Summary: This is an AU where you and Dean have been separated by a terrible curse for over two years. You’re banding together with some old friends and old enemies to bring down the person responsible in hopes of removing the curse. This is part three in a multi-part series.5Please respect copyright.PENANAPnSmcSG2F3
Characters: AU!Dean x Reader, AU!Sam, AU!Cas, AU!Gadreel, AU!Arthur, AU!Cain, AU!John, AU!Crowley (mentioned), AU!Jess (mentioned), AU!Abbadon (mentioned), AU!Rowena, AU!Kevin, AU!Metatron (mentioned)
Word Count: 3495
Warnings: SMUT (unprotected sex, wrap it up to people), canon typical angst, canon typical violence, death of an animal
A/N: This is partly inspired by one of my favorite childhood movies Ladyhawke, though I’m taking it in a different direction.
Italics are flashbacks.
Castiel and Gadreel follow you on horseback riding north to find Sir Arthur Ketch. Castiel’s freedom fighters are heading back to the compound with Sam and Dean. Truthfully you could have made the journey on your own, but you’re reluctant to visit him alone. No one has seen or heard from him in the years since the curse took hold. Recently, a word made it back that he was seen near a monastery far east of the Winchester stronghold. As you soar through the sky your thoughts drift to your times with Arthur Ketch, or Ketch as you always called him.
Stinging pain hits your skin the moment the wooden sword makes contact with your leg.
“Sloppy, Y/N. You can do better.”
Blowing your hair out of your face you stand with your sword ready again.
“Come at me, love.”
“Gladly,” you say darting toward him, swinging your sword.
Ketch twists out of the way, anticipating his move, you quickly sweep at his legs though he manages to jump away. You bring your sword over your head; he meets it with his own, leaning into you.
“Getting better, love,” he says looking into your eyes.
“Just wait,” you say pushing away from him.
You circle each other feinting moves, trying to get a read on each other.
“Don’t hesitate, Y/N. Move. Action is best.”
You launch towards him again, successfully bluffing him, he goes left and you catch him across his side.
“Very good,” he rubs his side, a smirk playing on his lips. “Again.”
This time he comes at you. You block his advances, waiting for your opening. He swings, you block. You swing, he blocks. The parrying goes on until finally, you seize your moment. He sweeps an arc at your middle and, instead of jumping back, you drop down and kick his legs out from under him. You look down at him as he props himself up on his elbows.
“Great work, Y/N.”
You offer your hand, he takes it and you lift him up.
“Thanks.”
“How do you feel?”
“Good, I just wish I was stronger.”
“You’ll never be stronger, love. But you can always be quicker. Have you been working on the speed drills as I asked?”
“Yes.”
“Hey, sweetheart,” Dean says entering the training room.
“Dean,” you smile, running over to him.
He wraps his strong arms around you, picking you up, the scent of leather filling your nose. His full lips are on yours and you melt into him. He’s still kissing you as he lowers you down, heat rushing through you when he pulls back to look at you. He stands next to you, lacing his fingers with yours, rubbing circles on your palm with his thumb. The movement sends a wave of pleasure straight to your core. Ketch can’t leave soon enough.
“I came by to see if you’re done,” Dean says eyeing Ketch.
“Yeah, we just finished, right Ketch?”
“Yes, my lady,” Ketch says, his demeanor changes instantly.
“See you tomorrow?”
“Of course. My lady, my prince,” he says with a slight bow before leaving the room.
“I thought he’d never leave,” Dean growls pulling you close.
His lips are on yours and he’s lifting you up, moving you against the wall. You wrap your legs around him as he ghosts over your throat pulling down the neck of your tunic. He kisses the tops of your breasts, his fingers searching out your hardened buds. You moan when he finds them, pinching and rolling them between his fingers.
“I love it when you train,” he mutters into your breasts. “You’re always so worked up.”
You pull his face to yours capturing his lips in a heated kiss. You drop your legs to the floor, working Dean’s pants down as he helps you out of yours. Quickly he has you back against the wall his fingers tracing your folds. Your legs are wrapped around his waist and your arms around his neck.
“Already so wet for me, sweetheart.”
You slip your hand between you gripping his hard cock, pumping it a few times before guiding him in. Moans fall from your mouths as his root hits your pelvis. Kissing him again, you suck in his bottom lip, nipping it. He trails kisses down your throat to your breasts, as you stretch around his impressive length. His mouth is on yours once more as he slides out slowly, knowing you want more friction. You whine into his mouth feeling his smirk against your lips. He waits at your entrance before snapping his hips, thrusting into you suddenly.
“God, yes,” you cry.
He continues the slow drags and quick snaps until the moans of his name are a constant stream from your lips. He tilts his hips, thrusting faster and hitting your sensitive mound with perfect friction. He slams into you over and over until the familiar feeling low in your stomach builds, tightening until it snaps. You come around his cock, crying out his name. Dean’s thrusts stutter as he comes right after you.
“Fuck, Y/N!”
His head drops to your shoulder, your breathing is heavy as you both come down. You trail your fingers up and down his neck as he nuzzles into yours.
“I love you Y/N,” he whispers.
“I love you too, Dean.”
He pulls his head up, a smile wide on his face.
“Let’s go down to the kitchen and find something to eat.”
You laugh as he sets you down. He dips down picking up your clothes and handing them to you.
“Always hungry, Prince Winchester.”
“Yes,” he kisses you roughly. “For you.”
You pull your clothes back on when you look up and notice Ketch at the doorway; his eyes on you, dark and hungry. Before you can speak he walks away.
You shake yourself from your memory. The sun is low on the horizon so you swoop down in search of Gadreel and Castiel. You find where they set up camp for the night, happy to see that they set up a tent just for you. Sadness grips you when you realize you won’t be curling up next to the wolf this night. Despite being without Dean you quickly drift off to sleep, exhaustion winning out.
—-
Dean’s POV
Sam and I are leading Castiel’s freedom fighters back to our father’s compound. Not all have horses, which has made for a slow trek north. Sam and I haven’t talked much on our journey, neither of us ready to sit down and hash it out. We’ve been on the road for five days when he rides up next to me.
“Dean, we should stop for the night at the next town.”
“Yeah, so you can keep following Jess around with puppy dog eyes?”
“Shut up,” Sam says straightening his back.
“No, go for it. It’s nice to see you interested in someone.”
I try, unsuccessfully, to keep the edge from my voice and instead clear my throat.
“Anyway, yeah, that’s fine,” I continue. “We’ll stop at the next town.”
“Good,” Sam says turning his horse and riding back down the procession.
Two days later we make it home, a full week after Y/N and I parted ways. I thought being apart might make things easier on me, but it’s only made my need for her worse. We leave Jess and the other leaders with a few council members working to get Castiel’s people settled. Sam and I make our way through the castle to our father’s rooms. I knock on the door to his sitting chambers and we wait. After a minute I crack the door open.
“Dad?”
Sam and I give each other a look and walk-in.
“Dad?” Sam calls.
Suddenly the door to his bed chambers opens a crack and he’s peering through.
“Sam, Dean, I wasn’t expecting you. Give me a few minutes.”
He closes the door again as Sam and I sit and wait. I hear the muffled voices of my father and a woman. I strain to listen to see if I recognize the voice. Sam and I exchange glances when, finally, my father emerges.
“How was the journey? Is Castiel joining us once more?”
“Yeah, he’s with Y/N helping her with Arthur,” I say.
“Then I’ll need you two to head out first thing tomorrow to bring back Cain. We know he’s been living up north on his farm since he retired,” he gives me a hard look, “but that’s all the information we have. Can I trust you to do this without incident?”
“Yes, sir,” we say in unison.
“Good. Get some rest.”
—-
The next morning you continue your journey right after dawn. You soar into the sky watching Cas and Gad grow smaller and smaller. You look to the horizon, your powerful eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary. Once you’re sure there are no immediate threats, the memories quickly edge their way to the front of your mind.
“Why are we going outside?” you ask trailing behind Ketch.
“Where do you think you’ll be engaged in combat most of the time, love?”
“Valid point.”
“There’s a clearing just outside the castle grounds that will work for today.”
You make your way to the edge of the forest, plunging into twilight as you step between the trees. Picking your way through, you and Ketch arrive at the clearing stepping into the sunlight once again.
A stag is tied to a tree off to one side.
“Today we practice dealing death,” Ketch says, his eyes on your face.
“No,” you look from the stag to Ketch. “You can’t mean-”
“You think you’re going to get through this life without killing something, love? At some point, blood will be spilled. Your hesitation will decide whether it is yours or whether it is your opponent’s.”
He stands watching you, waiting.
“No,” you say unmoving. “Killing someone who’s trying to kill you is different than killing a defenseless animal.”
He steps closer to you, his eyes never leaving yours.
“It’s really not, Y/N,” he’s so close you can smell the lemon on his breath. “It will always feel bad; whether you’re killing someone because they’re trying to kill you or not. The sooner you get used to the feeling, the better.”
“No,” is all you can say, afraid your voice will crack.
“Very well, love,” he steps back from you. “I do wish there was another way, but I will not send you out unprepared. You may hate me but,” his eyes lock on to yours. “I do this because I love you.”
As he finishes his last word, he swings his sword cutting the stag’s throat. It whines and falls to the ground. Tears fill your eyes as you turn from the horror in front of you and sprint back to the castle.
You push the rest of the memory away. You’ve had enough sadness for a lifetime, no reason to keep dredging it up to wallow in it. Anger grips you as you think about how right he was. You’ve killed plenty of people since that day; being a member of the Knight’s Guard it was inevitable. Ketch knew what your future held and he was trying to prepare you, but that day he also wanted to hurt you.
—-
Dean’s POV
Three days later I spot the farm; a cottage sits in the middle of acres of land holding, cattle, horses, corn, and wheat fields. As we ride down I’m filled with trepidation; Cain and I didn’t part on the best of terms.
“Your anger is growing out of control, Dean,” Cain says as we arrive at the stronghold.
“My anger is fine,” I say.
“We’re alike, you and I. I know what it feels like to have anger consume you. When Lucifer killed my wife the rest of the world went black. All I could see was him. After we killed him, the anger was still there, only I didn’t have anywhere to focus it. I was quick to fight, quick to kill, and ready to die. If it wasn’t for John pulling me back, giving me somewhere to focus that anger, it would have consumed me.”
“That’s not me, Y/N isn’t dead,” I say dismounting and handing the reins to a squire.
“She may as well be.”
“Shut your mouth,” I growl.
“Dean, this curse, it’s not a problem that will be easily solved. It’s been a few months and already I see the rage rolling off you. What happens after a year or five? Who knows if it will ever be lifted? There will come a day when you realize that you may never be with Y/N again. As I said before, she may as well be -”
Before he can finish I punch him in the face knocking him down. He stands back up, looking at me with hard eyes.
“You’re lucky you’re John’s son, or this would end differently,” he says brushing past me. “The next time I see you, I wonder how much of you will be left,” he calls back before crossing through the castle gates.
That was the last time I saw Cain. He left shortly after, retiring to the country to live on this farm. Sam and I ride across the valley, heading to the farmhouse. We tie our horses on the porch rail and walk up the steps. I knock on the door, we wait silently. A moment later Cain stands at the door, his blue eyes studying me.
“I see I was right,” he says opening the door wider and letting us inside.
Sam looks at me confused but I give him a quick shake of my head as we walk in. The sitting room is small with a large fireplace and four chairs sitting in front of it. We stand in the middle of the room, waiting as Cain comes in behind us taking the chair nearest to the fireplace.
“Please sit,” he says gesturing to the chairs across from his. “So, what brings you to my tiny corner of the world?”
Sam leans forward, his elbows on his knees.
“We’d like you to come back to the Knight’s Guard, Cain.”
“Why now?”
“We’ve been gathering forces from all the surrounding cities and feel we’ve enough of an army to make an attack on Metatron and take the kingdom back. But only with all of the Knight’s Guard in place. ”
“Who do you have so far?” Cain says eyeing me.
“We have Abbadon, Castiel, Gadreel, Y/N, Dean, and myself. Y/N is with Castiel and Gadreel bringing in Arthur. You’re the last one.”
“I’ll come back with you. I did swear an oath after all.”
“Wow, really? I was expecting you to say no,” Sam says surprised.
“But I need to speak with Dean. Alone,” Cain continues.
“Uh, ok?” Sam looks at me.
I nod. He rises from his seat.
“Thank you,” he says then he walks out the front door.
“So Dean,” Cain says, our eyes finally making eye contact, “let’s have a little chat.”
—-
You reach the monastery just after dusk. Gadreel and Castiel busy themselves setting up the tents while you go in search of Ketch’s whereabouts. The building is eerily quiet as you enter and you wonder if you’ve come too late when a man appears at your side.
“Hello, miss, may I help you?” the man asks.
He’s only a bit taller than you. His hair is cut very short and he wears a plain robe.
“Yes, I’m looking for someone who may have visited here recently. Tall, dark hair, blue eyes, a scar on his chin?”
“You must mean Arthur. Yes, he joined us a couple of years ago.”
“Joined you?”
“Yes, follow me.”
The monk leads you through the church and out into the grounds. You cross a courtyard that has a large fountain surrounded by an expanse of grass. Huge oak trees dot the area. He leads you to an outbuilding that must be the monks’ quarters. At the end of a long hallway, he stops in front of a door.
“You will find Arthur inside,” he bows slightly leaving you at the door.
You knock lightly, your heart hammering in your chest as you turn the knob. You open the door to find him sitting on the floor, eyes closed, legs crossed.
“Ketch?”
“Y/N, love,” he says opening his eyes. “What a pleasant surprise,” he rises from the floor.
The man standing in front of you is Arthur Ketch, but it’s also not him. The edge, the hardness, the ice are all gone. Instead, his eyes are soft, his smile is warm and he’s pulling you into a hug.
“What’re you doing?” you say your arms stiff at your sides.
“It’s prayer time,” he pulls back smiling at you. “My nightly meditation.”
“Meditation?”
“Yes.”
You’re unsure what to say. The man in front of you may as well be a stranger.
“So, tell me what you’ve been up to these last two years,” you say.
—-
Dean’s POV
“I see the rage is still eating away at you. How are things?”
“Everything’s fine, Cain. Aside from a usurper sitting on my father’s throne and me changing into a wolf every night, oh and Y/N becoming a falcon every day,” my anger bubbles to the surface, but I swallow it back down. “So, can we go?”
“How are things, with Sam?”
“Sam? We’re ok, we’re just worn out. We’ve spent months and months on the road far from home, that’ll grate on anybody.”
“Sure. So, no unnecessary fights? No, overreactions? No anger?”
“What do you want me to say, Cain?” I lean forward. “That every night when I become the wolf, I unleash, killing everything in my path? Alright. But I’m dealing with it.”
Cain’s face is unreadable, I can’t tell whether he’s surprised or not. I drop my face into my hands. Saying the truth out loud eases the weight on my shoulders, but it also twists my stomach in knots.
“But, this is why I need you to come back with us. We need to end this.”
Cain nods before rising from his chair.
“Then lead the way.”
—-
“Ketch, I’m so happy you found peace and a place to belong, but, and I don’t know any other way to say this, I need the old you back.”
“Sorry, love, he’s gone for good.”
“I don’t think you understand. We have a chance, a real chance, to end all of this madness.”
“I understand, my dear, but that life is far behind me.”
You’re tired and frustrated; this is not the man you were expecting to find. You were expecting the Ketch you remembered that was cold and calculated. The Ketch only ever showed a softer side of himself to you. The Ketch killed a stag in front of you for no other reason than to prove a point. That is the man you need right now.
“If you ever loved me, you would do this for me. I can’t live like this anymore. You don’t know what it’s like to -”
“To be near the one you love just not with them?” he asks and the familiar edge creeps into his voice.
“I’m sorry,” you sigh. “I just, I can’t take another day of this. Please, Arthur, I need you. I know what I’m asking is selfish, but it’s about more than just me or Dean.”
You look into his stormy blue eyes, still surprised by the warmth you see.
“Very well, my love,” he says and the warmth in his eyes drains away. “When do we leave?”
Your stomach twists with guilt. You know what this will cost him, but it doesn’t stop you from asking. He’s the stag and you’re holding the sword, ready and willing to sacrifice him for your cause. You mourn the girl you were before, may she rest in peace.
—-
Hundreds of miles away at Castle Winchester, as the sun slips past the horizon, a woman sits in chains. The room is dank, a single candle burns; the flame dances wildly doing its best to fight off the shadows and darkness.
“It’s time Kevin,” the woman says in her lilting Scottish accent.
“Rowena, what if I get stopped or kidnapped or lost?” a young man looks at her anxiously.
“You’ll be fine, Kevin,” Rowena pats him on the arm. “When you get to the Winchester Stronghold go find Charlie.”
“What if the plan doesn’t work?”
“Not to worry, child. Charlie will know what to do. Between the two of you, you’ll be able to work the spell.”
“I wish you were coming,” Kevin says sadly.
“I wish I was too,” Rowena says holding up her cuffed wrists. “Now go, you need to leave tonight and the cloaking spell I created for you won’t last long.
“Bye, Rowena. I’ll, I’ll see you soon.”
“Goodbye, Kevin.”
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