Crossover Crack Slash Fic: Part 2
Not sure in what order these will show up, but this is the second part of my SPN (fictional characters) Riptide (RPS) Crossover Slash fic.
If any part of that premise offends, I ask that you move along...nothing to see here.
Part 2 - Changing Tides
While Gabriel and Cas had been aware of the approach of the two men, they had chosen not to alert their partners, speculating they would learn more by allowing the men’s sudden presence to be a surprise. Gabriel enjoyed the look on Sam’s face when he turned to face the new arrivals.
Sam’s reaction was not lost on Dean, who realized his brother’s capacity for speech seemed to have been seriously impaired. He decided to carry the conversation himself.
“Hey, there. I’m Dean and this is my brother Sam,” he said nudging Sam encouragingly, “And that’s Cas and his brother Gabriel.”
Dean noticed with some pride the way Cas so easily offered handshakes and words of greeting, as though he’d been thoroughly indoctrinated into the ways of humanity. Gabriel never seemed ill at ease around people the way Cas had been when they’d first met him, but that was probably due to his many years spent screwing with humans. Dean tried to shake that thought - especially the last turn of phrase, as he remembered that Gabriel had apparently succeeded in seducing his brother.
“Maybe you can help us out,” said the darker haired man standing before them, “I’m Joe and this is Perry. This is gonna sound kind of crazy…”
“Lemme guess,” said Dean, “You’re not really sure how or why you ended up here. Am I close?”
“Very,” Joe affirmed, “Sounds like you might have some ideas. We’d appreciate any help you could give.”
Sam seemed to have finally found his voice and offered, “I think it might have something to do with this.”
Sam and Gabriel moved to the left and Dean and Cas to the right, revealing the name on the boat behind them.
“The hell?” said Perry.
“No. I’m fairly certain, this has nothing to do with Lucifer’s forces,” said Cas, as ever unable to lie.
Chuckling indulgently at his partner, Dean returned his attention to the two questioning faces before him.
“Think about this for just a minute, fellas,” Dean began, “Did one of you ever, maybe actually buy this boat…say, after your series ended? And did you, you know, sort of forget about it?”
Perry shook his head decisively, but Dean noticed Joe’s eyes going wide and then saw his skin flush.
Dean had seen this little scene played out before, with slightly different players, and he suspected the same underlying reasons. Still, he wasn’t exactly sure what role he was supposed to play.
Sam began babbling, “You know, she still looks like she’s held up pretty well. I bet with just a little work she would be back to the way she looked on your show.”
Perry smiled.
“You’re familiar with our show, then,” he said.
“Oh yeah. You guys were great - I mean the show was great.”
“So, you decided to buy this boat and restore her,” Perry suggested.
“Uh, no. This is the first I’ve seen of her,” Sam answered.
“Yeah. Uh…Perry, I think there’s something I should tell you,” Joe began.
Perry turned to Joe with an expectant expression.
“You see, Dean was right. I actually bought her…god, twenty-some years ago; right after the series got canceled.”
“What? You never told me that,” Perry seemed incredulous.
Joe shrugged his shoulders. “Hadn’t thought of it in years. Stupid impulse purchase,” he said.
“Joe. This is more than a pack of gum in the checkout at the grocery store,” Perry pressed.
“Yeah. Well, call me sentimental,” Joe responded a little defensively.
“You didn’t want anybody else to have her, hunh?” Dean said, knowingly.
“Guess not,” Joe admitted.
“I still don’t understand, Joe,” Perry said.
“I know. Never mind.” Joe started to walk away and Perry followed close behind and stopped him by gently grabbing his wrist.
“C’mon, man. Tell me…we could always talk about anything.”
Joe gave a mirthless chuckle. “Yeah, just about.”
“Hey. What’s that supposed to mean? You were my best friend. Still are, for that matter. I know we don’t see each other as much, but you know I’d be there for you anytime you needed.”
Perry’s hand loosened his grip on Joe’s wrist, but didn’t release it.
“Look. Don’t sweat it. I’m just being stupid. This whole thing just kind of threw me. It reminded me…”
“What?” Perry asked gently.
“It was another time, another place,” Joe said wistfully.
“Joe...Tell me.” Perry persisted.
“I missed you. Alright? Happy?”
“Well, I missed you too. I guess we could have done better keeping in touch.”
“I didn’t mean that as an accusation. I knew you were busy getting on with your life. Your family.”
“You mean my two marriages?”
“Well, those and your kids. Your girls are great, Perry. You’ve done a great job with them.”
“Thanks. They’re probably my greatest accomplishment. They’re pretty fond of their uncle Joe, too, you know? But you’ve never been suffered for lack of company. Remember Rhonda?”
Joe looked a little embarrassed.
“Rhonda,” Joe said the name with fondness, “Yeah, she was something. She’s the one who encouraged me to buy the Riptide.”
“So, you bought it to impress a woman?” Gabriel’s voice made both men jump. They seemed to have forgotten anyone else was privy to their conversation.
“Hardly,” said Joe with a smile, "Rhonda always knew the score. She helped me admit to myself what I really wanted. Said I should do something for me. This was as close as I got,” he said as his hand reached out to caress the Riptide's stern.
“So you had a repressed interest in pleasure boats?” Perry queried.
“You got the 'repressed' part right, I think,” Gabriel commented, resulting in chastising looks from Dean and Castiel and a sharp poke in the ribs from Sam.
“Ouch. Look, as much as the romantic in me appreciates all the UST here, I'm reaching my limit. Can we get to the part where you admit that you're nuts for the guy. Honestly. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that you two belong together. It's as bad as watching these two chuckle-heads,” Gabriel indicated Cas and Dean with a jerk of his thumb, “For the past year.”
“My feelings for Dean have existed for longer than one year,” Castiel assured his brother.
“Exactly. And how much time did you waste before you admitted what you wanted? That's time you'll never get back,” Gabriel admonished. “I should know,” he added softly catching Sam's eye.
As Gabriel's words sank in, Joe began to look more uncomfortable. He finally extricated his wrist from Perry's grasp and hastily turned away. Only to be grabbed, with more urgency this time, by Perry's hands on his biceps.
As he was swung around, Joe found himself face to face with his friend. He found it impossible to break from Perry's intent gaze.
“You mean...” Perry began.
And Joe's eyes said it all. Perry gathered him close and surprised everyone with the ferocity of the kiss. What their first kiss may have lacked in style and elegance, they more than made up for in determination and desire.
Gabriel had a very smug look on his face as he watched the passionate display, along with Cas and the Winchesters, in front of them. As though he, alone, were responsible for it.
Which was really, only partially true, Dean reminded himself.
Breaking for air, Perry sighed, “I never knew.”
“You never knew? Imagine my surprise, Mr All American. Complete with a wife -”
“Two.”
“Right. And kids and a perfect house with a dog...”
“Ever hear of compensating?” Perry asked, with a smile, and a quick nuzzle of Joe’s neck, “And what about all your women? Rhonda...?”
“Ever hear of a beard?” asked Joe as he dove back in for an even more fiery kiss.
At the mention of what he must’ve taken to mean facial hair, Cas’ brow furrowed. He seemed to be following the conversation well enough to that point. Dean looked at him affectionately.
“I’ll explain later,” he said softly as he surreptitiously slipped his arm around the Angel’s waist.
That was good enough for Cas to stop frowning.
Eventually, Joe and Perry drew apart, though they didn't leave much daylight between their bodies as they slung their arms around each other.
“I feel like I should get an award as the world's most clueless idiot,” admitted Perry.
“Oh, you'll have to wrestle Dean here for that one, Perry,” Gabriel said with a laugh.
Dean's fists momentarily clenched but relaxed when he felt Cas' gentle hand on his shoulder. And he had to admit, he hadn't been the brightest bulb on the tree when it came to recognizing and admitting his feelings for his Angel.
Silently, Dean thanked the powers that be for guiding him on the right path toward his happiness.
With a appreciative smile to Cas, Dean turned back to Perry and Joe.
“I can't really explain how you got here, but I think we all know it's where you're supposed to be. And if I was a betting man, I'd wager that you, Joe, probably have the title for the Riptide on you as we speak.”
As Joe took out his wallet he retorted, “I'll take that bet. I'm a little ashamed to admit, but it's been years since I thought about...” His voiced trailed off as he fished out a folded document. “I'll be damned.”
“Of course you won't,” chirped Gabriel, happily. Cas nodded, in agreement of his brother's assessment.
“Great. Well now that we’re all on the same page here,” Gabriel exclaimed with a clap of his hands, “I expect you’ll want to be taking rightful possession of this vessel, seeing as how it’s got such ‘sentimental value’, and you do actually own it.”
With a disappointed look, Joe admitted, “That would be great, but I don’t really have a place right now near any harbor access.”
“Sure we do,” Perry corrected him.
“We do? ‘We’?” Joe asked in disbelief.
“Of course. You know the house I just bought near here. With the girls out on their own, starting their own families I thought I’d get a smaller place. Plenty big enough for two though,” he said, “What about it? Think you’d get sick of being around me 24/7?”
“Not even a little bit,” Joe answered, truthfully.
After exchanging besotted expressions, Joe and Perry kissed again. More slowly this time, as if each man was taking the time to savor it.
Breaking for some much needed air, Joe growled, “Any way I could convince you to grow back the mustache?”
“You always said it made me look like a porn star,” said Perry.
“Yeah. Well it wasn’t just the mustache…” Joe chuckled.
Clearing his throat to get the new couple's attention, Sam suggested that he and Gabriel had an SUV suitable for towing the Riptide to its new home. Joe and Perry gratefully took him up on his offer and Gabriel smiled indulgently as he saw how excited Sam was to be able to help the guys.
As Gabriel watched his lover talking animatedly with his childhood heroes while they took a closer look at the Riptide to asses her condition, Dean leaned over to him.
“You might wanna keep an eye on Sammy, there, Gabe. I’m pretty sure Perry was his first crush,” Dean teased softly, “For whatever reason, I guess he's always had a thing for blonds,” Dean shrugged.
Gabriel made a show of rolling his eyes as if to demonstrate that Dean’s remark did not faze him in the slightest.
However, Dean noticed he made his way over to the three men pretty quickly after that and put a very proprietary hand on Sam’s hip, and at that, Sam had looked at Gabriel and Dean saw him smile in way he couldn’t remember seeing for a very long time. Maybe ever.
Dean allowed himself to be happy for his brother, and vowed to make an effort to tolerate Gabriel’s presence in their lives going forward.
“So,” Cas’ voice broke into his musings, “I believe this is the part where you announce that our work here is finished.”
Yep. Cas was learning.
“Guess I better be careful,” Dean joked, “Pretty soon, you won’t need me at all.”
Tilting his head adorably, Cas said with terrible earnest, “That will never be true, Dean. I will always need you.”
“Thanks, man. You always seem to know what I need to hear,” Dean admitted.
“And I believe you were going to explain this ‘slash’ reference that Gabriel made earlier,” Cas added, with a slight smile that indicated he knew more than he was letting on.
Dean could hardly wait to find out just how much.