Unexpected Destinies Chapter 25
Title: Unexpected Destinies
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 2,324
Summary: Castiel gets distracted by his mate while on a case.
PAST
The speed with which Dean had responded to his text inquiring about his location was gratifying and Castiel instantly flew towards it, adjusting his landing slightly so it would be out of sight of the people his mate was talking to. He then walked into view, but stopped when the younger woman seemed to shrink away from him, hiding behind the older woman.
"It's okay," Dean soothed. "He's with me."
Dean's words caused another surge in the emotions that Castiel was only just starting to understand even though he knew the present situation had nothing to do with that type of claim. Knowing what came next from the suit Dean was wearing, he fished the fake ID his hunter had given him a few weeks ago out of his inner pocket and held it up as Dean had told him to.
"This is my partner, Special Agent Bocelli," Dean explained and the younger woman relaxed. "Please continue."
"Melinda just kept seeing these people that no one else could," the older woman said. "At first they would just walk past her or stand and stare, but then they started approaching her."
Castiel listened to a little of what the woman was saying, but found his attention kept straying back to his mate. Dean stood facing the two women, his expression open and honest, putting them at ease and encouraging them to tell him all that they knew. He must have watched the hunter interact with other humans over a thousand times now and knew that, by human standards, he stared at Dean too long and hard, but he couldn't help it. Even from the start, back before these new feelings had developed, he'd found his mate fascinating. Now, with the added desire to get as close to him as possible, it was even more tempting just observe him continuously.
His time spent with humans had thought him this type of behavior made them uncomfortable, though, so Castiel made sure to look at the two women as well. He tried to make it look like he was paying attention even after he'd lost track of the conversation. It wasn't really that important, Dean had told him it was better he didn't provide his input until after they were away from the civilians anyway. Today he also found it particularly difficult to pay much attention despite how much he liked to see the way his mate interacted with others, effortlessly drawing information from them or deceiving them into thinking he was something other than what he was. It never failed to amaze him how easy and graceful Dean could make it all seem, though he suspected that was part of what being a good hunter entailed even if he didn't like it.
No, today his attention kept getting drawn back to his mate himself. It seemed that now that he'd been able to explore and touch Dean's chest at will, he couldn't help but notice all of the movements his hunter made. He kept seeing them and thinking of how those strong muscles might move to accomplish the actions and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch. To test his theory and feel the muscles ripple and shift beneath the skin. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he almost missed his cue to say goodbye to the two women.
"Distracted much?" Dean questioned softly as they walked away.
"Yes."
Dean snorted, though Castiel could see his lips twitch upwards nonetheless as they rounded a corner. "Anything in particular?"
"You," Castiel stated.
His hunter's eyes snapped up to look at him, just as Castiel knew they would. Having made sure they were alone, he used the opportunity to crowd close enough to kiss his mate. He kept advancing until Dean was pressed back against the Impala which they'd stood beside. His desire from earlier was back and he saw no reason not to reach out and touch as his hunter had told him he now could. He pulled his human's shirt from his pants and slipped his hands underneath it.
"Hands! Cold!" Dean exclaimed, twisting away.
With a thought, Castiel warmed his hands to keep his mate from pulling away from him. Dean stilled and kissed him instead. As they stood there like that, he felt a new desire rise within him, another new one he didn't understand. He was about to ask about it when his hunter leaned back a little.
"Cas, stop, we can't do this here, it's too public."
"Why?"
"Well, if we get caught we could be arrested or worse."
"Couldn't you just show them your badge?"
"That wouldn't work if they were real cops as we have no one to play backup if they wanted to test our identities."
"You don't think Bobby would still back you up?"
"He probably would, but there might be some initial confusion as he doesn't know that I've left Lisa and am hunting again. That could be enough to give the game away and then we'd be in even more trouble for having impersonated federal agents."
"I could still get us away."
"Yeah, I know, but it would put me on the federal radar again and trust me, that's far more trouble than it's worth," Dean explained. "At the moment they think I'm dead, which is the only reason why they're not trying to track me down right now."
He didn't like the sound of that at all. "They were hunting you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because they don't believe in the supernatural and think that Sam and I were going around and killing innocent people or doing whatever what we were hunting was doing."
"They do not know about the supernatural?"
"No, most people have forgotten that it's all real and think it's just stories."
"Why don't you tell them otherwise?"
"Because they'll think I'm crazy and besides, I kinda like that they don't have to worry about what's out there. That they can live life without the fear of things that they can't hope to fight or defend themselves against."
"Then how can they protect themselves?"
"That's my job, well me and all of the other hunters out there."
"And who protects you?"
"Dude, I can take care of myself."
"Everyone deserves to rest."
"Yeah, not me apparently."
Castiel didn't like the weary resignation in his mate's voice. He wished that he could respond, that he could tell Dean that it was only a matter of time, but he knew better than to try such platitudes with his hunter. The fact that they had their biggest task still ahead of them also didn't help, which reminded him of the reason he'd sought out Dean in the first place. It never ceased to amaze him how easily he could be distracted when around his mate.
"You said getting arrested was the better of the two possibilities should we be caught."
"Well, down here anyway, see we're below what's called the Mason-Dixon line and that means we're in Bible thumper country."
"And this is bad?" Castiel frowned.
Sometimes Dean's irreverence and distaste for all things religious displeased him.
"Given what we're doing, yeah. Homophobia is still a problem everywhere, but down here it reaches epic proportions with the religious nuts."
"Why?"
"Because they think God hates guys who like other guys the way we do."
The words froze Castiel in the process reaching up to touch Dean's face. Then he felt anger start to flare within him at the mere thought of people ascribing something such as that to his Father. He knew that humans had some odd notions about angels and his Father, but this was going a step too far. Not only was it preposterous, but it was using Him to perpetuate a hateful prejudice.
"Father doesn't hate anyone and He definitely doesn't automatically do so for whole groups of people!"
"Hey, hey, I know, Cas, I'm just saying."
"You humans have such ridiculous ideas about my Father sometimes."
"Don't I know it," Dean replied. "You know, there was a reason I never believed any of that crap. But they claim they got it from the Bible, Sodom and Gomorra, if I'm not mistaken."
"I have said it before, but your Bibl-"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember, the problem is that they don't know that and they take it as the absolute truth."
Castiel fought off the desire to say any more on the subject. He knew that Dean understood the problem and wasn't at fault here, but the topic just made him so angry. To think that the people they were fighting so hard to protect thought such vile things of his Father and tried to use Him in order to justify...
"What exactly would they do if they caught us?" Dean's eyes turned away from him, never a good sign. "Dean."
"It... depends. There's always the chance that you'd have someone who's open minded and wouldn't care, but otherwise, the best case scenario is verbal abuse. In that case they'd insult us and pester us until we left."
"And in other cases?"
"They'd get physical about it. They could throw things or attack us, throwing punches and the like. Worst case, well, there have been instances of people having been lynched or otherwise killed."
"Killed?" Castiel repeated in disbelief. "Religious humans would kill in my Father's name simply because some people choose to love someone they disapprove of?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
Castiel felt the anger surge within him and he had to still the human impulse he'd acquired to clench his fists. Not only was it an unnecessary gesture, but he still had his left hand resting on Dean's hip and his mate's body was so fragile that he could seriously hurt him if he wasn't careful. The realization as well as the knowledge that even this much contact was likely to be construed as too much based on what his mate had said in the past, had him withdrawing his hands and stepping back a pace.
"My apologies, it was not my intention to endanger you."
Dean glanced about before closing the distance between them again. "Cas, no, I liked it, okay? It's just that some people are idiots."
"I know. You had said not in public."
"Not in the South. Up North they're better, but it's still best to be careful, though some contact is fine there."
"I will keep that in mind."
"Good," Dean smiled. "Now let's see if we can't gank this little bastard and prevent it from doing any real harm to Melinda."
"You know what it is that's bothering her?"
"Yeah, sounds like a ghost with an obsession with her."
Dean unlocked the Impala and moved to get in, so Castiel 'zapped' himself into the passenger seat. His mate had such quaint ways of describing things sometimes.
"Ghosts do not usually focus on a particular person like that," Castiel stated, ignoring the hunter's pointed look for not having used the human way of getting into the car.
"No, but I did a quick search of the house's history and there was a man who committed suicide after having lost a daughter about Melinda's age."
"The violent death sufficient to create a ghost and a strong personal motive for such aberrant behavior."
"That's what I thought, so I looked up the location of his burial site and it's just two hours from here. Feel like tagging along for a simple salt and burn or do you have other, more important things to take care of?"
"I have some time."
"Great."
It pleased Castiel that Dean turned the music down to a level at which they could still hear each other. He'd noted that his mate tended to turn it up well past the point at which any kind of conversation could be held whenever he was angry or displeased with Sam. Doing what he did now was a clear indication that Dean was in a good mood and felt comfortable around him.
As had happened earlier, Castiel found his eyes drawn to the movements his mate made, from his shifting grip on the steering wheel to the small movements of his head timed to match the beat of the music currently playing. It was all so interesting to watch and, based on the way Dean's lips twitched when he looked over and caught him staring, it didn't really bother the hunter as much as he used to claim it did, so he saw no need to stop.
"Belliel found another series of books that might relate to the Apocalypse today when he was looking up something unrelated in the library."
"He did?"
"Yes, they were ones that we were unaware of."
"Unaware of? How does that happen?"
"They were not shelved where they should have been."
"That's odd, isn't it?"
"It is, especially since some of them seem to have some prophecy relating to the events from the past few months."
"Whoa, wait, you mean the whole fact that we thought the Apocalypse was over when it wasn't?"
"Yes. It talks about there being a false end to it."
"And why didn't anyone know about this?"
"I am not entirely sure and have requested a further investigation into the matter. At the moment it appears that the books were deliberately misplaced so they would not be found."
"Misplaced by who?" Dean demanded, angry.
"That too is unknown at the present, as are the whereabouts of the remaining books."
"Remaining books?"
"Yes, the only ones we have found are the ones pertaining to events that have already transpired. The other one, or other ones, are all missing."
"Of course they are."
Castiel knew that he wasn't very good at detecting what Dean termed sarcasm, but he was pretty sure that what his mate had just said qualified as thus.
"What the hell is going on here, Cas?"
"I don't know, Dean, but I shall find out."
A.N.: I have to admit, if I were posting these chapters as I finished them, this one would never have been. It was something I thought to do and then totally forgot about until working on what will now be chapter 28 and then I went back and added it in. So this almost wasn't here!
Chapter 26
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 2,324
Summary: Castiel gets distracted by his mate while on a case.
PAST
The speed with which Dean had responded to his text inquiring about his location was gratifying and Castiel instantly flew towards it, adjusting his landing slightly so it would be out of sight of the people his mate was talking to. He then walked into view, but stopped when the younger woman seemed to shrink away from him, hiding behind the older woman.
"It's okay," Dean soothed. "He's with me."
Dean's words caused another surge in the emotions that Castiel was only just starting to understand even though he knew the present situation had nothing to do with that type of claim. Knowing what came next from the suit Dean was wearing, he fished the fake ID his hunter had given him a few weeks ago out of his inner pocket and held it up as Dean had told him to.
"This is my partner, Special Agent Bocelli," Dean explained and the younger woman relaxed. "Please continue."
"Melinda just kept seeing these people that no one else could," the older woman said. "At first they would just walk past her or stand and stare, but then they started approaching her."
Castiel listened to a little of what the woman was saying, but found his attention kept straying back to his mate. Dean stood facing the two women, his expression open and honest, putting them at ease and encouraging them to tell him all that they knew. He must have watched the hunter interact with other humans over a thousand times now and knew that, by human standards, he stared at Dean too long and hard, but he couldn't help it. Even from the start, back before these new feelings had developed, he'd found his mate fascinating. Now, with the added desire to get as close to him as possible, it was even more tempting just observe him continuously.
His time spent with humans had thought him this type of behavior made them uncomfortable, though, so Castiel made sure to look at the two women as well. He tried to make it look like he was paying attention even after he'd lost track of the conversation. It wasn't really that important, Dean had told him it was better he didn't provide his input until after they were away from the civilians anyway. Today he also found it particularly difficult to pay much attention despite how much he liked to see the way his mate interacted with others, effortlessly drawing information from them or deceiving them into thinking he was something other than what he was. It never failed to amaze him how easy and graceful Dean could make it all seem, though he suspected that was part of what being a good hunter entailed even if he didn't like it.
No, today his attention kept getting drawn back to his mate himself. It seemed that now that he'd been able to explore and touch Dean's chest at will, he couldn't help but notice all of the movements his hunter made. He kept seeing them and thinking of how those strong muscles might move to accomplish the actions and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch. To test his theory and feel the muscles ripple and shift beneath the skin. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he almost missed his cue to say goodbye to the two women.
"Distracted much?" Dean questioned softly as they walked away.
"Yes."
Dean snorted, though Castiel could see his lips twitch upwards nonetheless as they rounded a corner. "Anything in particular?"
"You," Castiel stated.
His hunter's eyes snapped up to look at him, just as Castiel knew they would. Having made sure they were alone, he used the opportunity to crowd close enough to kiss his mate. He kept advancing until Dean was pressed back against the Impala which they'd stood beside. His desire from earlier was back and he saw no reason not to reach out and touch as his hunter had told him he now could. He pulled his human's shirt from his pants and slipped his hands underneath it.
"Hands! Cold!" Dean exclaimed, twisting away.
With a thought, Castiel warmed his hands to keep his mate from pulling away from him. Dean stilled and kissed him instead. As they stood there like that, he felt a new desire rise within him, another new one he didn't understand. He was about to ask about it when his hunter leaned back a little.
"Cas, stop, we can't do this here, it's too public."
"Why?"
"Well, if we get caught we could be arrested or worse."
"Couldn't you just show them your badge?"
"That wouldn't work if they were real cops as we have no one to play backup if they wanted to test our identities."
"You don't think Bobby would still back you up?"
"He probably would, but there might be some initial confusion as he doesn't know that I've left Lisa and am hunting again. That could be enough to give the game away and then we'd be in even more trouble for having impersonated federal agents."
"I could still get us away."
"Yeah, I know, but it would put me on the federal radar again and trust me, that's far more trouble than it's worth," Dean explained. "At the moment they think I'm dead, which is the only reason why they're not trying to track me down right now."
He didn't like the sound of that at all. "They were hunting you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because they don't believe in the supernatural and think that Sam and I were going around and killing innocent people or doing whatever what we were hunting was doing."
"They do not know about the supernatural?"
"No, most people have forgotten that it's all real and think it's just stories."
"Why don't you tell them otherwise?"
"Because they'll think I'm crazy and besides, I kinda like that they don't have to worry about what's out there. That they can live life without the fear of things that they can't hope to fight or defend themselves against."
"Then how can they protect themselves?"
"That's my job, well me and all of the other hunters out there."
"And who protects you?"
"Dude, I can take care of myself."
"Everyone deserves to rest."
"Yeah, not me apparently."
Castiel didn't like the weary resignation in his mate's voice. He wished that he could respond, that he could tell Dean that it was only a matter of time, but he knew better than to try such platitudes with his hunter. The fact that they had their biggest task still ahead of them also didn't help, which reminded him of the reason he'd sought out Dean in the first place. It never ceased to amaze him how easily he could be distracted when around his mate.
"You said getting arrested was the better of the two possibilities should we be caught."
"Well, down here anyway, see we're below what's called the Mason-Dixon line and that means we're in Bible thumper country."
"And this is bad?" Castiel frowned.
Sometimes Dean's irreverence and distaste for all things religious displeased him.
"Given what we're doing, yeah. Homophobia is still a problem everywhere, but down here it reaches epic proportions with the religious nuts."
"Why?"
"Because they think God hates guys who like other guys the way we do."
The words froze Castiel in the process reaching up to touch Dean's face. Then he felt anger start to flare within him at the mere thought of people ascribing something such as that to his Father. He knew that humans had some odd notions about angels and his Father, but this was going a step too far. Not only was it preposterous, but it was using Him to perpetuate a hateful prejudice.
"Father doesn't hate anyone and He definitely doesn't automatically do so for whole groups of people!"
"Hey, hey, I know, Cas, I'm just saying."
"You humans have such ridiculous ideas about my Father sometimes."
"Don't I know it," Dean replied. "You know, there was a reason I never believed any of that crap. But they claim they got it from the Bible, Sodom and Gomorra, if I'm not mistaken."
"I have said it before, but your Bibl-"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember, the problem is that they don't know that and they take it as the absolute truth."
Castiel fought off the desire to say any more on the subject. He knew that Dean understood the problem and wasn't at fault here, but the topic just made him so angry. To think that the people they were fighting so hard to protect thought such vile things of his Father and tried to use Him in order to justify...
"What exactly would they do if they caught us?" Dean's eyes turned away from him, never a good sign. "Dean."
"It... depends. There's always the chance that you'd have someone who's open minded and wouldn't care, but otherwise, the best case scenario is verbal abuse. In that case they'd insult us and pester us until we left."
"And in other cases?"
"They'd get physical about it. They could throw things or attack us, throwing punches and the like. Worst case, well, there have been instances of people having been lynched or otherwise killed."
"Killed?" Castiel repeated in disbelief. "Religious humans would kill in my Father's name simply because some people choose to love someone they disapprove of?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
Castiel felt the anger surge within him and he had to still the human impulse he'd acquired to clench his fists. Not only was it an unnecessary gesture, but he still had his left hand resting on Dean's hip and his mate's body was so fragile that he could seriously hurt him if he wasn't careful. The realization as well as the knowledge that even this much contact was likely to be construed as too much based on what his mate had said in the past, had him withdrawing his hands and stepping back a pace.
"My apologies, it was not my intention to endanger you."
Dean glanced about before closing the distance between them again. "Cas, no, I liked it, okay? It's just that some people are idiots."
"I know. You had said not in public."
"Not in the South. Up North they're better, but it's still best to be careful, though some contact is fine there."
"I will keep that in mind."
"Good," Dean smiled. "Now let's see if we can't gank this little bastard and prevent it from doing any real harm to Melinda."
"You know what it is that's bothering her?"
"Yeah, sounds like a ghost with an obsession with her."
Dean unlocked the Impala and moved to get in, so Castiel 'zapped' himself into the passenger seat. His mate had such quaint ways of describing things sometimes.
"Ghosts do not usually focus on a particular person like that," Castiel stated, ignoring the hunter's pointed look for not having used the human way of getting into the car.
"No, but I did a quick search of the house's history and there was a man who committed suicide after having lost a daughter about Melinda's age."
"The violent death sufficient to create a ghost and a strong personal motive for such aberrant behavior."
"That's what I thought, so I looked up the location of his burial site and it's just two hours from here. Feel like tagging along for a simple salt and burn or do you have other, more important things to take care of?"
"I have some time."
"Great."
It pleased Castiel that Dean turned the music down to a level at which they could still hear each other. He'd noted that his mate tended to turn it up well past the point at which any kind of conversation could be held whenever he was angry or displeased with Sam. Doing what he did now was a clear indication that Dean was in a good mood and felt comfortable around him.
As had happened earlier, Castiel found his eyes drawn to the movements his mate made, from his shifting grip on the steering wheel to the small movements of his head timed to match the beat of the music currently playing. It was all so interesting to watch and, based on the way Dean's lips twitched when he looked over and caught him staring, it didn't really bother the hunter as much as he used to claim it did, so he saw no need to stop.
"Belliel found another series of books that might relate to the Apocalypse today when he was looking up something unrelated in the library."
"He did?"
"Yes, they were ones that we were unaware of."
"Unaware of? How does that happen?"
"They were not shelved where they should have been."
"That's odd, isn't it?"
"It is, especially since some of them seem to have some prophecy relating to the events from the past few months."
"Whoa, wait, you mean the whole fact that we thought the Apocalypse was over when it wasn't?"
"Yes. It talks about there being a false end to it."
"And why didn't anyone know about this?"
"I am not entirely sure and have requested a further investigation into the matter. At the moment it appears that the books were deliberately misplaced so they would not be found."
"Misplaced by who?" Dean demanded, angry.
"That too is unknown at the present, as are the whereabouts of the remaining books."
"Remaining books?"
"Yes, the only ones we have found are the ones pertaining to events that have already transpired. The other one, or other ones, are all missing."
"Of course they are."
Castiel knew that he wasn't very good at detecting what Dean termed sarcasm, but he was pretty sure that what his mate had just said qualified as thus.
"What the hell is going on here, Cas?"
"I don't know, Dean, but I shall find out."
A.N.: I have to admit, if I were posting these chapters as I finished them, this one would never have been. It was something I thought to do and then totally forgot about until working on what will now be chapter 28 and then I went back and added it in. So this almost wasn't here!
Chapter 26