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"Why is it always us?" Sam groaned from his space on the floor.
"We have to calm him down," Castiel said, ducking under Dean's new tail.
"How the hell are we going to fix this!?" moose man was starting to get a little frustrated.
This all started when they took up a job in South Dakota.
---- 5 hours earlier ----
Dean sat on the chair opposite his brother and swung his feet up to the table. With half a hot dog in his mouth, his words were muffled but living with him in such close quarters for their whole lives, he was fluent.
"you found anything yet? It's been a while."
"Well, it would go faster if I had some help"
"Eh, I think you got it covered" Sam rolled his eyes and looked back to his laptop.
He was looking up on a local witch who had been terrorizing the residents by turning them into animals. Her spells were not exactly lethal, but they were making more and more people aware of the supernatural, people who had lives and didn't need to be burdened with it. So as soon as the Winchesters heard about it, they started hunting.
"Sam, Dean. I have found the witch you've been looking for" Castiel suddenly appeared.
The brothers almost jumped out of their skin "Jesus Cas! Warn a guy before you do that"
"My apologies" Dean swallowed his hot dog and got to his feet.
"Ok, so, backtrack. Where is she?"
"I'm afraid you may not like it," He said carefully.
"Cas? What's going on" Sam looked up at him.
"The witch you're seeking has just moved onto Sioux falls"
Sam stood abruptly, knocking over his chair. He made eye contact with Dean who had suddenly become alert.
"Jody," They said in unison.
"With any luck, she won't be targeted, and we'll get to the witch before she attacks anyone else" Cas tried to give them some hope and it worked.
"Ok, We'll need to get there as quickly as possible" Dean explained "Cas? Do you think you could give us a lift?" He nodded.
"Of course Dean" Castiel beckoned them both forward, and once they arrived he placed his right hand on Sams' shoulder, and his left gripped Deans' hand.
"I would suggest preparing yourselves" He squeezed Dean's hand, and got another one in return.
One moment they were in the bunker, and the second, they were standing in the middle of an open field, presumably in Sioux falls. The ground they stood on was soggy and clung to their shoes when they tried to take a step, It was drizzling. Storm clouds were rolling in and the wind was throwing wet sticks and leaves everywhere, so they were going to have to find shelter.
Dean pulled his arm up to shield his eyes from the rain and wind "Jeez Cas, think you could have teleported us somewhere dry?"
"I apologize, but I only had a limited window of where to land. The witch's spells have been causing rifts which will not allow me to land within a certain distance of them."
"Ah, don't sweat it" He rubbed his thumb over Castiels knuckles, and earned himself a subtle smile.
"So you're saying that she cast a spell here?" Sam piped up.
"Within a certain radius, yes"
"Well, we better get moving before she shuts down your angel travel for good."
They started to head for the police station, where they knew Jody would be. Cas and Dean never let go of each other the whole way. 20 minutes later they stood, drenched, in front of their destination. They walked in without much regard to their appearance and unconsciously surveyed the area.
"Sam? Dean?" A familiar voice called them from further in the room.
"Jody!" The brothers happily exclaimed. Jody briskly walked up to them and opened her arms for a hug, before she had time to realize that they were soaked, the Winchesters enveloped her in a loving embrace. When they pulled away after an extended amount of time, all four of them were soaked. Jody gave them an annoyed face after looking down at her uniform, but couldn't stay like that for long because a huge grin spilled across her face once more as she went in, for now, individual hugs.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but why are you guys here? I'm hoping this is just a friendly visit" she smiled nervously Castiel cut in.
"we're here hunting a witch and we came to see if you had been enchanted, since she seems to have a personal vendetta against us we figured that she was after you."
"And what makes you think that she's in Sioux falls?"
Dean interjected, "His special angel mojo told him so"
Sam stared at his brother blankly, "We need to get you to a safe place, somewhere that she can't find"
"But I've got shift"
"Well, you can take a few vacation days, especially when your safety is on the line" Dean explained Jody thought for a moment before agreeing to go with them.
She put the deputy in charge and left the building with the Winchesters. They took her to a local motel where they could properly protect her, they would be on full alert for the next couple of days. Sam and Cas were researching the kinds of spells used while Dean was out entertaining their new guest. He took Jody with him to go and pick up dinner down the road, they had been gone a while but the others assumed they were just catching up. Not 5 minutes after he had the thought, Sam got a call from jody.
"Jody? Where are you two? you've been gone for a while."
'Sam! Thank god! You have to come quickly, she's here and she has Dean!'
He stood abruptly, knocking over his chair and startling Castiel.
"Where are you?" He questioned in a serious tone.
'We're just off the side of the road on the way to the diner, we were just on our way back when she just-'
She was cut off.
"Jody? Jody!" He yelled at his phone before shoving it in his bag, packing his gun, and grabbing the keys.
"What's going on?" Castiel asked.
"The witch found Dean and Jody" Cas stood immediately and grabbed Sams arm, but nothing happened.
"Cas?" "I-I can't."
"Can't what?"
"I can't teleport to him" Sam was struck with a realization.
"Which means that she has already cast a spell"
"We need to move, now." They rushed out the door.
"Dean took the car, so we'll just have to run" They made their way out the door, not bothering to lock it since they had all their stuff with them.
Sam and Castiel were sprinting down the road towards the diner, it wasn't too far but on foot, it felt like an eternity. After running like madmen for 10 minutes, they saw skid marks on the road that led into the forest.
Sam was heaving "That's not good"
"Do you think that's them" Cas was still slightly out of breath.
Since he was cut off, his powers started to fade, which made him more and more human every day. This meant that all of his powers were limited - including his healing ability.
"I think so, look" He pointed to the ground which had an abundance of large claw marks scattered on it.
"Fuck."
Sam stared at Cas in surprise then huffed a laugh "Man, Dean would have killed to hear that"
"Let's just hope he gets the chance" He hurried into the forest with Sam a few steps behind.
They walked until they saw the impala, destroyed, and shoved between two trees. Both of them internally cringed at the sight, knowing that she was unfixable. Dean would be crushed, but they would have to make sure he survived to at least try and fix her first. More walking later and they came upon a little clearing.
"Cas, over there" They rushed to the middle.
There lay Deans' shirts, they were absolutely shredded.
Blood coated the clothing and some distance around it "This is too much blood. The witch wouldn't be able to lose this much and survive" Sam spoke optimistically.
Cas's blood ran cold "It's not hers"
He bent down by a pool of it and dipped in his fingers. He held it up to the light and stared at it before taking a deep breath.
"It's Deans."
"All of it?"
"Apart from a few drops, yes"
"Is there any way that he's still-"
"Not with the amount of blood he's lost, not for this long."
They both stared at the ground, Sam gritted his teeth and spoke with venom "She won't get away with this"
Castiel was so furious that his true form was almost showing "No she will not."
Neither of them was going to believe he was truly gone until they saw a body. following the marks in the ground, they soon heard a voice.
"This wasn't meant to happen!" They did not recognize it
"How on earth do you mess up this badly!?" That one they did, however.
"Jody!" Sam called and started sprinting for her.
They met each other and she looked so relieved to see him. But instead of greeting her, he turned his attention to the witch. She saw three livid gazes directed at her and started to sweat.
"Where is my brother?" He said calmly.
"W-What?"
"Where is Dean" He was still calm.
"I uh I don't-" He suddenly grabbed her by the collar, kicked her feet out from under her so that he was the only thing holding her up, and leaned in close. He punctuated his words.
"Where. Is. My. Brother?" With a shaky finger, the bitch witch pointed over beyond a few trees.
There lay what looked like a mound of dirt, but upon closer inspection was something entirely different.
Sam signaled Castiel to check it out while he kept an eye on their new friend.
"Sam. Sam come here." Castiel sounded as panicked as he could with the voice he had.
He looked at the woman he was threatening and gestured for Jody to keep an eye on her, they swapped positions and Sam rushed over to Cas to inspect the mound.
"What, What is that?" He stared at the heap on the floor.
"Dean"
"What?"
"That's Dean"
Sam stared in shock, confusion, and concern "Is he still alive?"
"Yes, he's breathing"
The confusion turned to rage in a split second. Sam turned to head back towards the witch but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"If we want him back we need to concentrate"
He contemplated for a moment before standing down. All of a sudden the large mound started to move, they both took a step back and glanced to make sure their friend and their prisoner were still there. Dean started to wake but soon realized that he wasn't in his own body, he quickly started to panic which caused him to try and stand up. He flailed his legs, now having four of them, he tried to get his bearings. After a bit, he got to his feet. He towered over his brother and friends standing at 17ft. His legs were long and bulky with sharp claws at the end of his paws. His body was hefty and strong but his head looked, unlike anything they had ever seen. It was not un-similar to that of a dragon, his snout was long and smooth, his eyes were sharp and threatening and spines ran all the way down his back. A thick tail rested on his behind and seemed to weigh a ton, and his ears pointing to the sky.
"Dean?" Castiel asked taking a step forward.
He looked down at his best friend and was immediately calmed from his unsettled state. He took a tentative step forward and bent all the way down to his level. He tried to speak but was met with growls and random noises, his distress must have been evident, as Cas placed a small hand on his snout.
"You're ok, we're going to figure this out I promise you." He stared intently into his eyes
Dean huffed, lifted his head back up, and laid down next to them. Sam strode over to their new guest to start questioning. He unsheathed the machete from its holder and made sure it was visible
"I'll just kill you and the curse will wear off, you're lucky I'm not making this painful" He lifted his weapon ready to strike
"Wait wait wait! Killing me won't undo this!"
"What? Why"
"She's just buying time Sam, do it" Castiel suggested
"My powers went haywire when they jumped me, I got scared and lost control. The attack was completely unintentional so even if you do kill me nothing will change."
Sam stood and contemplated his options. He glanced back at his brother and saw Cas stroking him under the chin. He let the air leave his lungs and sheathed the weapon "So how do we fix it?"
The woman seemed genuinely surprised at his decision and looked relieved "I have a book of spells back at my cottage, I could invert the spell and it should fix him."
Castiel intervened from his place over by Dean "Don't get us wrong if you're unable to return every single person to their original state, we will kill you."
She started to sweat and nodded. "My uh my cottage is in Nebraska" she spoke quietly.
"Then you better start walking" Cas threatened.
"We uh don't exactly have a car anymore" He chanced a glance at Dean who looked mortified "So we'll just have to hotwire one of the cars back at the motel"
Dean started to have, what can only be described as, a hissy fit.
She shakily stood and made her way back through the woods, she passed Dean very slowly and looked him in the eyes as he glared at her. As the group gradually made their way back, the witch started to panic more and was about to make a break for it, but was stopped when Dean stepped right next to her. Since he was now massive he could easily crush her, so she decided not to risk it. Once they reached the cars, Sam looked to Dean.
"Which one?"
Dean made a series of confused noises.
"you usually pick the cars we steal, you know the most about them so which one should we take" He stared up at his brother.
He glanced at his options before lifting his leg to point one of his claws at a range rover that was sitting in the back. It was the only car there that had black paint, which would make it harder for people to spot them. Sam nodded and went to hotwire it without hesitation while Cas, Jody, Dean, and the witch waited by the road.
"Why were you doing this?" Jody asked
The witch startled "M-me?"
The sheriff rolled her eyes "Yes you. Why were you turning people into animals? Why not just kill them instead?"
She sighed "I wasn't doing it randomly, these people-they deserved it."
"And what did these people do?" Cas asked.
She looked at him and started to tear up "They killed my family."
The others look at her in shock "Why would they do that?"
"Because they're crazy! They're some fucked up teens who think it's funny to make people miserable! They killed mom, dad, my brother, my two nieces, and nephews, they even killed my dog! Who the fuck does that!?" She was crying heavily.
"How?" The angel asked.
"Cas-" Jody was about to intervene.
"How did a couple of intoxicated teenagers manage to kill so many people all at once? Surely they would have retaliated."
The witch stared at him in shock at his insensitivity "We were having a party for my brother's birthday, no one heard them come in until-" she choked on her words "Until they started to take us out" The other three stayed silent.
Before anything more could be said, Sam came around with the car. he motioned for them all to get in, which they did, except Dean. He stood outside the car awkwardly looking at the others.
"Dean, just follow us ok?" Jody yelled up to him.
"But try to stay hidden!" Sam warned.
"We will stop for regular breaks" castiel comforted.
Dean nodded and they shut the car doors. They started slowly at first and since it was dark, hiding something as big as Dean was fairly easy. But as the journey got longer the sun started to rise and soon it would be broad daylight. If anybody saw him, they would be in big trouble so Sam came up with a solution.
"Dean, you take the woods all the way to the roadhouse and don't get seen, while we take the car. By the time we regroup it'll be about midday and we can stay there until dark, ok?"
Everyone agreed that this was a good plan, but Castiel was still uneasy about leaving Dean by himself especially in the state he was in. So eventually after some discussion, Castiel was going with him through the woods and the others would take the car. With a nod to his brother and best friend, Sam drove off, heading towards the roadhouse.
He stared at Castiel "Is there something wrong?"
He blew air out of his nose and gestured to Cas and then his back "You wish for me to get on your back?"
He nodded. Castiel now understood that there was no way he would be able to keep up with him when his legs were so much shorter and that Dean had already thought of that and come up with a solution. He held out his clawed hand and waited for Cas to hop on. Once he did, he raised it to the crook in his neck. Castiel settled himself comfortably between two of the spines on his back.
Now and again Castiel would give direction to which Dean would follow without question, they only stopped at a stream when they needed a drink. Dean lowered his head to the water and tried to drink it, but found that he was having some trouble with his new mouth. He tried inhaling it but he only choked, he tried biting it but that didn't work for obvious reasons, and he tried to copy what animals would do with their tongues to drink but he only splashed himself with it. Castiel was smiling to himself at his lovers' behavior and chuckled when he started to pout. Dean chucked him a glare, to which he only laughed harder.
He tried to think of what to do, but when nothing came up he just plunged his whole head into the stream and started to take big gulps. He vaguely heard laughter on the surface and quickly lifted his head to see Cas in hysterics. He smiled, Castiel didn't laugh much, but Dean would take full advantage to just admire him when he did. After he calmed down and wiped the tears from his eyes, he saw Dean staring at him and blushed. Dean lowered his body to the ground and nudged Cas with his snout, he chuckled some more and held onto it.
"We are going to get you back to normal, no matter how funny it is, I would like you back. We all would, because we love you, dean. All of us, not just me." He stroked the horn on his head, and Dean sighed into it.
After hanging around for a bit longer, they resumed the path to the roadhouse. As predicted, the sun just about reached its peak when they arrived, although unfortunately, they arrived first so there was no one to prepare Ellen and Jo for what they were about to see. Dean tried to keep his steps quiet as to not alert them so Cas could go in and explain, but alas, the Harvelles were smarter than that. It was Jo who saw them first, as they approached they could see her staring at them wide-eyed through the window. Luckily it was a slow day and they didn't seem to have any customers to scare, unluckily, Dean couldn't talk and tell them it was him.
Dean stood in front of the bar and noticed they had turned off all the electricity as to not attract his attention and felt a bit of pride that his family knew not to take on things they couldn't handle because if he wasn't himself, he would definitely be too much for just the two of them.
He carefully bent his head to the ground and allowed Castiel to safely jump to the floor, he briskly made his way to the front door and knocked. when nobody answered, as they expected, he opened the door and peeked his head in.
"Ellen? Jo? It's Castiel, if I come in would you be able to refrain from shooting me?"
Before Dean could register what was going on, his angel was pulled into the bar with the door slamming behind him. This only alarmed the cursed man for a second until he remembered it was Ellen and Jo who yoinked him, so he'd be fine. About 5 minutes later, he lay down and played with his tail when the trio came out the door. He let go of his new limb and turned his attention towards them. Castiel walked right up to him and put a hand on his snout, while the other two skeptically inched toward him.
"Dean?" Ellen asked slowly
When he nodded, Jo burst out laughing. Ellen smacked her arm to stop but was also giggling, he honestly could have rivaled sam with the bitch face he gave them, but they only laughed harder. Once everyone was again calm they asked a few questions to which Castiel answered for him.
"How exactly did this happen?" Ellen asked
"There was a witch that was cursing people to be animals, and when Dean and Jody pursued her she got startled and accidentally shot him with the spell. But since she was so shocked that he appeared out of the blue, the spell got warped and turned him into an amalgamation." Dean huffed at his reply. He thought he looked pretty cool.
Jo spoke next "So how long do you reckon that'll last?"
"That's the problem, if we don't turn him back then he will be stuck like this."
Both of them looked alarmed "Like forever?"
Cas nodded.
"Then how do we change him back?" Ellen said panicked.
"Sam and Jody are bringing the witch here, we intend to rest until night and then continue to her hut, which has the cure, in the morning."
They both physically relaxed.
"Well, in that case, you should come in and rest, it must have been a long journey" Ellen invites them in.
"As much as I appreciate the offer, I can't leave Dean out here by himself"
Dean quickly nudged him towards the diner, prompting him to go.
"Dean?"
He nodded his head at the others.
Castiel sighed "If you insist, I shall go inside and rest, but what about you?"
He raised his head and glanced around for a moment. He shuffled over to the tree line, careful not to hit any of the cars, and laid down so he was just out of sight. This gave Cas some comfort, knowing that no one would be able to see him unless they knew he was there.
"Come on Castiel, we'll give you the room with the view of the trees," Ellen said.
----
Sometime later, Sam and Jody pulled up. It was starting to get darker, and thus they couldn't see the eldest Winchester hidden by the trees. They quickly walked up to the roadhouse, with the prisoner in iron chains they acquired along the way. Ellen opened the door and smiled.
"Sam, Jody! Lovely to see you again" She stepped aside "Please, come on in."
They stepped inside and saw it was empty save for them, Jo and Ash. Jo was cleaning the tables and typically, Ash was sleeping on one.
"It is great to see you all, but have Dean and Castiel arrived yet?" He said, mildly panicked over not seeing his gigantic brother on the way in.
Jo smiled "Castiel is taking a nap upstairs and Dean is in the yard. "
That explains why they couldn't see him "Thanks" he heaved a sigh
Ellen chuckled "Hard work, Eh?"
"You have no idea what kind of trouble he get's into when I'm not looking." Everyone chuckled, except
"You." The mother said, darkly.
Ash suddenly sat up, and Jo stopped wiping the tables when they heard her use that tone of voice. The witch cowered behind the moose man.
"You think you can just curse one of us and get away with it?" Sam moved the witch so she was standing in by herself with no one to hide behind.
"I-I didn't-"
"Oh, you didn't mean to? You didn't mean to turn one of my boys into- whatever he is?" She advanced
"It was a mistake, I was startled!" She tried to defend herself.
"You got startled and accidentally used your witchy powers, but where did you get them, huh? A Demon deal?"
She looked to the floor, ashamed.
"I thought so. You don't attack one of us and come out unscathed, there will be consequences for this." Ellen had leaned all the way into her personal space, and suddenly her tone changed completely
She stood back upright and turned away "Right then, who's hungry?" then went to go and prepare something.
The others stood there in shock. Until Jody spoke, "So, dinner?"
----
Dean was in the back yard of the roadhouse, he had laid down and was now just on his back, staring up at the sky. He knew that he told Cas to go inside but he still wished his angel was with him, he always did. Dean huffed and rolled back onto his stomach, mentally preparing to stay put for a while. Just as he closed his eyes, he heard voices coming out of the diner and he was about to hide more until he saw that it was just his family. Tilting his head, he checked them over to make sure they were ok but got distracted when he saw Cas walk out holding a whole ass table. Suddenly, he realized what they were doing and it made his heart soar.
They placed a mat over the table and started putting down food. Sam brought out 2 chairs, Jo carried 3 and Ash just heaved 1 over to the seating area. They all sat down in their respective seats and waited for Dean to join them. He happily waltzed over and laid down next to the table and lowered his head so he was the same height as everyone else.
As the night continued, they shared funny stories and sad ones too. They played some games and enjoyed their food, and while they couldn't understand him, he could understand them, and it made him giddy with happiness at the thought that they did this all for him. Cas's words replayed in his head for a moment 'Because we love you, dean. All of us, not just me.' and he damn near cried.
All of his problems faded into the background, and for once, he just enjoyed himself.
----
It was still dark when Dean woke up. He found himself to be outside and was confused for a moment before looking down, and remembering what occurred the previous day. But then he noticed something, as he lifted one of his arms he found Castiel sleeping soundly beside him. He felt comforted by the thought that his beloved had stayed with him the whole night. He lowered his head and nudged Castiels face with it, in an attempt to wake him up. It worked, but he was not best pleased with the interruption. After he properly got up, he went to retrieve Sam, Jody, and the witch to get back on track to the hut.
"Now you give us a call when he's human-sized again so we can have a proper conversation, ya hear?" Ellen shouted to them as they were getting in the car
Sam smiled at her and waved back "Promise"
With that, they began driving.
----
It had been around an hour since they left when Sam got a little bit bored. He glanced at Dean in the rearview mirror and smirked to himself. Castiel gave a questioning look but he only smiled more, then all of a sudden, they started to speed up.
"Sam-" Jody started "Dean won't be able to keep up at this speed"
"I'm not gonna get that far away from him, just wanna see how fast he can go. He could use a good run once in a while."
Outside the car, Dean noticed exactly what his brother was doing, so instead of playing along, he decided to do one better. Once the car was a good distance away, he jumped into the trees and ran at his top speed to catch up with them. He was practically beside the car and they hadn't spotted him. He peered through the window ad saw the others looking out the back window talking to each other, he waited until the car had slowed to a stop to make his move.
----
"Where is he?" Castiel said alarmed
"I don't know, he was literally right there!"
They were starting to panic over his sudden disappearance when all of a sudden he jumped from the trees and scared the shit out of Jody and Sam.
"Dammit, Dean!" Sam yelled
He managed to chuckle, even in his new form. Without warning the lighthearted and fun mood was ruined.
"My hut is around here, just down the road, then we'll have to walk through the woods."
"Then we better get going" Jody spoke
Sam drove around his brother and parked to the side, he opened the door and jumped out. Dean gave him a questioning nudge which made him stumble a bit, but he ignored him. Walking over to the other side of the car, Sam pulled open Jody's door. The sheriff got out and waited expectantly for the witch. She ever so slowly shuffled out and stood timidly beside them. Sam was about to grab her elbow in case she tried to run off but then remembered that his brother was currently a giant, so he didn't see the need.
They walked, and walked, and walked until they couldn't anymore. Castiel was the first to get tired since he was slipping between human and angel, his need for rest was greater than theirs. Once they realized that he was slowing down, Sam recommended that they rest. At first, he refused, but once Dean plonked himself on the floor the vote was unanimous.
They all settled into a comfortable position with Dean using his huge body to curl around the camp, to keep them safe. Castiel was positioned right next to Deans head while the others were leaning against his stomach, and the witch was chained with cuffs to one of the spines of his tail.
Casual conversation passed between the group for hours until they fell asleep. Castiel passed out leaning against Dean's neck, so he seized the opportunity to curl his head around and rest it in his lap. This way, he had Castiel completely encompassed but his neck so he was safe. Upon instinct, he brought his legs and tail to cover the others and when he did, he failed to notice the missing resistance that should have to be there. Finally, he drifted to sleep.
----
He woke with a start when Sam used his full-body strength to shove his shoulder, he looked and glared at his brother, unconsciously noting Castiels disappearance.
"Dean!"
He was confused at first but then realized what was going on. During the night, the witch had managed to escape her bindings and get away. But instead of staying away, she finished the journey to her hut and brought them back the book which was held tightly in her arms. Everyone was looking at her quizzically but they were not trying to restrain her.
"You had a chance to run." Jody started "But you didn't. Why?"
She looked down and shuffled her feet "This was my fault. I'm the one who cursed someone who didn't deserve it and on top of that I lied to you about what it did to him."
Suddenly he noticed that Castiel was standing by his tail when he spoke "What? What do you mean? You lied?" he took a few threatening steps towards her.
She held the book out in front of her to protect her face "I only lied about what he became, the cure is still in the book!"
He stopped advancing. "Explain."
She sighed and relaxed her arms "I didn't turn those boys into random animals, I turned them into a reflection of their soul."
The only one of them that seemed to understand was Castiel.
"So you mean you turned them into their spirit animals?" Sam suggested
She looked appalled at the representation "No. Well technically to some degree, but no. The soul of a human is insanely powerful but the body is too weak to harness it. So, as to not compromise the body, the soul takes the shape of a creature that can handle it. But since there are so many options, it takes the one that most suits the individual whether they be a scumbag or a saint, their soul will represent that."
Sam still looked shocked "So, you're saying that this is Dean's true form? This is what he really looks like?"
"Yes"
Everyone was silent and Dean was starting to get uncomfortable. He curled in on himself, feeling self-conscious but a gentle hand on his face reassured him.
"You said that it takes the form of an animal, right?" Jody asked after a long pause
"That is correct"
"But, even in the supernatural world, we've never seen something like this before"
"I was hoping you would ask that," She said a little too happily "See, your friend here has an incredibly powerful soul. It shines brighter than any human I've ever met and is worth at least ten times a normal one"
Castiel puffed his chest in pride and Dean waggled his ears at the praise.
"So naturally, when none of the creatures on earth could hold such power, his soul took the next best thing." They looked astonished and she smiled "His true form is one of heaven's guard dogs."
They were impressed before but now they were in disbelief. Castiel spoke up "I have been in heaven since the dawn of mankind and have never seen something like him before" He accused
"Well of course you wouldn't. They weren't there to guard the human souls, nor the angels. They were created with the sole purpose of protecting god himself, or anyone of significance to him."
Dean lifted his head from its place on the ground with renewed confidence. He first looked at Cas, who was beaming at him. Then he looked to his brother and mother figure for their response and got exactly what he was expecting, absolute shock. he chuckled at their ridiculous faces.
Sam shook his head "That's great and all, but we still don't know how to change him back"
She lifted the book "Right here."
They gathered together while she threw a bunch of herbs she grabbed from her hut, into a pot that she also got from her hut. After a while, ancient words started spilling from her mouth and everyone but Dean took a step back. He stood to his full height and stared right at her, ready for this all to be over.
Smoke filled the camp.
Castiel couldn't see. He waved a hand in front of his eyes, but it did nothing. The second before he panicked, familiar hands grabbed his own, and pulled him in.
"Dean!" Castiel yelled in ecstasy.
"Cas," He said quietly, holding him close.
They stay for a moment later, until someone coughs. The pair turn to see the three averting their eyes, Sam points at his brother who throws him a confused look which turns into realization as he looks down. A bright blush covered his cheeks as he glanced around for the bags, however, before Dean made a move, a warm coat covered his shoulders. Castiel draped his trenchcoat around him and sent him a cute smile.
He turned to thank the witch but found she was already gone. "Oh shit, should we go after her?" Sam asked
"No, it's ok. She won't hurt anyone else. Let's just get out of here, I wanna lay down on a real bed again."
They walked back to the car they stole and Dean was hit by the realization that they had left his beloved car behind. The whole time Sam was driving, his brother was nagging him to go back, but he refused. Dean was heartbroken and was sure he'd feel even worse when he wasn't as tired. he tried to annoy his baby brother into giving in but found the world turned black before he could.
----
Bacon and pancakes filled his senses as he rose from what felt like death. He swung his legs over the bed he was in and went to leave. He figured out in his hazy daze that he was at bobby's house and was excited to see the old alcoholic. His bare feet hit the carpet when he stepped down, four pairs of eyes looked at him as soon as he entered.
"Well look who's still alive." The old man smiled.
"Hey bobby"
"The angel here made breakfast."
"Cas made this?" He walked over to the table and sat down "It smells amazing"
"Thank you, Dean"
"Once you finished we got a surprise for you." Bobby said and the others smiled
He ignored them and hummed around the bacon pancakes.
----
After the food was gone and everyone was full, Sam, Bobby, Castiel, and Jody led Dean to the back of the house. He was half expecting a new car but what they presented him with was a thousand times better.
"Baby!" He yelled and rushed over to her.
he ran his hands over her hood and then jumped in the driver's seat and did the same with the wheel.
"I missed you girl" He smiled.
The others were standing outside the car, chuckling at his enthusiasm.
"Not much has changed then" Bobby laughed
"Yeah. Well, except Dean's soul is a guardian of heaven" Sam casually mentioned.
Bobby was quiet for a minute before he turned and walked back inside. Sam was going to call to him but he just waved a dismissive hand.
"Tell me after I've had a drink"
--Fin--