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Hunting Humanity VIII	By : greenwizard11 Category: Supernatural > Slash - Male/Male Views: 1469 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Supernatural Universe. No monetary gain is being made from this story.

Chapter List
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Liam woke one morning to find Dean staring at him. “I must be very entertaining while I sleep,” he commented. “Because you seem to enjoy watching me.”

“I wouldn’t say entertaining exactly,” Dean leaned in to kiss him softly. “I mean, sometimes you mumble weird stuff, but mostly I just like looking at you because you look so peaceful and innocent.”

“I don’t look innocent when I’m awake?”

Dean chuckled. “Oh, you look innocent enough, but I know better.”

“Natalie set a date for our wedding. You’re not going to back out, are you?”

“Why would I do that? Believe it or not, that day I saw how you were with Alice, I think that was when cupid struck because I knew I never wanted to be without you. I actually started thinking of ways to try and get you to hunt with us even if we couldn’t cure you.”

“What would you say if I told you I told Natalie to have the wedding in Jamaica, Vermont. Not only because it’s legal in that state, but because I have very fond old memories there.”

Dean shrugged. “Can’t honestly say that I’m thrilled that you want to begin a new chapter with me in the same town where you used to live with an old lover. But I guess as long as you’re not planning on raising Jason from the dead and leaving me for him...”

“No,” Liam shook his head and touched Dean’s cheek for a moment. “I loved that man, I really did, but I think I was always meant to be with you. It just feels right, you know?”

Dean let out a little chuckle. “I know exactly what you mean. Even at first when I had all these conflicting feelings tumbling around in my skull, being near you was as natural as breathing. Now, as much as I would love to just hole up in here with you all day, we should get up.”

The two of them dressed and got some breakfast before Kevin wanted to see them. He showed them pages full of symbols he drew. Sam looked them over and shook his head. “That's your big news, is that you, that you translated the tablet into doodles?”

“It's cuneiform,” Kevin corrected him. “I hit a wall translating the tablet into English. But I found an ancient codex, uh, linking the Angel script to proto-Elamite cuneiform, and I was able to translate the tablet and the footnotes into Elamite, which is …”

“Doodles,” Dean repeated the word.

“It's extinct.”

“Well, can you read it?” Sam asked.

“No one can. Scholars have tried for centuries.”

“So it's a dead end?” Dean slammed the papers down in disgust. “You can’t by chance?” he turned to Liam.

The blond shook his head. “Oddly enough, if it was in Ancient Egyptian… But that…”

“Now, most proto-Elamite is abstract, but I was able to decipher one phrase from Metatron's footnotes,” Kevin tried to explain. “Falling angels.”

Sam nodded. “Okay, so, the footnotes refer to Metatron's spell?”

“Maybe.”

Sam walked over to the bookshelf. “Okay. Well, maybe if we can decipher the footnotes, then we can reverse the spell and...” He started pulling books off the shelf.

“Punt those winged dicks back to heaven,” Dean sat at the table and slapped it. “Where do we start?”

“Research,” Sam answered as he tossed a book to everyone. “We comb through the library, see if we can find anything else on Elamite.”

Dean looked at the book. “Zimmerman's Encyclopedia of Extinct Languages … Volume One: Adai to Atakapa. How many volumes are there?”

“Twenty four,” Kevin answered. Dean’s mouth started opening and closing silently. “Don't worry, we've found them all.”

“Awesome,” Dean said sarcastically as he started looking through the book. Then his phone rang. “There is a God,” he mumbled as he got up from the table to answer it. There was a very short conversation and then Dean turned to Liam. “Pack a bag, sexy.”

“What? Why?” Liam looked puzzled.

“That was Cas. He wants us to check something out. Something minor. You and I can handle it.”

Dean and Liam headed for the door with their bags, Sam following them. “So, he said nothing about where he is or what he's been doing?”

Dean turned to his brother. “This is Cas. In case you forgot, he's not exactly Chatty Cathy.”

“And you're not even gonna see him when you're in Idaho?”

“Well, like I said, as long as he's catnip for angels, he's keeping his distance.”

“So then, what's the point, Dean? I mean, it's barely even a case.”

“That's why we’re just gonna go have a little look see, and we're not gonna waste a whole lot of manpower on a big pile of nada.”

“In other words, a perfect excuse to bail out on research,” Kevin accused.

“You got me,” Dean confessed and grabbed Liam’s hand as they left.

They drove out to the latest crime scene at a cabin, and chatted up the local sheriff in their suits. “So, uh, four missing?” Dean asked.

“Four dead. Just got confirmation,” the sheriff nodded as they ducked under some yellow tape.

“And, uh, any common threads you can think of?”

“Well, Joe in there had the suicide hot-line on speed dial. The gal before him was a shut in. Had enough antidepressants in her medicine cabinet to stock a pharmacy. The first victims, a married couple out of Sugar City. Pretty much a walking billboard for no fault divorce.”

“Were they all basket cases?”

“If you asked me to make a list of this county's saddest sacks, these four would've been right on top.”

“Alright, so, four unhappy people, one of them definitely suicidal. But you've ruled out suicide?”

The sheriff handed them both blue gloves. “You're gonna want to put these on.” They entered the room which was covered in a lot of something pink. “This look like suicide to you?”

“Blood?” Liam asked, looking a little grossed out.

“If the tests come back same as the others … it's everything. Blood, skin, hair, nails. Internal organs. Even clothing fibers. Like these poor souls got run through the world's finest wood chipper.”

“What about witnesses?” Dean asked.

“Same as the rest. Neighbors reported some kind of a pink flash. By the time we got here, all that was left was this.”

After looking around for a little while they drove to the gas station Castiel was at and parked outside. Dean made a quick call to Sam to see how they were doing. “Not much luck on their end,” Dean said when he hung up.

Then they walked in and right up to the counter. “I'll have some beef jerky and a pack of menthols,” Dean said.

“What are you doing here?” Castiel didn’t seem pleased to see them.

“Well, gee, I only spent a week teaching you to be human,” Liam looked a little hurt. “Thought you’d be a little happier to see me.”

“Gee, it's nice to see you, too, Cas,” Dean added.

“It's Steve now,” he gestured toward his name tag. “And... uh, you know you surprised me.”

Dean looked around. “Well, the feeling is mutual. I mean, I knew you had to lay low from the angel threat, but, uh, wow. This is some cover.”

“My Grace is gone. What did you expect? Do you have any idea how hard it was? When I fell to earth, I didn't just lose my powers. I had nothing. Now... I'm a sales associate.” A guy with a beer delivery handed him a clip board with a paper to sign. “I'm responsible for inventory, sales, customer service. I keep this place clean and presentable. And when my manager's busy, I even prepare the food.”

“Wow. So you went from fighting heavenly battles to nuking taquitos?”

“Nachos too.”

Dean followed Castiel around as he started working. “This is not you, man. You are above this. Come on.”

“No, Dean. I'm not. I failed at being an angel. Everything I ever attempted came out wrong. But here at least I have a shot at getting things right. I guess you can't see it, but … there's a real dignity in what I do, human dignity.”

A woman came out just then. “Hate to interrupt you guys, but, Steve? Customer had an accident in the men's room.”

“I'm on it,” Castiel nodded.

“Oh, and tonight, seven at my place work for you?”

“Great.”

“You're the best!”

“That's what this is about?” Dean watched the woman leave.

“No, Dean. It's not. Nora, she's a very nice woman, I'm pretty sure she's not a reaper intent on killing me, and she's asked me out. Going on dates, that's something humans do, right?”

“Well, yeah...” Dean nodded. “I haven’t had a date in… I don’t know when, but that is something humans do.”

“Which reminds me,” Liam gave Dean a sideways look. “You promised me more balance. Where’s my nice dinner out?”

Dean let out a relieved sigh when his phone rang. “This is Agent Lee Ermey. I'll be right there.” He hung up. “There was another kill over at the high school. You coming?”

“I wouldn't be much use. I don't have my powers.”

“So? I've never had powers.”

“You are a hunter.”

“And you're a hunter in training, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. You said I sucked.”

“I didn't say that. I said that there was, uh, you know, room for improvement. Come on.”

“Alright, my shift's over in five minutes, and my date's not until later, so...”

“Attaboy! I'll go get the car.”

“Not just yet. I have to clean the bathroom.”

As Castiel walked off Liam glared at Dean. “You are so not off the hook.”

Dean sighed. “Never thought I was. Okay, look, I’m sorry. Maybe when all of this is wrapped up we’ll go somewhere nice, okay?”

“Okay. I’m holding you to that.”

They drove out to the scene. Dean and Liam headed over to where the sheriff was talking to a teenage girl. “One second, we're talking, and the next, she just...stops. And then everyone in the cafeteria freaks, rushing, and pointing out the window. Could that really be her?” the girl sobbed.

“And nobody saw anybody else at the scene; a man, a woman, anything unusual?” Dean asked. She shook her head. “Your friend, was she, uh, depressed? Any thoughts of suicide?”

“Ew. No. I mean, she was kind of bummed that dick bag Travis broke up with her in front of the whole school.”

“Kind of bummed?”

“Yeah. Like more bummed than when she got a C on a quiz, and less bummed than when her parents split up. Kind of bummed.”

“Excuse me,” Dean went over to where Castiel was observing the scene. “Cas, what's wrong?”

“I've seen this before.”

“What? Where?”

“In heaven.”

“What, you're saying an angel did this?”

“It's no ordinary angel. Dean, this is bad. This is very bad.” They followed Castiel to the car so he could explain further. “On the battlefields of heaven, there was a special class of angel, the Rit Zien. It's, uh, Enochian for ‘Hands of Mercy.’ They functioned like medics. They tended to the wounded. They healed those who could be healed, but for the mortally wounded, those who were past saving, the Rit Zien's job was to put them down.”

“But the granulated bodies?” Dean asked.

“This was their special ability. They had this way of smiting that was so quick and so total that it rendered death virtually painless.”

“Yeah, but these aren't wounded angels that they're vaporizing, they're people.”

“Right. I don't know. The Rit Zien home in on pain, it's like a beacon to them. So, when this angel fell to earth, he heard the victims' cries, and their anguish, same as he'd hear an angel's in heaven. He's continuing his heavenly work down here. One suffering human at a time.”

“Yeah, but this last victim was not suffering. She was just a normal, moody kid.”

“But he just got here. The ebb and flow of human emotion, Dean, I've been on earth for a few years, and I've only begun to grasp it. To him, pain is pain.”

“So everybody's fair game?” Castiel nodded. “Alright, well, we got to stop him.”

“You two have to stop him.”

“You're scared.”

“It's different now, Dean. Everything feels different.”

“You're right. Alright, we’ll track down this, uh, Kevorkian wannabe, and we’ll put him down. You stay safe. Go on that date, all right? Go live a normal life.”

“Okay,” Castiel nodded.

Dean started the car, but Castiel didn’t move. “Well?”

“I need a ride.”

“Right,” Dean sighed and started driving.

They pulled up in front of a house and Castiel took a deep breath. “Thanks, Dean.”

“Cas. Wait. I can't let you do this.”

“What?”

“You're gonna wear that, on a date?”

“This is all I have, Dean.”

“Okay. Uh, lose the vest.” Castiel took off the vest and tossed it into the back. “That's a little better. Alright. There we go. Alright. And do the buttons, why don't you unbutton it?” Castiel starts to unbutton his shirt. “Okay. That's far enough, Tony Manero,” Dean laughed a little bit. “Um... Yeah. Good. Alright. Listen to me. Always open the door for her, okay? Ask a lot of questions. They like that. And, uh... Oh, if she says she's happy to go Dutch … she's lying. Alright?”

“And don’t forget about the stuff we talked about before,” Liam added.

Castiel got out of the car and walked up to the door. He even stopped to pick a rose out of her little flower garden. “Nice touch,” Dean commented.

“People always like to be on the receiving end of a little extra thought,” Liam said as he climbed into the front. “A nice little gesture now and then wouldn’t kill you either.”

“Point made, but we’ve got a killer angel on the loose at the moment.” Dean went to pull out but a truck started backing up toward him. “What are you doing, jackass?” He leaned a little out the window to get the driver’s attention. “Hey!” The driver pulled up a little and they left.

They were driving back to the motel when Dean’s phone rang. “Sheriff?” he answered.

“Now, here's a wrinkle. Our first crime scene, married couple? Full analysis of the spray came in from the lab. Turns out it only contains the wife's DNA.”

“The husband's still out there,” Dean exchanged a look with Liam.

They rushed over to the police station and started going over some papers on the husband with the sheriff. “He was already a bit screwy, but then he found religion. She was a hard line atheist, no peach herself, when he got himself obsessed with this Buddy Boyle whack job, an already bad marriage got worse. Kept telling her to Let God in.”

“Buddy Boyle. That explains it,” Dean mumbled.

“Explains what?” the sheriff was confused.

“Never mind. Let's see,” Dean started looking through photos. “Is that his truck?”

“Yep.”

“Cas...”

Dean and Liam ran out to the car and raced back to the house where they left Castiel. Dean burst through the door with an angel blade and was knocked into a wall. Astiratu strutted in with a smirk on his lips. “Such a waste of a vessel,” he shook his head.

“So you agree?” the angel looked to him. “Castiel needs to be dealt with quickly.”

“No, I meant you, you moron!”

“What?” the angel blinked.

“What you’re doing down here, it’s idiotic to say the least. Granted, because of Metatron’s childish actions you were tossed into a world you know nothing about, but still… An intelligent being realizes things have changed and they adapt. You haven’t done that, and therefore you are a moron.”

The angel took a step toward him. “I have had the pleasure of witnessing you in battle, and even you can’t argue that cleansing the world of suffering is a noble cause.”

“It’s true, I can’t. I strive to do the same myself when I can. However, when on earth, I use earthly methods. Human suffering, it isn’t a permanent state. Things can get better, people can heal. The sad sack at the cabin, maybe that wasn’t an entirely bad choice, but the teenage girl, she would have gotten over the break up in a little while and continued on with life. Hell, she could’ve ended up doing something with her life that would’ve eased the suffering of many others, but now we’ll never know because you had to go off half cocked.”

“What about you? I feel pain, and yours, it’s overwhelming. You don’t wish to end it?”

“Nope, I’m a complete and total masochist. I trade little pieces of my sanity here and there for the well being of others. If it wasn’t a price I was willing to pay I would’ve just gone hog wild centuries ago and started breaking major rules to force Daddy to take me out. But as it is well known, God is about the only being in existence I listen to because only He has the power to take me out, and He would have had I been stupid. I’ve only ever destroyed one human soul ever. No matter how angry they make me I restrain myself. I’m not supposed to kill angels either, but apparently Daddy went MIA, so fuck it.” With one quick movement he grabbed the angel roughly by the throat and there was a flash of light before the angel fell dead. Then Astiratu stumbled backward and fell.

“Hey!” Dean ran over to him. “You okay?” he asked as he knelt beside the half angel.

“I um...” Astiratu blinked. “I just need to catch my breath a moment.”

“Your body is wearing out,” Dean came right out with it. “Zeke told me. Your body was made to contain you, but using your powers like you have been, it’s doing damage. When you went after the witch, yeah you really hurt her, but you came closer than I am comfortable with to killing yourself.”

Astiratu let the information sink in and took a deep breath. “Well, everything worth doing comes with a price.”

Dean glared at him. “You get upset with me about date nights. You want me to show I care. Well how’s about I ask you to dial it back a bit for a little while at least so I can keep you alive and with me.”

Astiratu met his gaze. “You know I can’t do that. I am morally incapable of just sitting back and relaxing when I know that there is something I can do. I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but that is who I am, and who I always will be.”

“And that is one of the things I really like about you, I’m just asking you to think about yourself a little more.”

Astiratu pulled himself to his feet and went over to the crib where the baby was crying, signaling that he was done with the conversation. “And what’s all the fuss about over here?” he picked her up. “Oh, she’s warm.”

“Yes,” Castiel nodded. “Before Ephraim interrupted, I was going to take her to the hospital.”

“Well, before we do anything that drastic, why don’t you check the medicine cabinet for some baby aspirin.”

“Alright, I didn’t think of that,” Castiel went to find the medicine cabinet, and he came back a few minutes later with a bottle. “Is this what you meant?”

“Yep,” Astiratu took the bottle and read the directions before giving the baby a dose and rocking her a little bit. “There, that should make you feel much better,” he cooed at the infant who seemed a little less fussy.

“You’re very good with infants,” Castiel commented.

“As they say, practice makes perfect. I have been a parent many times, and if I do say so myself, I am a very good parent, though slightly over protective at times.”

“Slightly?” Castiel chuckled. “Arthur and Excalibur? Ring a bell? Not to mention what you did to his armor. The man was invincible at your hand. I wasn’t the only one who thought that was serious overkill.”

“Yeah, well, enchantments that protected against bodily harm did not enhance performance, and therefore were not against tournament rules. Tournaments were very dangerous and I didn’t want my little boy hurt, so if you don’t like it then get bent. Here, take the kid.”

Castiel reached down to take the baby and as soon as she was out of his arms Astiratu passed out. Dean looked to Castiel. “Can you give me a second opinion? Was Ezekiel correct in his assessment?”

“Dean, I no longer have the power to sense anything, but I can tell you it is a possibility. Even when he was Merlin his body could not have withstood his full power being used, although that one was made to handle quite a bit more than his current one.”

Dean picked his lover up and moved him over to the couch. “And what are the chances he’ll slow down and not kill himself?”

“I wish I could tell you differently, but not good.”

They sat and waited for Nora to return home. “Who are these guys?” Nora asked when she came in the door.

“Friends of mine,” Castiel answered. “They are visiting from out of state, I hope you don’t mind them being here. The sleeping one is Liam, and the other is Dean.”

“Hi there,” Dean gave a little smile and waved. “Uh, we’ll just get out of your hair,” Dean got up and threw Liam over his shoulder.

“Why don’t you just wake him up?” Nora asked.

“I would, but long trip, and he got really wiped out. When he’s this tired he sleeps like the dead.”

Dean carried Liam out to the car and got him settled in the backseat. Then his phone rang. “Hey, Sammy, how are things on your end?”

“Long story short, we did get Crowley to translate, and it looks like the spell is permanent.”

“Well, there's no way. Crowley's lying.”

“No, Dean, not this time. Look, Metatron built the spell to withstand any attempt to reverse it. There is no putting the angels back in heaven. It's done. Are you gonna tell Cas?”

Dean noticed Castiel coming back toward him. “I got to go.” he hung up. “Where to, Cas?”

Dean drove Castiel back to the gas station, and turned to look at his friend when they parked. “Listen, Cas … Back at the bunker, I, uh... Sorry I told you to go. I know it's been hard on you, you know, on your own. Well, you're adapting. I'm proud of you.”

“Thank you, Dean. But there's something Ephraim said. The angels, they need help. Can I really sit this out? Shouldn't I be searching for a way to get them home?”

“You let us deal with the angels. You're human now. It's not your problem anymore.”

Castiel gave a little nod and got out of the car. He headed back to the gas station, and turned to give Dean a little wave goodbye before Dean drove off.
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Hunting Humanity VIII