Post by Dean Winchester on Sept 18, 2015 16:24:55 GMT -5
ooc; SEASON FOUR. EPISODE TWENTY.
Dean stared out over the calm lake waters, relaxing in a lawn chair on a wooden dock, holding a fishing pole. Everything was peaceful and undisturbed. For a few minutes anyway. "We need to talk" a voice at his elbow was saying suddenly. Castiel was looking down at him seriously, having just appeared out of thin air like usual. It didn't take Dean long to piece this particular puzzle together. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?" "It's not safe here" Castiel informed him rather than answering the question. "Someplace more private." Dean raised a baffled eyebrow. "More private? We're inside my head." "Exactly" Castiel confirmed with a nod. "Someone could be listening." Well that was just creepy. But Dean put this unsettling idea aside to focus on the angel's expression which looked tired, unsettled, and concerned. "Cas, what's wrong?" Castiel shook his head, indicating he wasn't going to answer while they were apparently in such an open space. "Meet me here" he instructed, handing Dean a scrap of paper with an address scrawled on it. "Go. Now."
Dean woke with a start, no longer holding the piece of paper, but the address was still burned into his brain. So he woke Sam and they set off. "Well, what did he say, Dean" Sam wanted to know as they searched the destination, which turned out to be an abandoned warehouse. "What was so important?" Dean shone his flashlight down an empty hallway, shook his head to inform Sam nothing out of the ordinary was there, and then kept walking. "If I knew, would I be here?" They rounded the next corner and Dean stopped short. "What the hell?" They'd reached an open clearing of sorts, which might have once been a storage facility, but was now unrecognizable as anything. Furniture was tipped over, parts of the ceiling had collapsed...in short, as Sam summarized: "it looks like a bomb went off." "There was a fight here" Dean assumed, stepping over a piece of debris. "Between who" Sam wondered, following his brother. The beam of Dean's flashlight landed upon some kind of blood-red symbol painted on the wall. "Check it out. Look familiar?" Sam nodded. "Yeah, it does actually." "Anna used something like that to wish the angels back to the cornfield" Dean reminded him. Although this one was much bigger than the one Anna had used. "So, what? Cas was fighting angels" Sam theorized but Dean wasn't listening. He'd spotted Cas lying in the midst of a large pile of rubble a few feet away. "Sam." He gestured, then hurried over, shaking the angel by his shoulders to rouse him. "Cas? Cas. Hey, Cas?"
His eyes opened with a weak flutter, looking around wildly. "What's . . . ? What's . . . ? What's going on?" "Just take it easy" Dean instructed as he and Sam helped Cas to his feet. "Take it easy." "Oh no" Cas murmured looking down at his hands and then back up. Something seemed a little weird about this guy. The brothers exchanged a look and then Sam asked cautiously, "Cas, you okay?" "Castiel" he said in alarm. "I'm not Castiel. It's me." Dean's eyes widened as Sam asked what they were both thinking. "Who's 'me'?" "Jimmy" he introduced himself weakly. "My name's Jimmy." Now it was Dean's turn to ask their mutual question. "Where the hell is Castiel?" Jimmy shook his head miserably. "He's gone."
~~~
Steel reeling from this latest turn of events, the boys got Jimmy to their motel room, picking up some burgers and fries on the way back. They each had one burger and called it quits, but Jimmy had wolfed down three before Dean couldn't hold back any more and spoke up. "You mind slowing down? You're gonna give me angina." "I'm hungry" Jimmy countered, swallowing another large bite. "When's the last time you ate" Sam wanted to know. Jimmy shrugged, chewing his next bite a little slower as he thought about it. "I don't know...months probably." He held onto the burger with one hand, using the other to grab his soda and take a long gulp before going back to the burger with both hands ravenously. "What the hell happened back there" Sam asked him in concern. "I mean, it looked like an angel battle royale." Jimmy shrugged again. "All I remember is a flash of light and I, uh . . . I woke up and I was just, you know, like, me again." He put the last bit of burger in his mouth and chewed blissfully. Dean frowned in concentration, trying to work all this out mentally. "So, what? Cas just ditched out of your meat suit?" "I really don't know" Jimmy admitted with his mouth full, still chewing. Dean sighed in frustration. Sam bit his lip and gave it a try. "You remember anything about being possessed? Anything at all?" Jimmy swallowed his final bite and reached for the soda again. "Yeah, bits and pieces, I guess. I mean, angel inside of you, it's kinda like being chained to a comet." He slurped down the remaining drink, then picked up his napkin, removing the burger grease from his fingers. "That doesn't sound like much fun" Dean remarked to which Jimmy snorted, bunched up the napkin and let it drop onto his plate. "Understatement."
"Cas said he wanted to tell us something" Sam said after a minute of silence, his expression desperate. "Please tell me you remember that." Jimmy shook his head with yet another shrug. "Sorry." Dean exhaled sharply in annoyance. "Come on, what do you know?" Jimmy's expression grew serious as he stared straight ahead, almost as if in a trance. "My name is Jimmy Novak. I'm from Pontiac, Illinois. I have a family. My wife's name is Amelia and our daughter is Claire." Dean, feeling a long story coming on, leaned back in his chair. Sam did the same. Jimmy continued. "About a year ago, I was contacted by Castiel. He told me I was special. That I was chosen." Jimmy spoke for nearly an hour, telling the boys about how he'd come to allow Castiel to use him as a host. When he finished, Sam held up one finger with a polite smile. "Just give us a second, Jimmy. Thanks." He and Dean stepped outside to try and hash out whatever the hell was going on.
"This is nuts" were the first words out of Dean's mouth the second they were alone. "So, what do we do" Sam asked, after nodding his agreement. Dean gave his brother a funny look, unsure exactly what was meant by that question as it seemed pretty obvious to him. "What do you mean? The guy's got a family. We buy him a bus ticket, and send him home." "I don't know about that" Sam hedged uncertainly. "Dean, he's the only lead we got." "He doesn't know anything" Dean stressed in reminder but Sam still didn't look swayed. "Are you 100% sure about that?" "You think he's lying?" Dean didn't like where this was going. "What, you wanna go Guantanamo on the guy?" "Dean, maybe he doesn't even know what he knows" Sam argued, throwing Dean for a complete loop. "What??" Sam sighed patiently. "I say, at least we get him to Bobby's. Maybe all he needs is hypnosis or a psychic. Or hell, maybe Cas will just drop back into him." Dean wasn't too confident with any of the ideas listed. "I don't know, man."
"Dean, back there, that was angel-on-angel violence" Sam pointed out intensely. "Now, I don't know what's going on, but it's big. And we can't let the only lead we got just skip town." Dean let out a little breath of air in a half scoff, shaking his head. Sam eyed him curiously. "What?" "You remember when our job was helping people" Dean reminded him stiffly. "Like, getting them back to their families?"
It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Dean stared out over the calm lake waters, relaxing in a lawn chair on a wooden dock, holding a fishing pole. Everything was peaceful and undisturbed. For a few minutes anyway. "We need to talk" a voice at his elbow was saying suddenly. Castiel was looking down at him seriously, having just appeared out of thin air like usual. It didn't take Dean long to piece this particular puzzle together. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?" "It's not safe here" Castiel informed him rather than answering the question. "Someplace more private." Dean raised a baffled eyebrow. "More private? We're inside my head." "Exactly" Castiel confirmed with a nod. "Someone could be listening." Well that was just creepy. But Dean put this unsettling idea aside to focus on the angel's expression which looked tired, unsettled, and concerned. "Cas, what's wrong?" Castiel shook his head, indicating he wasn't going to answer while they were apparently in such an open space. "Meet me here" he instructed, handing Dean a scrap of paper with an address scrawled on it. "Go. Now."
Dean woke with a start, no longer holding the piece of paper, but the address was still burned into his brain. So he woke Sam and they set off. "Well, what did he say, Dean" Sam wanted to know as they searched the destination, which turned out to be an abandoned warehouse. "What was so important?" Dean shone his flashlight down an empty hallway, shook his head to inform Sam nothing out of the ordinary was there, and then kept walking. "If I knew, would I be here?" They rounded the next corner and Dean stopped short. "What the hell?" They'd reached an open clearing of sorts, which might have once been a storage facility, but was now unrecognizable as anything. Furniture was tipped over, parts of the ceiling had collapsed...in short, as Sam summarized: "it looks like a bomb went off." "There was a fight here" Dean assumed, stepping over a piece of debris. "Between who" Sam wondered, following his brother. The beam of Dean's flashlight landed upon some kind of blood-red symbol painted on the wall. "Check it out. Look familiar?" Sam nodded. "Yeah, it does actually." "Anna used something like that to wish the angels back to the cornfield" Dean reminded him. Although this one was much bigger than the one Anna had used. "So, what? Cas was fighting angels" Sam theorized but Dean wasn't listening. He'd spotted Cas lying in the midst of a large pile of rubble a few feet away. "Sam." He gestured, then hurried over, shaking the angel by his shoulders to rouse him. "Cas? Cas. Hey, Cas?"
His eyes opened with a weak flutter, looking around wildly. "What's . . . ? What's . . . ? What's going on?" "Just take it easy" Dean instructed as he and Sam helped Cas to his feet. "Take it easy." "Oh no" Cas murmured looking down at his hands and then back up. Something seemed a little weird about this guy. The brothers exchanged a look and then Sam asked cautiously, "Cas, you okay?" "Castiel" he said in alarm. "I'm not Castiel. It's me." Dean's eyes widened as Sam asked what they were both thinking. "Who's 'me'?" "Jimmy" he introduced himself weakly. "My name's Jimmy." Now it was Dean's turn to ask their mutual question. "Where the hell is Castiel?" Jimmy shook his head miserably. "He's gone."
~~~
Steel reeling from this latest turn of events, the boys got Jimmy to their motel room, picking up some burgers and fries on the way back. They each had one burger and called it quits, but Jimmy had wolfed down three before Dean couldn't hold back any more and spoke up. "You mind slowing down? You're gonna give me angina." "I'm hungry" Jimmy countered, swallowing another large bite. "When's the last time you ate" Sam wanted to know. Jimmy shrugged, chewing his next bite a little slower as he thought about it. "I don't know...months probably." He held onto the burger with one hand, using the other to grab his soda and take a long gulp before going back to the burger with both hands ravenously. "What the hell happened back there" Sam asked him in concern. "I mean, it looked like an angel battle royale." Jimmy shrugged again. "All I remember is a flash of light and I, uh . . . I woke up and I was just, you know, like, me again." He put the last bit of burger in his mouth and chewed blissfully. Dean frowned in concentration, trying to work all this out mentally. "So, what? Cas just ditched out of your meat suit?" "I really don't know" Jimmy admitted with his mouth full, still chewing. Dean sighed in frustration. Sam bit his lip and gave it a try. "You remember anything about being possessed? Anything at all?" Jimmy swallowed his final bite and reached for the soda again. "Yeah, bits and pieces, I guess. I mean, angel inside of you, it's kinda like being chained to a comet." He slurped down the remaining drink, then picked up his napkin, removing the burger grease from his fingers. "That doesn't sound like much fun" Dean remarked to which Jimmy snorted, bunched up the napkin and let it drop onto his plate. "Understatement."
"Cas said he wanted to tell us something" Sam said after a minute of silence, his expression desperate. "Please tell me you remember that." Jimmy shook his head with yet another shrug. "Sorry." Dean exhaled sharply in annoyance. "Come on, what do you know?" Jimmy's expression grew serious as he stared straight ahead, almost as if in a trance. "My name is Jimmy Novak. I'm from Pontiac, Illinois. I have a family. My wife's name is Amelia and our daughter is Claire." Dean, feeling a long story coming on, leaned back in his chair. Sam did the same. Jimmy continued. "About a year ago, I was contacted by Castiel. He told me I was special. That I was chosen." Jimmy spoke for nearly an hour, telling the boys about how he'd come to allow Castiel to use him as a host. When he finished, Sam held up one finger with a polite smile. "Just give us a second, Jimmy. Thanks." He and Dean stepped outside to try and hash out whatever the hell was going on.
"This is nuts" were the first words out of Dean's mouth the second they were alone. "So, what do we do" Sam asked, after nodding his agreement. Dean gave his brother a funny look, unsure exactly what was meant by that question as it seemed pretty obvious to him. "What do you mean? The guy's got a family. We buy him a bus ticket, and send him home." "I don't know about that" Sam hedged uncertainly. "Dean, he's the only lead we got." "He doesn't know anything" Dean stressed in reminder but Sam still didn't look swayed. "Are you 100% sure about that?" "You think he's lying?" Dean didn't like where this was going. "What, you wanna go Guantanamo on the guy?" "Dean, maybe he doesn't even know what he knows" Sam argued, throwing Dean for a complete loop. "What??" Sam sighed patiently. "I say, at least we get him to Bobby's. Maybe all he needs is hypnosis or a psychic. Or hell, maybe Cas will just drop back into him." Dean wasn't too confident with any of the ideas listed. "I don't know, man."
"Dean, back there, that was angel-on-angel violence" Sam pointed out intensely. "Now, I don't know what's going on, but it's big. And we can't let the only lead we got just skip town." Dean let out a little breath of air in a half scoff, shaking his head. Sam eyed him curiously. "What?" "You remember when our job was helping people" Dean reminded him stiffly. "Like, getting them back to their families?"
It seemed like a lifetime ago.
