To Be Human (for CleverFox)

[Nene]

Late in a rainy autumn evening, a black '67 Chevy Impala cruised down the highway, with a content Dean Winchester behind the wheel. Seated beside him was a delicious cherry pie, one that Dean had looked forward to digging into as soon as he would get back to the bunker.

With the windows rolled down, Dean was rocking out to Metallica, bobbing his head and singing along softly to some of the lyrics. Dean, distracted by the music and the road had almost entirely missed a familiar figure wearing a drenched calf-length trench coat wandering down the highway, looking roughed up and incredibly lost.

After a double-take, Dean slammed on the breaks, "Cas?" he looked back, and put the gear in reverse, backing up to park beside the wandering trench coat man. "Cas!" he said a bit louder to get his friend's attention.

[CleverFox]

As he walked down the road, wondering where he was even going, Castiel was actually trying to remember what had happened. There had been an encounter...with someone...and he had lost something...something important...but his mind was fuzzy on the details and he was trying to figure out what was going on.

And where he was going.

That would probably be something else that he should figure out. His black hair was plastered to his forehead and partially concealing confused blue eyes. He vaguely heard the screeching of tires and then the shout, his gaze shifting in that direction and after a moment he recognized who it was that was talking to him.

"Dean!" Castiel exclaimed, quickly making his way forward and seeming to be very shaky on his feet.

All in all there was just something...off about him.

[Nene]

Looking over his roughed up friend through the open passenger side window, Dean's jaw fell slack. Cas looked like ten kinds of smashed ass, like he'd just gone ten rounds with a werepire. He was shocked to see his friend in such rough shape. He looked injured and Dean found it a troubling sign that he'd found Cas wandering around out here, dirty and possibly hurt.

Dean extended an arm, unlocking the door. "Cas, hey, get in, buddy," it wasn't a suggestion. Cas had to get into the Impala, to further shield his battered body from the wind, not that an angel would particularly care but that couldn't be comfortable no matter what sort of being he was.

Dean couldn't help but to take notice that things appeared ... off. Dean could hardly see in this darkness, but what he could see worried him. Cas' legs shook, unsteady on his feet as he hurried up to the window, with a confused and tired look across usually brilliant blues that had looked almost lifeless in this light. Dean fumbled around in the darkness of the car, quickly shoving his cassette tapes aside and lifting the pie, placing it in the back seat so Cas wouldn't sit on top of it and get pie all over his wet ass.

[CleverFox]

Even when Dean told him to get into the car Castiel still seemed too confused to actually obey, at least at first. He just looked at Dean with dull blue eyes that were actually veiled with...pain. Which was something that the angel had never really displayed before since his grace allowed him to heal from wounds in an instant.

Hell Dean himself had shot and stabbed the angel with no effect.

But now he looked like someone had put him through the ringer with great effect.

After a few minutes he did actually move to get into the car, his gaze once again going to his friend. "Dean...I lost something..." he said in a confused voice, trying his best to recall what had happened but it was still really fuzzy for him. He had no idea why he was having this much trouble recalling things.

Usually he was really quick on the uptake because he was an angel.

An almost omnipotent being.

At least...he was.

[Nene]

Dean curled calloused fingers around the door handle on the driver's side in the event that he would have to get out to help his hurt angel. Fortunately for the both of them, he hadn't the need to do so and he observed with caution as Cas opened the door and eased himself into the car. Dean could hear the sloshing of the muddy water inside of Cas' dress shoes - he had to be walking for quite a long time for his feet to get that waterlogged.

Dean lifted a hand, turning on one of the overhead lights so he could get a look at Cas in the light, and with his other hand he turned off the radio to get some peace and quiet.

"...Cas," Dean gasped when he saw the blood and bruising, and he laid a hand on Cas' shoulder, gently. Cas sounded disoriented, and it appeared he'd gotten a head injury. "Cas, come on, what... what did you lose? The hell happened to you?" the word 'worried' could not even begin to describe how he'd felt right now.

[CleverFox]

As he eased his battered body into the car Castiel briefly had a thought that Dean wasn't going to like this and that actually caused him to pause. "Dean...your car..." Even in his disoriented state he was aware of the fact that Dean was pretty obsessed with his car and because of that he was worried that he was going to mess it up and that Dean would be mad at him.

Which was something that he did not want.

His blue eyes, one of which was somewhat swollen, turned toward Dean when the man asked what had happened to him with that hand on his shoulder. "I lost...I lost..." he stuttered, trying his best to rack his brain so that he could remember what it was that he had lost. It was important, he knew that. He could feel it.

And then suddenly it dawned on him.

"Dean...I lost my grace..." the angel, or rather the former angel, said in a quiet and yet at the same time strained voice.

In reality his grace had been stolen from him but it was going to take a little rest and recuperation before Castiel was going to be able to share that story with his best friend. Right now his thoughts were too cloudy and he was in too much pain, both physically and now emotionally as he realized that he wasn't an Angel of the Lord anymore.

[Nene]

It would say a lot for how he'd felt about Cas, as in these crucial moments he could not care less of the muddy water tracked into Baby. He'd cleaned this car of worse things than a little bit of mud; Cas held top priority above all else. "Hey, buddy, don't worry about my car," he assured Cas, managing a smile for comfort.

Dean stayed parked on the side of the road, listening carefully to what Cas had to say. Dean felt his heart drop into his stomach when he heard what Cas had lost. It took several moments to process this information and he wouldn't take his eyes off of his friend, not even for a second. "Your grace... Cas..." Dean had known for quite some time that when an angel lost their grace, they became human, and Dean panicked a bit inside. Cas was human, and he was hurt, bad.

Dean had wanted to ask Cas how he'd lost his grace, but he'd looked so confused and fatigued, and Dean decided it would be best not to bombard him with questions. "Cas, we gotta get you home, just ... just try to relax. Breathe." Cas was so tense.

[CleverFox]

Castiel was a bit surprised when Dean told him not to worry about the car since he had been around when the man issued threats to Sam regarding that car. He didn't say anything about that however and instead just tried to tell Dean what was going on, even though he was a bit foggy on the details.

"I...I don't know how it happened Dean...I can't...can't remember..." Castiel said quietly when Dean repeated part of what he had said, the former angel turned human looking as if he was on the verge of tears.

Another thing that never happened with him.

He was always so stoic.

But not now, now he just looked tired and as if he were on the verge of a complete breakdown. He was trying so hard not to let that happen but it was getting to be more than he could deal with. "I...I'm sorry Dean..." Castiel apologized though in all honesty he didn't even know what he was apologizing for.

He just felt like he needed to.

[Nene]

Dean wasn't at all surprised when Cas admitted to him that he couldn't remember how this had happened. That head injury looked nasty. For now, the how held very little importance. "It's okay, Cas... We're goin' to get you patched up, just hold on, keep talkin' to me," Cas looked so tired and Dean hadn't wanted to run the risk of letting him sleep. Who, besides their Heavenly Father would know what could happen if he were to lose consciousness. Dean had no way to assess just how bad it was, not in this low light.

Before lifting a hand to turn the overhead light back off, Dean could see the tears pooling in Cas' eyes. That teary look, soon followed by the apology caused his heart to flop. "What're you sorry for...? C'mon, Cas, it'll be okay, I gotcha." Dean went over in his head what they would have to do upon their arrival. "You ready?" he wanted to make sure that Cas was ready, as he was sure with the pain that he was in, Cas had to feel nauseated and that nausea could be aggravated by the moving vehicle.

[CleverFox]

Castiel looked at his best friend, the first true friend that he had ever made in all his angelic life, and he was confused when the young man told him to keep talking. He didn't understand the significance of that request and so he just sort of stared. "I...I don't know what to talk about Dean," he finally said since he had already shared everything that he knew.

Now his mind was blank and his head hurt.

He was not used to this.

His blue eyes, now pooling with tears, once again shifted to Dean when the elder Winchester responded to the apology that had been offered to him by the former angel. "I'm...I just think...I should be sorry..." Castiel replied quietly after a few moments of careful thought, which only served to make his head throb all the more. "I mean...this is a lot of trouble..."

When asked if he was ready the angel turned human nodded his head before sort of slumping against the door of the Impala. Not losing consciousness but he was pretty darn close to reaching that point.