Big Machine (2013 DCBB) - Part 2
Title: Big Machine
Author: Anubis_S_J
Fandom/Genre: Supernatural, AU
Pairing(s): Dean Smith/Castiel Novak
Rating: R
Word Count: 11,076
Warnings: Minor drug use
Summary: Dean Smith is an intelligent, successful businessman who is perfectly content with his life the way it is. That is, until he meets Castiel Novak. Castiel is strange and unlike anyone Dean has ever met before, but he can't help but be drawn to him.
Part 2
Dean was humming to himself as he got into the elevator, a small smile on his face. He just couldn’t shake the good mood he was in, not that he wanted to. When the elevator stopped, and a very tall man in a yellow polo with really long hair stepped in, Dean waved at him. “Hey.”
“Hi.” The guy glanced over at him, then away again.
Dean wasn’t really surprised at his reaction. The IT guys didn’t really talk to company directors like him, and to be fair, he didn’t really talk to anyone working below him, either. He was just going to let it go, but then he looked over at the behemoth sharing an elevator with him, and shrugged internally. “So, my name’s Dean. Dean Smith. What’s yours?”
“Uh, Sam Wesson.” Sam gave him a strange look, like he was trying to be polite, but mostly wanted Dean to just leave him alone.
“You doing alright today?” Dean asked, deciding he had already gotten this far.
“Yeah, sure, um... Just so you know I’m not into, y’know...” Sam gestured awkwardly, something of a pained look on his face as he willed Dean to understand.
Dean just stared at him, until realization dawned on his face. “Oh. Oh! No, dude! No! I wasn’t, uh... I’ve... got someone. I was just...” Dean laughed at himself. “I don’t know what I was doing. Sorry, man. I think I’m just losing my damn mind.” He stepped to the side, putting more distance between him and Sam.
Sam was still looking at Dean like maybe he was crazy. “So, uh... What was that about, anyway?”
Dean shrugged. “It’s stupid, I promise. I’m not too good at that whole ‘friend’ thing. For some reason I thought you’d make a good start. Don’t worry about it.”
Sam nodded, and Dean thought that’d be the end of it. Then Sam started staring at him again. “Look, um. This is my floor, so I gotta’ go, but, I dunno. Maybe you can shoot me an e-mail and we can have lunch or something. Okay?”
Dean’s eyebrows shot up, and he nodded slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, sounds good. I’ll talk to you later then, Sammy.”
“It’s just Sam,” he said as he got out of the elevator. “And yeah, later.” Sam waved, before the doors slid shut.
Dean was leaning against his desk, eyes following Cas as he paced around the apartment while he talked animatedly. He had no idea what Cas was going on about, but it was fun just watching him move. He laughed at something the other man said, before popping the cap on his water bottle and taking a drink from it.
Cas stopped suddenly to stare at him. “What is that anyway? I see you drinking it all the time now.”
“What, this?” Dean held up his water bottle, briefly examining it for himself. “Just, y’know, lemonade, maple syrup, uh, cayenne pepper.”
Cas narrowed his eyes at him in confusion for a moment, before shaking his head. “You’re so strange.”
Dean scoffed, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah, like you’re one to talk.” He took another drink of the lemonade concoction as Cas went over to the fridge. He didn’t think much of Cas opening the door and rifling through it.
“Dean, what the hell? Where’s your food?” Cas crouched down and started opening and closing drawers. “I know you only keep lettuce and soy crap in here, but there’s nothing edible.”
There was something odd in Cas’s tone, and for the life of him, Dean couldn’t figure out what it was. It set him on edge. “I, uh, I haven’t gotten any yet. I’m still on the cleanse, dude.”
Cas stood up slowly, his shoulders visibly tensing as he let the refrigerator door swing shut. “And what the hell does that mean?”
Dean swallowed nervously, the feeling that he had made a mistake creeping up on him. “It’s, y’know, it’s a diet. You drink this lemonade stuff, it detoxes your system, you lose weight, it’s great. I’m on the eighth day of it.”
Cas whipped around, a thoroughly unimpressed expression on his face. “Wait, are you telling me you haven’t eaten anything for eight days?”
Dean shrugged helplessly. “Yeah, no solids for ten days. I know it sounds kinda’ weird, but it’s...” He trailed off as Cas marched over to him, and snatched his water bottle right from his hand. Just as quickly, he turned on his heel and went over to the far wall.
Dean could only stare in a detached sort of horror as Cas pushed opened the window, and hurled his water bottle out of it. He then turned on Dean, eyes fierce, and Dean swallowed as the man stalked towards him. When he was close enough, Cas shot both arms out, hitting Dean’s chest with enough force to send him toppling back onto the sofa, bouncing once. Then Cas was on him, straddling his thighs and fisting his hands in his shirt.
Cas leaned in close, their noses practically touching as he snarled in Dean’s face, and yeah, he was definitely pissed. Dean had never seen the normally chilled-out usually-stoned-out-of-his-mind hippie so angry before, and it was sort of terrifying. He then remembered the fact that his friend had killed people in some desert across the ocean, and with stunning clarity he realized that Cas was actually really scary. “Either eat something solid, or I swear I will force a McDouble down your throat! I don’t care if you get sick!”
Dean swallowed hard, and nodded. “O-okay, Cas. I get it. I’ll eat, I promise.”
Cas narrowed his eyes, and stared at Dean like he was trying to decide if he was lying or not. After a moment he made a small noise of approval and backed off, finally releasing Dean’s shirt as he got to his feet. He held out his hand to help Dean up. Dean was more than willing to take the peace offering for what it was as he allowed Cas to haul him to his feet. “I’m going to watch you.”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Dean replied as he moved towards the kitchen, surprised at the lack of annoyance he should have been feeling.
“You’re an idiot.” Cas said it simply, as a true statement that could not be argued against.
Dean turned his head to leer at Cas over his shoulder. “I’m not an--”
“Yes, you are. I don’t know how someone so smart can be such an idiot, but you are.” He sighed deeply, putting a hand over his eyes.
Dean fought the urge to smile, catching the compliment hidden in the insult. “Wow, thanks, Cas. You know I’m not some kind of high-risk anorexic or whatever you’re thinking, right?” Cas snapped his head over to glare at him, and Dean once again remembered his friend was a war vet who knew how to kill him in about ten different ways. He decided pissing Cas off even more would be a really bad idea. “Sorry,” he muttered, completely mollified.
Finally, Cas eased up, and he went back over to Dean, putting a hand on his shoulder in their usual, comforting gesture. “It’s alright. You’re alright. Just... don’t do something this dumb again, yeah? I’ve lost too many people over completely bullshit reasons, I’m not gonna let you destroy yourself just because you’re kind of stupid.” He snorted then, a hint of a smirk forming on his lips. “Seriously, not eating? How could you possibly think anything about that was a good idea?”
Dean shrugged, and he realized Cas maybe actually had a point with that one. “It’s not bad for you, I mean, it’s not supposed to be. It was recommended to me, okay?”
Cas shifted closer, bringing his other arm up so he could wrap both of them around Dean’s shoulders. “I honestly don’t understand why you think you need to be on a diet in the first place. Foolish man.” He rested his forehead against the juncture between Dean’s neck and shoulder, nuzzling the area slightly. He then lifted his head so he could press a kiss to the corner of Dean’s mouth. Dean moved to put his arms around Cas’s waist, but the other man moved away. “I’m still starving, by the way. You should feed me.”
Dean chuckled, unable to resist his small happy smile. “How ‘bout this? I’ll let you pick out dinner and everything. Whatever you want.”
“We’re getting Thai,” Cas replied immediately, and went for Dean’s phone sitting on the island counter. “And you’re paying.”
“Of course, Cas.”
“You’ll regret being so compliant after you see the bill.” Cas picked up the phone, and started dialing the number he apparently knew by heart.
Dean came up behind Cas and placed a hand on the back of his neck, rubbing gently with his thumb. “I’m not that worried about it.”
Dean and Sam hadn’t had a chance to spend time together over the last two weeks, so when Dean asked Sam over to watch a movie and have a few beers, he was relieved that his friend was on board. Even if he did have to deal with Sam’s teasing about the fact that, yes, really he was going to drink real beer. The sky was already a solid gray when Sam came over, but he had decided that they could watch another movie and wait it out if it started raining. When the sound lulled between the credits and a commercial, the apartment was suddenly filled with the noise of rain beating against the windows. Sam craned his head back to look outside, where everything was obscured by what seemed to be a wall of water. The only things visible were little blobs of light.
“Damn, it’s really coming down. I didn’t realize it was that bad.” Sam was frowning by the time he faced forward again. “Think it’s gonna let up anytime soon?”
“Not sure. It’s looking pretty bad out there.” The corners of Dean’s mouth were turned down in worry. “Here, let me put the weather channel on. That should tell us something.” Dean picked up the remote and switched the channel over. They weren’t watching for very long before it became obvious the storm was the worst one of the year, and it wasn’t going to let up until sometime after noon the next day. Sam was grimacing when Dean looked over at him again. “I don’t think you should try going home in this, man. I’ve got some spare blankets and pillows, you can just sleep here on the couch.”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, yeah alright. That sounds like a good idea.” He grinned over at Dean then. “I think your couch is better than death.”
Dean let out a small, amused noise, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Good to know.” Just then, the lights flickered, causing Sam to swear.
“Shit, I hope we don’t lose power here. That would be just my luck, too.”
“Yeah, I don’t, either. I like my central heating, thanks.” Dean changed the channel again, over to the news. Just as he was hoping, they were reporting on the storm, and how it was affecting the region. “Man, looks like half the city’s lost power already. Seems like we’re still in the safe zone, wait, did they just say... Damn!” Dean shot to his feet, then went over to where his phone was charging in the kitchen.
“What’s up?” Sam asked, craning his neck again to watch Dean.
“My buddy Cas? He lives right in the middle one of the blackout zones.” Dean pressed the ‘1’ on his phone, then held it up to his ear. “I’m not sure I can actually get ahold of him, the idiot never figured out what a cell phone was, but still.” His voice quieted as he listened to the phone ring. “I just wanna try and make sure he’s alright, y’know?”
Sam nodded slowly. “Yeah, I get it. Actually, I’m gonna call Sarah. She should still have power, but I think I’d feel better if I knew she was okay.” Sam got to his feet, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and went out into the hall to make his call.
“Dammit,” Dean hissed, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his phone against his forehead.
“Still not answering...?” Sam was looking over at Dean with a sympathetic expression on his face.
“No... I mean, I’m sure he’s fine, but... I swear, I’m getting him a tracfo--” Dean was cut off by someone knocking on his door. “Who the hell?” He strode over to it quickly, checking through the peephole. When he saw who was on the other side, he quickly opened it. “Cas?! What the hell, man? You’re soaked. Oh God, tell me you didn’t walk here.”
Cas was standing before him, completely drenched, shivering slightly, and looking utterly miserable. “The buses weren’t running,” he said by way of an answer.
Dean closed his eyes and took in a deep, calming breath, before he reached out and grabbed Cas by his soaked jacket sleeve. “Get in here.” He pulled Cas inside before shutting the door. “I want you to go take a hot shower and warm yourself up,” he began instructing, as he peeled Cas’s jacket off. “Leave your wet clothes in the tub when you’re done, I’ll wash them tomorrow. I think I’ve got something you can wear in the meantime.”
For his part, Cas just muttered his acquiescence and let himself be steered towards the bathroom by Dean after he had taken off his boots and socks. He stepped inside and started pulling off the long-sleeve shirt that was clinging tightly to his skin.
“I’ll bring you some dry clothes in a minute.” When Cas nodded, Dean shut the door behind him, and went toward his bedroom. Sam followed his movements with his head, one eyebrow raised. Dean held up an index finger, in a silent request for Sam to hold his questions for a moment. He then disappeared into the room, and when he came back out a few minutes later, he had a pair of blue flannel pajama pants and a plain white T-shirt folded up in his arms. “Here’s your clothes, Cas,” he called into the bathroom as he tossed them inside real quick. Still on the move, he walked over to the linen closet, and pulled a comforter and a pillow from the top shelf. He then dropped them heavily on the couch next to Sam. “That should be good, right?”
Sam stared at the blanket questioningly, before turning his gaze on Dean. “Are... you sure? Cas is staying here, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Well, you don’t have a spare room. I can go home, it’s not that far.” Sam was already starting to get up off the couch, wanting to get home before it got much later.
Dean put a hand on his shoulder long enough to gently encourage him to sit back down. “No, it’s fine. You can sleep on the couch, still. I don’t want you going out there right now, not while it’s that bad.”
“But, Dean... Are you gonna make Cas sleep on the floor or something?”
Dean shook his head. “No. I’m gonna go clean up a bit, just get comfortable, alright?” Before Sam could say anything else, he took off, going towards his office to straighten things. Mostly he was just moving things around to avoid having an uncomfortable talk, and he was pretty sure Sam knew it, but the other man just shrugged, muttered an “alright,” and left him to it while he set up his makeshift bed.
When Cas finally left the bathroom, steam billowing out behind him, and pajama pants hanging a bit loosely off his narrow hips, Dean was right there by him. He slid a hand across his back, reaching towards his opposite shoulder. “Let’s go to bed, alright man? It’s late.” As he started leading Cas towards his bedroom, he looked back at Sam, his eyes pleading. Begging for understanding.
Sam’s eyes slowly widened in understanding, then he nodded, not saying a word.
Dean relaxed, and gave Sam a small, grateful smile. “Goodnight, Sammy. Uh, Sam, Sorry.”
“No, no Sammy’s fine.” Sam grinned back. “‘Night Dean.” He leaned forward, catching sight of Cas just inside the doorway. “‘Night Cas!”
Cas raised a hand, waving slightly without looking back. The hand that was on Cas’s shoulder moved up to his neck, and the last thing he saw was Sam covering up with the blanket, snuggling into it on the fortunately roomy couch before Dean shut the door behind them.
The alarm went off at eight in the morning, like it did every Saturday, shrill beeping filling the entire room. For one of the first times he could ever remember, Dean actually regretted setting the damn thing. Cas muttered darkly, and attempted to bury his head into the pillow. Groaning, Dean leaned over Cas, reaching out to turn the alarm clock completely off. He then sat up completely, reaching towards the ceiling as he stretched.
Cas looked at Dean over his shoulder, squinting as he tried to focus on him. Dean shifted so he could plant a light kiss to Cas’s forehead and run his fingers through the tufts of dark brown hair that were sticking up. “Go back to sleep. No reason for you to be up yet.” Cas grumbled and snuggled back into his pillow.
Dean got out of bed, dressed quickly in a pair of dark slacks, and a blue-gray long-sleeve v-neck shirt. He padded out of the room, trying to be quiet as he went to the kitchen. Sam was already stirring, shifting around to watch Dean as he moved.
“Go back to sleep, Sam. No reason for you to be up this early.”
Sam opened his mouth to speak, but barely got a sound out before he was yawning wide. “Mmph. Maybe. Coffee?”
“Yeah, there’ll be coffee. And bagels.”
Sam raised an eyebrow, and craned his head to look over in Dean’s direction. “Bagels? Thought you didn’t eat carbs?”
Dean shrugged. “Yeah, well. A bagel here and there isn’t gonna kill me. Go back to sleep.”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, okay. Good idea.” He then adjusted until he was comfortable, pulled the comforter over his head, and fell back asleep.
After getting the coffee machine going, Dean went over by the window. The sky was gray and dismal, and the rain was still pouring down, although it had eased up since the night before. Despite the gloom, there was still something peaceful about the dim, quiet atmosphere. With Sam asleep on the couch, and Cas asleep in his bed, he supposed there was something almost poetic about sheltering the two people he cared about more than anyone outside of his family from the raging storm that had taken over their city only hours before. He allowed himself a small, private smile, enjoying the calm, and the happiness he was feeling.
Author: Anubis_S_J
Fandom/Genre: Supernatural, AU
Pairing(s): Dean Smith/Castiel Novak
Rating: R
Word Count: 11,076
Warnings: Minor drug use
Summary: Dean Smith is an intelligent, successful businessman who is perfectly content with his life the way it is. That is, until he meets Castiel Novak. Castiel is strange and unlike anyone Dean has ever met before, but he can't help but be drawn to him.
Part 2
Dean was humming to himself as he got into the elevator, a small smile on his face. He just couldn’t shake the good mood he was in, not that he wanted to. When the elevator stopped, and a very tall man in a yellow polo with really long hair stepped in, Dean waved at him. “Hey.”
“Hi.” The guy glanced over at him, then away again.
Dean wasn’t really surprised at his reaction. The IT guys didn’t really talk to company directors like him, and to be fair, he didn’t really talk to anyone working below him, either. He was just going to let it go, but then he looked over at the behemoth sharing an elevator with him, and shrugged internally. “So, my name’s Dean. Dean Smith. What’s yours?”
“Uh, Sam Wesson.” Sam gave him a strange look, like he was trying to be polite, but mostly wanted Dean to just leave him alone.
“You doing alright today?” Dean asked, deciding he had already gotten this far.
“Yeah, sure, um... Just so you know I’m not into, y’know...” Sam gestured awkwardly, something of a pained look on his face as he willed Dean to understand.
Dean just stared at him, until realization dawned on his face. “Oh. Oh! No, dude! No! I wasn’t, uh... I’ve... got someone. I was just...” Dean laughed at himself. “I don’t know what I was doing. Sorry, man. I think I’m just losing my damn mind.” He stepped to the side, putting more distance between him and Sam.
Sam was still looking at Dean like maybe he was crazy. “So, uh... What was that about, anyway?”
Dean shrugged. “It’s stupid, I promise. I’m not too good at that whole ‘friend’ thing. For some reason I thought you’d make a good start. Don’t worry about it.”
Sam nodded, and Dean thought that’d be the end of it. Then Sam started staring at him again. “Look, um. This is my floor, so I gotta’ go, but, I dunno. Maybe you can shoot me an e-mail and we can have lunch or something. Okay?”
Dean’s eyebrows shot up, and he nodded slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, sounds good. I’ll talk to you later then, Sammy.”
“It’s just Sam,” he said as he got out of the elevator. “And yeah, later.” Sam waved, before the doors slid shut.
Dean was leaning against his desk, eyes following Cas as he paced around the apartment while he talked animatedly. He had no idea what Cas was going on about, but it was fun just watching him move. He laughed at something the other man said, before popping the cap on his water bottle and taking a drink from it.
Cas stopped suddenly to stare at him. “What is that anyway? I see you drinking it all the time now.”
“What, this?” Dean held up his water bottle, briefly examining it for himself. “Just, y’know, lemonade, maple syrup, uh, cayenne pepper.”
Cas narrowed his eyes at him in confusion for a moment, before shaking his head. “You’re so strange.”
Dean scoffed, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah, like you’re one to talk.” He took another drink of the lemonade concoction as Cas went over to the fridge. He didn’t think much of Cas opening the door and rifling through it.
“Dean, what the hell? Where’s your food?” Cas crouched down and started opening and closing drawers. “I know you only keep lettuce and soy crap in here, but there’s nothing edible.”
There was something odd in Cas’s tone, and for the life of him, Dean couldn’t figure out what it was. It set him on edge. “I, uh, I haven’t gotten any yet. I’m still on the cleanse, dude.”
Cas stood up slowly, his shoulders visibly tensing as he let the refrigerator door swing shut. “And what the hell does that mean?”
Dean swallowed nervously, the feeling that he had made a mistake creeping up on him. “It’s, y’know, it’s a diet. You drink this lemonade stuff, it detoxes your system, you lose weight, it’s great. I’m on the eighth day of it.”
Cas whipped around, a thoroughly unimpressed expression on his face. “Wait, are you telling me you haven’t eaten anything for eight days?”
Dean shrugged helplessly. “Yeah, no solids for ten days. I know it sounds kinda’ weird, but it’s...” He trailed off as Cas marched over to him, and snatched his water bottle right from his hand. Just as quickly, he turned on his heel and went over to the far wall.
Dean could only stare in a detached sort of horror as Cas pushed opened the window, and hurled his water bottle out of it. He then turned on Dean, eyes fierce, and Dean swallowed as the man stalked towards him. When he was close enough, Cas shot both arms out, hitting Dean’s chest with enough force to send him toppling back onto the sofa, bouncing once. Then Cas was on him, straddling his thighs and fisting his hands in his shirt.
Cas leaned in close, their noses practically touching as he snarled in Dean’s face, and yeah, he was definitely pissed. Dean had never seen the normally chilled-out usually-stoned-out-of-his-mind hippie so angry before, and it was sort of terrifying. He then remembered the fact that his friend had killed people in some desert across the ocean, and with stunning clarity he realized that Cas was actually really scary. “Either eat something solid, or I swear I will force a McDouble down your throat! I don’t care if you get sick!”
Dean swallowed hard, and nodded. “O-okay, Cas. I get it. I’ll eat, I promise.”
Cas narrowed his eyes, and stared at Dean like he was trying to decide if he was lying or not. After a moment he made a small noise of approval and backed off, finally releasing Dean’s shirt as he got to his feet. He held out his hand to help Dean up. Dean was more than willing to take the peace offering for what it was as he allowed Cas to haul him to his feet. “I’m going to watch you.”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Dean replied as he moved towards the kitchen, surprised at the lack of annoyance he should have been feeling.
“You’re an idiot.” Cas said it simply, as a true statement that could not be argued against.
Dean turned his head to leer at Cas over his shoulder. “I’m not an--”
“Yes, you are. I don’t know how someone so smart can be such an idiot, but you are.” He sighed deeply, putting a hand over his eyes.
Dean fought the urge to smile, catching the compliment hidden in the insult. “Wow, thanks, Cas. You know I’m not some kind of high-risk anorexic or whatever you’re thinking, right?” Cas snapped his head over to glare at him, and Dean once again remembered his friend was a war vet who knew how to kill him in about ten different ways. He decided pissing Cas off even more would be a really bad idea. “Sorry,” he muttered, completely mollified.
Finally, Cas eased up, and he went back over to Dean, putting a hand on his shoulder in their usual, comforting gesture. “It’s alright. You’re alright. Just... don’t do something this dumb again, yeah? I’ve lost too many people over completely bullshit reasons, I’m not gonna let you destroy yourself just because you’re kind of stupid.” He snorted then, a hint of a smirk forming on his lips. “Seriously, not eating? How could you possibly think anything about that was a good idea?”
Dean shrugged, and he realized Cas maybe actually had a point with that one. “It’s not bad for you, I mean, it’s not supposed to be. It was recommended to me, okay?”
Cas shifted closer, bringing his other arm up so he could wrap both of them around Dean’s shoulders. “I honestly don’t understand why you think you need to be on a diet in the first place. Foolish man.” He rested his forehead against the juncture between Dean’s neck and shoulder, nuzzling the area slightly. He then lifted his head so he could press a kiss to the corner of Dean’s mouth. Dean moved to put his arms around Cas’s waist, but the other man moved away. “I’m still starving, by the way. You should feed me.”
Dean chuckled, unable to resist his small happy smile. “How ‘bout this? I’ll let you pick out dinner and everything. Whatever you want.”
“We’re getting Thai,” Cas replied immediately, and went for Dean’s phone sitting on the island counter. “And you’re paying.”
“Of course, Cas.”
“You’ll regret being so compliant after you see the bill.” Cas picked up the phone, and started dialing the number he apparently knew by heart.
Dean came up behind Cas and placed a hand on the back of his neck, rubbing gently with his thumb. “I’m not that worried about it.”
Dean and Sam hadn’t had a chance to spend time together over the last two weeks, so when Dean asked Sam over to watch a movie and have a few beers, he was relieved that his friend was on board. Even if he did have to deal with Sam’s teasing about the fact that, yes, really he was going to drink real beer. The sky was already a solid gray when Sam came over, but he had decided that they could watch another movie and wait it out if it started raining. When the sound lulled between the credits and a commercial, the apartment was suddenly filled with the noise of rain beating against the windows. Sam craned his head back to look outside, where everything was obscured by what seemed to be a wall of water. The only things visible were little blobs of light.
“Damn, it’s really coming down. I didn’t realize it was that bad.” Sam was frowning by the time he faced forward again. “Think it’s gonna let up anytime soon?”
“Not sure. It’s looking pretty bad out there.” The corners of Dean’s mouth were turned down in worry. “Here, let me put the weather channel on. That should tell us something.” Dean picked up the remote and switched the channel over. They weren’t watching for very long before it became obvious the storm was the worst one of the year, and it wasn’t going to let up until sometime after noon the next day. Sam was grimacing when Dean looked over at him again. “I don’t think you should try going home in this, man. I’ve got some spare blankets and pillows, you can just sleep here on the couch.”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, yeah alright. That sounds like a good idea.” He grinned over at Dean then. “I think your couch is better than death.”
Dean let out a small, amused noise, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Good to know.” Just then, the lights flickered, causing Sam to swear.
“Shit, I hope we don’t lose power here. That would be just my luck, too.”
“Yeah, I don’t, either. I like my central heating, thanks.” Dean changed the channel again, over to the news. Just as he was hoping, they were reporting on the storm, and how it was affecting the region. “Man, looks like half the city’s lost power already. Seems like we’re still in the safe zone, wait, did they just say... Damn!” Dean shot to his feet, then went over to where his phone was charging in the kitchen.
“What’s up?” Sam asked, craning his neck again to watch Dean.
“My buddy Cas? He lives right in the middle one of the blackout zones.” Dean pressed the ‘1’ on his phone, then held it up to his ear. “I’m not sure I can actually get ahold of him, the idiot never figured out what a cell phone was, but still.” His voice quieted as he listened to the phone ring. “I just wanna try and make sure he’s alright, y’know?”
Sam nodded slowly. “Yeah, I get it. Actually, I’m gonna call Sarah. She should still have power, but I think I’d feel better if I knew she was okay.” Sam got to his feet, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and went out into the hall to make his call.
“Dammit,” Dean hissed, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his phone against his forehead.
“Still not answering...?” Sam was looking over at Dean with a sympathetic expression on his face.
“No... I mean, I’m sure he’s fine, but... I swear, I’m getting him a tracfo--” Dean was cut off by someone knocking on his door. “Who the hell?” He strode over to it quickly, checking through the peephole. When he saw who was on the other side, he quickly opened it. “Cas?! What the hell, man? You’re soaked. Oh God, tell me you didn’t walk here.”
Cas was standing before him, completely drenched, shivering slightly, and looking utterly miserable. “The buses weren’t running,” he said by way of an answer.
Dean closed his eyes and took in a deep, calming breath, before he reached out and grabbed Cas by his soaked jacket sleeve. “Get in here.” He pulled Cas inside before shutting the door. “I want you to go take a hot shower and warm yourself up,” he began instructing, as he peeled Cas’s jacket off. “Leave your wet clothes in the tub when you’re done, I’ll wash them tomorrow. I think I’ve got something you can wear in the meantime.”
For his part, Cas just muttered his acquiescence and let himself be steered towards the bathroom by Dean after he had taken off his boots and socks. He stepped inside and started pulling off the long-sleeve shirt that was clinging tightly to his skin.
“I’ll bring you some dry clothes in a minute.” When Cas nodded, Dean shut the door behind him, and went toward his bedroom. Sam followed his movements with his head, one eyebrow raised. Dean held up an index finger, in a silent request for Sam to hold his questions for a moment. He then disappeared into the room, and when he came back out a few minutes later, he had a pair of blue flannel pajama pants and a plain white T-shirt folded up in his arms. “Here’s your clothes, Cas,” he called into the bathroom as he tossed them inside real quick. Still on the move, he walked over to the linen closet, and pulled a comforter and a pillow from the top shelf. He then dropped them heavily on the couch next to Sam. “That should be good, right?”
Sam stared at the blanket questioningly, before turning his gaze on Dean. “Are... you sure? Cas is staying here, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Well, you don’t have a spare room. I can go home, it’s not that far.” Sam was already starting to get up off the couch, wanting to get home before it got much later.
Dean put a hand on his shoulder long enough to gently encourage him to sit back down. “No, it’s fine. You can sleep on the couch, still. I don’t want you going out there right now, not while it’s that bad.”
“But, Dean... Are you gonna make Cas sleep on the floor or something?”
Dean shook his head. “No. I’m gonna go clean up a bit, just get comfortable, alright?” Before Sam could say anything else, he took off, going towards his office to straighten things. Mostly he was just moving things around to avoid having an uncomfortable talk, and he was pretty sure Sam knew it, but the other man just shrugged, muttered an “alright,” and left him to it while he set up his makeshift bed.
When Cas finally left the bathroom, steam billowing out behind him, and pajama pants hanging a bit loosely off his narrow hips, Dean was right there by him. He slid a hand across his back, reaching towards his opposite shoulder. “Let’s go to bed, alright man? It’s late.” As he started leading Cas towards his bedroom, he looked back at Sam, his eyes pleading. Begging for understanding.
Sam’s eyes slowly widened in understanding, then he nodded, not saying a word.
Dean relaxed, and gave Sam a small, grateful smile. “Goodnight, Sammy. Uh, Sam, Sorry.”
“No, no Sammy’s fine.” Sam grinned back. “‘Night Dean.” He leaned forward, catching sight of Cas just inside the doorway. “‘Night Cas!”
Cas raised a hand, waving slightly without looking back. The hand that was on Cas’s shoulder moved up to his neck, and the last thing he saw was Sam covering up with the blanket, snuggling into it on the fortunately roomy couch before Dean shut the door behind them.
The alarm went off at eight in the morning, like it did every Saturday, shrill beeping filling the entire room. For one of the first times he could ever remember, Dean actually regretted setting the damn thing. Cas muttered darkly, and attempted to bury his head into the pillow. Groaning, Dean leaned over Cas, reaching out to turn the alarm clock completely off. He then sat up completely, reaching towards the ceiling as he stretched.
Cas looked at Dean over his shoulder, squinting as he tried to focus on him. Dean shifted so he could plant a light kiss to Cas’s forehead and run his fingers through the tufts of dark brown hair that were sticking up. “Go back to sleep. No reason for you to be up yet.” Cas grumbled and snuggled back into his pillow.
Dean got out of bed, dressed quickly in a pair of dark slacks, and a blue-gray long-sleeve v-neck shirt. He padded out of the room, trying to be quiet as he went to the kitchen. Sam was already stirring, shifting around to watch Dean as he moved.
“Go back to sleep, Sam. No reason for you to be up this early.”
Sam opened his mouth to speak, but barely got a sound out before he was yawning wide. “Mmph. Maybe. Coffee?”
“Yeah, there’ll be coffee. And bagels.”
Sam raised an eyebrow, and craned his head to look over in Dean’s direction. “Bagels? Thought you didn’t eat carbs?”
Dean shrugged. “Yeah, well. A bagel here and there isn’t gonna kill me. Go back to sleep.”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, okay. Good idea.” He then adjusted until he was comfortable, pulled the comforter over his head, and fell back asleep.
After getting the coffee machine going, Dean went over by the window. The sky was gray and dismal, and the rain was still pouring down, although it had eased up since the night before. Despite the gloom, there was still something peaceful about the dim, quiet atmosphere. With Sam asleep on the couch, and Cas asleep in his bed, he supposed there was something almost poetic about sheltering the two people he cared about more than anyone outside of his family from the raging storm that had taken over their city only hours before. He allowed himself a small, private smile, enjoying the calm, and the happiness he was feeling.