[OTA] Risin' up, back on the street. Did my time, took my chances.

[worththehunt]

One minute he's in a motel in Concrete, Washington; brushing his teeth before bed, just minding his own business, and the next he's walking down an empty street, holding a tube of toothpaste in his hand. Not exactly his weapon of choice either

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[enoughtocarry]

It's been months since Sam saw Dean. Without their co-dependent and insular brotherly dynamic, he felt admittedly lost. He searched everywhere, high and low, and it was as if Dean had never been there. Dean was nowhere to be found. The Rift takes people all the time, but it was Dean.

All that was left of him was the Impala, which Sam has kept. He'd never understood Dean's attachment to it, but still--it was the only thing that he had of his brother.

Needless to say, he isn't expecting the dog to be Dean when he opens up the door, nearly tripping over the chihuahua. Sam's hair is more of a mess than usual, sleepy-tousled, and he blinks past the vestiges of what was restless sleep before he zeroes in on the pup.

Seriously?

"... What the hell?" he asks, a genuinely confused look on his face as he looks down at the yapping chihuahua.

[worththehunt]

Relief floods through Dean at the sight of his brother, but he's a little taken aback by how much taller Sam looks. He's straining his neck just to get a good look at him, and finally ends up falling flat on his back. Dean hears himself let out a yelp just then, and he manages to look confused for a second before he quickly makes a move to put his hands on the floor so he can pick himself up, but no can do.

"Sammy. A little help here?"

The dog looks a sorry state as it just lays there flat on its back with its front legs twitching, paddling the air.

[sitherequietly]

Dean's presence is one that Castiel hasn't felt in Chicago for a long time. It's been one that he's missed, to be honest, so when he feels it again, he is moved to the spot immediately, landing in front of Sam's door. There is a moment of confusion as he glances around, seeing Sam, but not his brother, and then he decides to look down.

Sitting at his feet is a tiny, yappy dog.

If Castiel hadn't seen it before, he would have been more confused. Instead, he's simply vaguely amused. He reaches down and picks up the tiny animal, bringing him up to eye level as he studied him to be sure, before speaking.

"Hello, Dean."

[enoughtocarry]

Before Sam can pick up the chihuahua himself, there is a Castiel.

He jumps back a little, wondering how he is still not used to the angel doing that. "Dude, a little warning would be nice," he says, because seriously. Stealth as a ninja. If only Dean could speak. He'd say something about a bell right about now.

... And then there are all the dots. There's a moment where he thinks he stops breathing altogether, air rushing out of his lungs in one go, but he can't wrap his head around this initially.

"Dean?" he asks, looking between Castiel and the chihuahua.

Sam isn't unfamiliar with shapeshifters, being one himself. An embarrassing shapeshifter at that. But Dean as a chihuahua?

[sitherequietly]

Castiel shrugs just slightly, a silent version of an angelic apology. He has a feeling that if even if he did manage to devise some kind of warning for his impending arrivals, they would complain about the warnings.

Castiel raised the chihuahua to about eye level, continuing to study him for a moment, before nodding. "Yes. I have encountered Jo before when she is in her shapeshifted form. The shape is not his own, but the mark of his soul is the same."

He would know it anywhere. It's a hard thing to forget.

"He must have recently fallen through the Rift."

[worththehunt]

Unlike Sam, Dean has gotten used to Castiel appearing and disappearing as and when he pleases. It can be a right pain in the ass to deal with, but there's not a whole lot he can do about it.

When Castiel picks him up, Dean realizes the awkwardness of the situation, and if he hadn't been panicking before, he's a hair's breadth away from it now.

Shapeshifted? The rift? His soul? "Sam?" The chihuahua in Castiel's hands is now yapping and wiggling to get free.

His brain had earlier failed to process the changes he had undergone for several reasons. One: Dean is sometimes slow on the uptake. Two: He can't be a chihuahua. Three: There is no possible way he is a chihuahua. Four: see two and three.

And one.

"Goddamnsonofabitchofanangel. What did you do?" The little dog is arching his head towards Sam now. "Sam! Sammy, don't let him take me!" If this is punishment for something, and he's being sent back to hell this way, he thinks he deserves an explanation, or at least a chance to say goodbye to his brother.

[enoughtocarry]

Sam swallows down hard the emotion that threatens to rise up his chest, ramming into him. He looked everywhere for Dean. Even knowing Castiel's angel mojo or whatever would let him know that Dean was truly going, Sam still looked, and the days and weeks that followed after his disappearance were brutal. He wasn't used to being without his brother anymore.

He'd felt lost, and angry, the anger that he always tries to stifle deep down but it doesn't always work, and now he's back?

This would be far less difficult to wrap his head around if it were not for the fact an angel of the lord is holding a chihuahua he claims is Dean.

An angel of the lord is holding his brother's chihuahua-shaped form.

He always thinks their lives can't get weirder.

"Dean?" Sam asks again, voice hitching a fraction, though this time he's looking straight at the chihuahua. He gingerly reaches to take the little dog from Castiel when it arches his head towards him. Sam is big, and in comparison, the chihuahua looks absurdly tiny. More so than they would

[sitherequietly]

With the squirming dog in his hands it was clear that Dean did not want to be held by Castiel, and while he could make Dean stay still, he knows that won't exactly win him favor. He pauses before extending his arms to Sam, indicating that he should take the dog.

"I do not know," he sighs. "I am not a shapeshifter and I have little experience in the area."