Astronaut5: Reckless + Expecting

Dean... or better, the creature that now inhabited his body, simply smiled. A revolting, happy smile, that told just how happy it was to be alive again. "Still in here?", he asked, terribly calm. "Why, I've never left, Cas." He grabbed his arms, to push him away.

Castiel's heart ached at those words, as he was being pushed away. In fact, he was in such pain he didn't react right away. Sam was the first one to curse. "Dean, don't. You can fight this," he told his brother, choosing to believe in him.

Dean let out a joyless laugh. "Oh, sure I can. So you can exorcise me again, and get back your wreck of a brother, right? I don't think so." He got up from the ground, his wound quickly healing thanks to his new demonic form. He blinked, eyes seeping black. There could be no doubt who was in charge of that body now.

"Don't act like you're a different person now," Sam grunted, grabbing Dean by the arm. "And the only place you'll follow us to is the bunker. I've cured you once, I'll do it again."

Dean grimaced and just freed his arm from Sam's grip, immediately trying to hit him. "Like I said", he repeated, his voice colder, "I don't think so."

"I'm not leaving you a choice, Sam replied, and was ready to grab him again, when Castiel finally wrapped his arms around Dean, to prevent him to move.
"We won't leave you, Dean," the angel promised him in a low voice. "I'll never leave you."

Dean snarled when he felt arms wrapping securely around him. Castiel was strong - more so having just absorbed part of his original grace back again, and all he could do was try to wiggle himself out of that hold. "Let me go, now!"

"No," Castiel replied, his voice firm. He hesitated a few seconds, before he looked back at Sam. "I'm taking him to the bunker. I'll meet you there." And one those words, he unfurled his wings, to bring him and Dean back to the bunker.

Dean just kept violently tossing himself left and right, desperately trying to break free from Castiel's strong hold. "Let me go, God damnit! You won't do it again! Can't you see it makes me suffer? Didn't you see how I broke down last time?" Yeah, he would have said anything to be able to break free.

Castiel didn't reply right away. In fact, he fought hard against Dean, to get him inside the pentagram of the torture room, then down on the chair to tie him up. "I mostly remember how much you regretted every single thing you had said or done while in that state. It's for your own good."

Dean snarled soundly at him. "Oh, of course I said that", he spat, still trying to fight despite being severly weakened by the bindings and the devil's trap. "Are you trying to convince me or yourself, by the way?"

"... I don't know," Castiel found himself replying honestly. Once Dean's bonds were secure, he sat on a chair near him, his face still torn with pain. Now began the wait for Sam. And the mental torture for himself, he figured.

Dean seemingly calmed down at Castiel's answer. He sw an opening to attack, of course. And he took it, as a small smile made its way to his lips. "Don't you ever think you'd be far better off without this whole... you know. Soulmate thing?", he asked, a bit venomously. "Let's face it. I am a mess, and you constantly have to look after my sorry ass. Even now, you are. How many times will we have to live this scene again and again?"

Those words actually hurt Castiel. Found that weakness in his strong, unbreakable will. He held Dean's gaze, but his pain was obvious. "We will cure you," he promised Dean. "Take the mark off of your skin once and for all." Yet, as he said that, he mostly tried to reassure himself.

"If that makes you sleep at night", Dean conceded, that loopsided, irritating smile still on his face. "We tried literally anything. I wonder where should we look again for new solutions. Oh, wait, I know: they don't exist."

Castiel's jaw tightened, yet he said nothing. Maybe that demon Dean had become was right. Maybe he couldn't save him. Maybe he should have been a better soulmate and prevent him from accepting that mark in the first place. By the time Sam would arrive in the bunker, he was probably deep in his dark thoughts already.

And by the time Sam would have arrived at the bunker, Dean would have been looking perfectly at ease and smugly satisfied, having managed to upset Castiel. "Hiya, Sammy. Just in time to join our little party", he said, a bit too merrily.

Sam held back a curse, but sighed, trying to calm down right away. "Alright. Holy blood for you", he said to Dean, as he put down syringes, and blood poaches. "Cas, are you okay?" He frowned a bit when the angel didn't answer to him, still staring at Dean, with a broken heart.

Dean threw a smirk in Sam's general direction. "That'd be a no", he sassed, even though he eyed the syringes with nothing short than fear in his eyes.
Eileen, in the meantime, had told Sam to ask Castiel if he'd rather stay outside of that hellish room, with her, to try and keep himself from witnessing all of that unnecessary torture and pain. Or if Sam himself needed her for support inside that room instead. But she knew he would have said no to that.

Sam had indeed told Eileen it was his job to turn Dean human again. In the meanwhile... Castiel did agree to get out of that hellish room with Eileen. His eyes were lost, and he seemed worn out by the emotional pain he was going through, even though he had gained his grace back.
"What should I do, Eileen?" he worded out, and weakly signed at the same time.

Eileen gently put a cup of tea in front of him. She could only sympathize with Castiel, in that tiresome situation; as used as she was to study other people's expressions, she could only read pain and desperation on the angel's face. She sat down next to him, and softly touched his hand, both to try and comfort him and to keep his attention on her. "Demons are not truthful. You know they aren't - that thing in there is not Dean", she said, gesturing, unsure of how to express herself properly. "Dean, the real Dean, loves you. You know he does. He loves you more than his life, and that's why he went through all of this again."

Castiel took a deep, shaky breath. "But that demon is right. It's the second time he gave in to the mark. He had promised me he wouldn't." Castiel tightened his fingers on his teacup, as he closed his eyes, trying to steady himself.

Eileen squeezed Castiel's hand more strongly. "Castiel. Dean is... I know you share grace. But he is still terribly human. Just like Sam, and me - and you forget just how powerful the Mark can be. It has corrupted Lucifer, and he is an Archangel. It honestly surprises me that Dean managed to keep up this long." She was being brutally honest, but sugar coating wasn't going to do anything good.

Castiel's brows furrowed deeper with pain. "Then he truly might be lost already. He's been lost the moment he accepted him, and I might lose him any day for good," he whispered.

Eileen frowned. "Don't say that - you cannot say that", she said, almost sounding pained now with her unsure voice, gesturing franctically. "Would you really give up on him like this? You love him - you would both be devastated, and at that point, he'd really end up lost! How many times he did not give up on you, even when you thought you were beyond any forgiving?" She almost slammed her hand on the table. "There must be a way, somewhere. And if you are not willing to look for it anymore, then I will. And if I ever get tired, Sam will take my place. There has to be something we didn't think of!"