You Soar & You Drown (Destiel AU)

Chapter Two

“Dean! Hey, Winchester! Over here!”

Dean ignored the voice and pushed through the crowd, following Cas. He was intrigued by the boy with the dark hair and eyes as blue as blue could be. He was going to ask if he wanted to get lunch or something, but Cas had left before he’d even had a chance to speak. Dean thought about just letting it go and seeing if he had any other classes with Cas, but he felt like he was in too deep to stop.

“Hey, Dean, how was your summer? Where’s Sammy?” Somebody called from the left, but he pushed past them and kept following Cas. In truth, his summer had been terrible. He’d been on the run with Sam the whole time, hunting and killing any demon in their path. Their father, as usual, had been away, and it was only by his insistence that they were even in school anyways. Not like he would’ve noticed if they skipped or anything. He’d left shortly after filling out paperwork for the semester.

The halls emptied out, everybody slowly draining away to either attend their classes or go do something during their break. Dean caught sight of Cas down at the end of the hall, fiddling with a door. For a brief moment Dean thought Cas’ hand was shining, but he blinked and then it was gone, and Cas had disappeared into the classroom.

Curious, Dean followed him. The door was only partway open, barely a sliver of the classroom visible from the outside. The blinds were pulled, but Dean could see that the lights were off anyways. Someone was breathing hard inside, gasping, indulgent breaths, inhaling great gulps of air. Dean slid inside quickly and shut the door behind him.

Cas wasn’t visible, but Dean knew something was in the room because of the two giant black wings stretching out from behind the teacher’s desk. Almost involuntarily, he reached into his jacket for demon knife hidden in his pocket. He set his books down gently on one of the desks and crept up to the side of the desk, peering over. Someone was huddled on the other side, almost completely obscured by the giant black wings. Their body shook, and Dean heard the muffled sound of crying from in the cocoon of feathers. And…praying?

“Cas?” He asked, softly.

The wings lifted a little, and he saw the face of his classmate looking up at him, teary-eyed. “D-d-dean?”

Against all his training, Dean dropped his knife and knelt next to him, carefully putting his arms around Cas. Cas dropped his head on Dean’s shoulder and cried, mumbling, “I’m a failure,” over and over again.  

“What do you mean?” Dean asked, keeping his voice gentle, soothing.

Cas lifted his face, regaining control of his emotions. Only trembling a little, he said quietly, “I only lasted a few hours. I promised…I promised my brother that I’d try to fit in. How can I go on missions for Heaven if I can’t even keep my wings hidden?” His voice hitched a little, and he continued, “It used to be so easy. I don’t know what’s wrong with me now, but…I can’t anymore.”

“Do you think you can last ten minutes?” Dean asked him, impulsively getting an idea. “I can get you back home, and then you’ll be okay.”

“I can last ten minutes,” Cas agreed gratefully, standing up and shakily drawing his wings back in, folding them back against his body and hiding them from human eyes again. Dean only caught the faintest imprint of a black feather against his back before he blinked and then it vanished.

“Come on, buddy,” he said, picking up the demon knife and hiding it in his jacket again. “Let’s get you home.”

 * * *

 Castiel didn’t know what to expect from Dean Winchester. He seemed mostly calm as he steered the car towards Cas’ apartment, humming along to Metallica and pretty much ignoring the shaking angel in the backseat. Cas found the reaction oddly pleasing, seeing as it gave him time to study Dean while he wasn’t looking. He’d heard the name Winchester often enough in Heaven; now was his chance to finally meet one.