took a deep breath and reaching up, carefully pulled the book from Castiel’s fingers before setting it aside.
“I know. I know,” he said his voice catching slightly as he patted Castiel gently on the arm. “I miss him too.”
******
“Ben’s a smart kid, really smart,” Dean announced with a tiny hint of pride. “I tried giving him a hand with his homework, but I don’t think I was much help. It’s not like I’m big in the academic department anyway.”
“I always considered you to be fairly intelligent,” Castiel declared.
“Thanks, I think. I thought Ben was practically a carbon copy of me with all the classic cars and classic rock, but really, school and books were always more….” Dean trailed off and cleared his throat. “Anyway, I was just trying to help Lisa out and after the whole bully incident, I thought helping with homework was a safer bet.”
“Bully incident?”
“I was just trying to teach him to defend himself!” Dean insisted indignantly. “Dad started teaching me that sort of stuff by the time I was six. I don’t know how Lisa’s manages to pull off this whole single parent thing plus run her own yoga studio. Ben might be smart but he’s still a handful.”
“Your father managed.”
Dean snorted. “Dad was lucky that we were smart enough to look after ourselves. It’s not like he ever did much parenting.”
“He also had you to look after Sam,” Castiel reminded him, once more feeling a tightness in his throat as his thoughts again turned to the younger Winchester.
Dean remained silent on the other end of the line. It had been almost two weeks and Dean had yet to speak of Sam. Not even his name had been mentioned, and sometimes Castiel wondered if Dean had decided it would be easier to simply forget.
“Does looking after Ben remind you of caring for Sam when he was a child?” he asked hoping to bring back good memories.
“Look, can we not talk about this right now, or ever?” Dean’s gruff voice caught slightly sounding even hoarser than usual. “I just… I can’t…”
“Dean…”
“I have to go.”
The line went dead and Castiel put the phone down with a sigh.
Sam’s last request to him had been to look after Bobby and Dean as best he could and Castiel had voiced his doubts. Now, those doubts were being proven true, as there seemed to be nothing he could do to help Dean.
Chapter 6
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-07 09:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-09 04:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-08 01:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-09 04:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-08 01:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-09 04:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-08 02:33 am (UTC)I glee'd when I saw the Chapter 6 link at the bottom. hanks for posting x2! :D
I'll jump on that now to get my heart broken-er.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-09 04:15 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-08 05:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-09 04:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-08 09:30 am (UTC)It's so heartbreaking how Cas wants to talk and Dean doesn't and Cas has no idea what to do. Sooo sad.
Yeah, next chapter nao. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-09 04:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-12 04:19 am (UTC)