More Than a Curse (10/??)
Title: More Than a Curse 10/??
Chapter 10: In which things appear more complicated than they seemed;
Author: Rinienne
Rating: From PG to NC17. Rating is subject to changes. PG for this one.
Genre: romance;
Pairing/Characters: Dean/Castiel, Sam, Balthazar, Gabriel;
Spoilers: Probably the begining of season 6, to be safe. It's little bit AU;
Warnings: none;
Word Count : 3047;
Beta : anwynn, who was not only correcting my mistakes, but did a great job with the style as well;
Summary : After being hit by a witch curse Dean and Castiel have found themselves not exactly the way they were before. Both have faced with problems they've never thought about, but at the same time they've found something new about themselves.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
Chapter 10
In which things appear more complicated than they seemed
Spring was ending and even though it was currently late at night, it was so hot here, wherever “here” was actually, that Sam felt thrown somewhere during midsummer and, within a second, he longed for a long, cold shower. He really didn’t like this awful feeling of stickiness all over his skin, but all unpleasant thoughts were quickly chased away as Sam realized exactly where he had, or so it seemed, landed.
Heaps of ageless stones were bathing in the fading moon's dim light, scattered here and there, bare memories of ancient buildings, collapsed since long. To tell the truth, it wasn’t even buildings any longer but only walls half crumbled and destroyed columns, supporting no roofs anymore. Nowadays, only remained a single restorated facade and they were currently standing before it, nothing more but a single wall decorated with old ornaments and beautiful ancient statues. Upon this sight, the young hunter could only imagine how sublime this building must have looked like in all its former glory.
“Is it… is it the library of Celsus, really?” Sam asked, watching in awe.
“Nah, it’s not a library anymore Sammy, it’s just ruins. Can’t you see?” Gabriel smirked.
Sam shot a glance at his friend and sighed. Of course, those ruins had once been known as the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, in ages long past, and Sam had seen pictures of it a hundred times. But Gabriel was right, it wasn’t a library anymore though, hadn't been for millennia, but a bunch of rocks and a single wall. But the archangel's attitude was annoying. It seems he was trying to piss him off on purpose. The younger Winchester just couldn’t believe that, not so long ago, Gabriel had been so different, he had shared something so important with Sam, a secret from his past, showing the real Gabriel, the one hiding under layers of jokes and pranks.
Sam also couldn’t believe how moved he was by Gabriel entrusting him with such a confidence. He hadn't stopped thinking about it during the past two days, nearly getting his own brother killed while he was totally lost in silly thoughts about the feathered jerk. In the middle of a hunt. Sam knew for sure he couldn't blame it on a crush or on love, having already experienced those feelings. It was something different in this case but he definitively couldn't deny the sudden flutter the archangel brought to his heart. The fact that Gabriel seemed to have completely forgotten about their whole conversation and returned to his previous mischievous temper was disturbing Sam.
Sam decided to dismiss such thoughts, bringing his attention back to the architecture. The place was truly breath-taking, wrapped in an ethereal atmosphere of mystery and everlasting wisdom, especially for someone enamoured with History. Ephesus had always been one of the places Sam dreamt about visiting once, among many others, without believing he'd never get a chance to. Now he was standing there, in the middle of the ancient city, still afraid to wake up from a dream.
But he also knew they were here for business only. Gabriel had found faint traces of the witch responsible for their brothers' current condition somewhere around here and they were only here to investigate the place.
“We will need to get to the underground level of the library” Gabriel informed.
“Underground level? But I never heard anything about it!”
“Of course you didn’t!” The archangel smirked, “your scientists are not able to reach it yet! And I really doubt they will ever.”
Sam couldn’t believe his ears. Yes, he might not get a chance to take a look at the whole city, but an underground level of one of the biggest libraries of the past yet undiscovered or simply whose existence was never suspected? It sounded too exciting to be true. “How… how will we get there?” he asked.
“That is easy, my friend!” A third voice chuckled behind Sam.
Even if that voice totally sounded familiar, Sam couldn’t help but barely repress a jump upon hearing it. He surely didn’t expect anyone to sneak behind him while he was around the archangel. This thought unfortunately led to another and now the hunter was wondering exactly when he started to trust someone so blindly, when said person had spent more than two months killing and resurrecting Sam’s own brother.
Sam forced himself to stop thinking about it for now and turned his head towards the other angel : “Hey Balthazar!” he nodded.
“Did you bring the crystal?” Gabriel asked with a wide smile on his face.
“Yeah, even though I think Cassie will get upset that I didn’t ask before… borrowing it.” Balthazar reached for something in his pocket, retrieving a slightly glowing purple stone and threw it to the archangel.
“Yeah, little Castiel went all bossy-bossy up in heaven, huh?” Gabriel chuckled. “Glad I don’t need to witness that!”
“It’s not that bad, even if he still has this stick up his ass, of course.”
“Now I feel like a third wheel.” Sam sighed, although it was nice to hear what was a teasing but warm tone when the two angels spoke about their brother. It was really pleasant and conforting to know that not all the angels were heartless assholes.
Gabriel's gaze left Balthazar and he looked into Sam's eyes. To tell the truth, the hunter was expecting some reassuring words such as “don’t worry, you’re not”, but the archangel just nodded, keeping his wide smile : “Let’s go then!” He simply said.
Sam didn’t know why such a little thing suddenly made him feel offended. He tried to banish this feeling, focusing on their task.
Both angels moved towards what had been, ages and ages ago, the middle of the main room of the library, searching for something. Sam was unsure of what to do, the night was bright and the building itself had once been a vast one but, still, it wasn’t an easy search for his human eyes, so fallible in the dark. He decided to wait and see if the angels would require any help and, soon enough, discovered it wasn’t the case, as Gabriel found pretty fast whatever they had been looking for.
“Ah, here is it!” he announced proudly. Sam moved closer, trying to get a better look at what looked like a simple crack on the floor.
“What is it?” Sam asked.
Gabriel shot a glance at the hunter for a split second and then inserted Balthazar’s crystal in the crack. For a moment or two nothing happened and everything remained silent, then, suddenly, Sam started to feel the ground trembling under his feet. It didn’t really feel like an earthquake as the shaking, though noticeable, wasn’t enough for him to loose his balance and fall. A few seconds later and the crack on the floor started to grow bigger, before the two big stone plates there began to move from each other, revealing a stairway leading down.
The hunter’s heart skipped a bit for a moment, as Sam had just witnessed something incredible, a mystery carefully kept for thousands of years. Any person alive would envy him right now.
“It has Enochian sigils inside” Balthazar explained.
“Why?” Sam inquired.
“To keep angels out. Well... those who don’t have the key.” The archangel explained. “The plates need to be aligned for the sigils to be completed. Only when the doorway is opened we can go in.”
“So, what are we waiting for?” Sam nodded. He made a step towards the entrance but was suddenly stopped by Gabriel’s hand on his shoulder.
“Sam…” he said. “I’m sorry, the three of us can’t go together. If, for some reason, the door closes, all three of us would be trapped in there forever!”
Sam opened his mouth in a protest, but Gabriel had already turned away from him, disappearing inside the secret passage, right after Balthazar, who was progressing carefully, inspecting the walls on his way down.
For a second Sam remembered when, a long time ago, one of his college friends taught him how to play a game in which you had to cautiously look for and avoid traps in order to advance, something like that, but soon enough that memory was erased by an ugly emotion, that tasted like betrayal, caused by the archangel. Sam was really pissed and frustrated by the fact that he had been left behind, denied to take a look at the underground level of the library, unknown to mankind. He was a bit angry at the archangel, even knowing that Gabriel had been only right and cautious when ordering him to stay away.
Sam sighed, looking around: it was quiet. Not an unnerving and unnatural type of quiet, of the suspicious kind. He could hear a few faint but soothing noises like the rustle of grass ruffled by wind or crickets' singing. Sam was actually pretty sure he could hear the Ocean from his position, the waves gently kissing the shore. It was really upsetting, being unable to see it. The Hunter glanced at the library restorated wall once again. It was very impressive and at least he would remember this part of the legendary Greek city.
Sam was ready to wait at least half an hour, but not even five minutes had passed when the angels reappeared.
“Well?” Sam asked surprised, trying to hide his frustration.
“Well?” Balthazar repeated. “It's anything but well...”
There was definitively something wrong with the angel’s voice, but Sam couldn’t put a finger on what exactly. For some reason Balthazar sounded pretty disappointed. And maybe even a little bit worried.
“It’s empty.” Gabriel mumbled.
“Ok, and what were you supposed to find there?” Sam asked. The two angels looked at each other, lost in a silent communication. What now felt like some sort of a conspiracy was beginning to very seriously annoy Sam, he felt like he had a total right to know what was going on. Their brother alright, but his brother too, after all.
“A book.” Balthazar spoke suddenly. “With some very old spells.”
“What kind of spells?”
“Sam…” Gabriel started. “We honestly don’t know.”
“So why did we come here in the first place?”
“The spell which was cast upon Dean and Cas is pretty unusual, to say the least. I can reverse most of witches’ spells, but in this case something is preventing me from doing so.” Balthazar explained. “So, we decided to check out some old, supposedly forgotten, repositories.”
That's exactly when Sam started to seriously worry. Of course it seemed that nothing terribly dangerous was threatening his brother, just an annoying prank, but the angel's words changed his mind.
“So, what you mean is... that witch could have found the book and used a spell from it on my brother? How dange…”
“It’s nothing to worry about, Sammy!” Gabriel smiled, interrupting Sam. “Plus I bet Deano and Cassie are having a very good time!”
“Yeah, I bet!” Sam mumbled still trying to convince himself.
“Oh, come on! I made sure that every single hotel and motel they can come across have a huge mirror in the shower!”
Sam smiled slightly, imagining very clearly his brother squirming with embarrassment looking at Gabriel's mirrors. At least it was a nice revenge for all the pranks Dean pulled on him their entire life.
“Ok, I think I might check out some stuff in heaven; maybe I will find something useful.” Balthazar nodded, retrieving the crystal from the crack. The floor started to shake again as the passage downstairs closed. “As usual, you didn’t see me, I didn’t see you!” The angel said and disappeared with a rustle of wings.
“Ok Sammy!” Gabriel smiled again. “Let’s go?”
Sam nodded and closed his eyes, expecting Gabriel to teleport them back to the archangel’s apartment - he had noticed that angelic airlines were less disturbing to deal with when eyes closed.
“Hey why are you standing there, eyes closed?” Gabriel asked. “Waiting for a kiss from your prince charming?”
Sam opened his eyes and spotted Gabriel near the library’s exit. “Aren’t you going to teleport us back?” He asked.
“You want back? I thought I could show you some stuff... like the temple of Artemis? You know, she is a hot chick actually… brushed me off several times though.”
Sam was standing still, opened mouth, looking at Gabriel and unable to react. Yet again, Gabriel had left him speechless. But even though the hunter was still in shock, he somehow managed to nod, his legs carrying him to the archangel’s side. So yes, it was really happening, Sam was actually allowed to stay here for some time and explore and yes, he felt really excited and happy about it.
“Want to hold hands while walking?” Gabriel smirked.
“Gabe… just shut up, alright?”
* * *Every time Castiel was sure he had made a major step towards understanding humanity, Dean Winchester was pushing him back ten more steps. And now it was happening again.
At first he had been totally speechless when Castiel (how would Dean call it? Right, “fucked up”) the hunter brushed it away and forgave him so easily. The angel had been sure Dean would react differently upon realizing what happened in the shower. Yet, Dean didn't. And the next morning was pretty much spent in a nice, casual mood. But now Dean was starting to act agitated, as if Castiel did something terribly wrong again.
They had been driving north towards Bobby’s for about three hours already. During all this time they barely spoke. Every time Castiel had said something, Dean mumbled an intelligible reply, brief and cold, and, knowing the hunter pretty well by now, Castiel had opted for sitting quietly, looking outside through the Impala's window.
The silence was very uncomfortable. Usually Dean would turn on his music, which always seemed too loud and well, heavy, for the angel. But right now Castiel would have been more than happy for the noise.
One more half hour and Dean pulled the car to a gas station in the middle of the highway. The place wasn’t big but there were several cafes around and something looking like a souvenir shop.
“Are you out of gas?” The angel inquired.
Dean briefly glanced at Castiel before turning his eyes away. “I’m hungry.” He simply replied.
“But you said that you didn't…” Dean slammed the door as he left the car, “…want to eat.” Castiel finished his sentence in a whisper; the hunter was no longer able to hear him anyway.
Castiel opened the door from his side and got out of the car. He had no intentions to follow Dean inside the store; he just wanted to stretch his muscles. When his vessel had been filled with his grace, his body had never felt uncomfortable, he could sit in one place for many hours and never get tired, but now it was different. His back was aching and his buttocks were sore of sitting for three hours straight, so he was actually pretty glad to have a chance to stay on his feet and move around, at least for a short amount of time.
His hand reached his pocket where it connected with the small box in which was safely kept the vial filled with his grace. This simple gesture soothed him, comforting him by the closeness of the box and its precious content. These past three days he had tried but never managed to actually tell Dean the truth. He knew he should really have done it but it never seemed to be the appropriate moment and anyway Castiel was scared to disappoint the hunter. Maybe it will be easier to bring the subject once they reached Bobby's, maybe Dean would be in a better mood then.
Several minutes later and the older Winchester reappeared from the store with a bag most likely holding burgers in one hand, something else in another. Castiel hurried to remove his hand from his pocket as he noticed the hunter.
“There!” Dean said throwing something to Castiel. “Don’t say a word, I need some quiet.” He quickly added before Castiel had a chance to open his mouth.
The object now in the angel’s hand was small and cold, wrapped in a colourful paper. Castiel rapidly realized that it contained some sort of food.
“I’m not hungry at the moment.” He said blankly.
“Dude, told you to be quiet…” The hunter sighed as he leaned on the hood of the Impala. “You don’t eat ice cream just because you have to eat but for the pleasure of enjoying it.”
“Like pie?”
“Like pie…”
The angel moved closer to Dean, leaning on the car beside him as he unwrapped his ice cream. The treat was actually even more pleasant than expected. It was sweet and melting in his mouth, stealing a small uncontrolled moan of appreciation from his throat. He tried to compare it with his memory of the taste of pie, and realized that he couldn’t decide which one was more enjoyable.
Dean was sitting next to him, eating the same kind of ice cream he brought to Castiel. Yet again he went silent, with his gaze locked somewhere far away, some place unknown to the angel. His face was thoughtful, blank, and Castiel couldn’t make much of it.
When powered with his grace, Castiel could always see the souls inside human beings. He never actually cared too much about the physical part of the hunter. But it was back then... so long ago it seemed, before he ripped his grace off, before experiencing his own... craving for physical touches. The only thing the angel could see now - was the face of his vessel. And it was disturbing.
All of a sudden Castiel realized how uncomfortable it was to look at Dean, to see him this way. See him in a foreign body, one belonging to another. Maybe that was why the hunter felt so irritated? The thought brought something very unpleasant to the angel's heart. He didn't understand what this feeling was but he wished fervently that everything was back to normal, as it had been before this dreadful hunt.
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Chapter 10: In which things appear more complicated than they seemed;
Author: Rinienne
Rating: From PG to NC17. Rating is subject to changes. PG for this one.
Genre: romance;
Pairing/Characters: Dean/Castiel, Sam, Balthazar, Gabriel;
Spoilers: Probably the begining of season 6, to be safe. It's little bit AU;
Warnings: none;
Word Count : 3047;
Beta : anwynn, who was not only correcting my mistakes, but did a great job with the style as well;
Summary : After being hit by a witch curse Dean and Castiel have found themselves not exactly the way they were before. Both have faced with problems they've never thought about, but at the same time they've found something new about themselves.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
Chapter 10
In which things appear more complicated than they seemed
Spring was ending and even though it was currently late at night, it was so hot here, wherever “here” was actually, that Sam felt thrown somewhere during midsummer and, within a second, he longed for a long, cold shower. He really didn’t like this awful feeling of stickiness all over his skin, but all unpleasant thoughts were quickly chased away as Sam realized exactly where he had, or so it seemed, landed.
Heaps of ageless stones were bathing in the fading moon's dim light, scattered here and there, bare memories of ancient buildings, collapsed since long. To tell the truth, it wasn’t even buildings any longer but only walls half crumbled and destroyed columns, supporting no roofs anymore. Nowadays, only remained a single restorated facade and they were currently standing before it, nothing more but a single wall decorated with old ornaments and beautiful ancient statues. Upon this sight, the young hunter could only imagine how sublime this building must have looked like in all its former glory.
“Is it… is it the library of Celsus, really?” Sam asked, watching in awe.
“Nah, it’s not a library anymore Sammy, it’s just ruins. Can’t you see?” Gabriel smirked.
Sam shot a glance at his friend and sighed. Of course, those ruins had once been known as the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, in ages long past, and Sam had seen pictures of it a hundred times. But Gabriel was right, it wasn’t a library anymore though, hadn't been for millennia, but a bunch of rocks and a single wall. But the archangel's attitude was annoying. It seems he was trying to piss him off on purpose. The younger Winchester just couldn’t believe that, not so long ago, Gabriel had been so different, he had shared something so important with Sam, a secret from his past, showing the real Gabriel, the one hiding under layers of jokes and pranks.
Sam also couldn’t believe how moved he was by Gabriel entrusting him with such a confidence. He hadn't stopped thinking about it during the past two days, nearly getting his own brother killed while he was totally lost in silly thoughts about the feathered jerk. In the middle of a hunt. Sam knew for sure he couldn't blame it on a crush or on love, having already experienced those feelings. It was something different in this case but he definitively couldn't deny the sudden flutter the archangel brought to his heart. The fact that Gabriel seemed to have completely forgotten about their whole conversation and returned to his previous mischievous temper was disturbing Sam.
Sam decided to dismiss such thoughts, bringing his attention back to the architecture. The place was truly breath-taking, wrapped in an ethereal atmosphere of mystery and everlasting wisdom, especially for someone enamoured with History. Ephesus had always been one of the places Sam dreamt about visiting once, among many others, without believing he'd never get a chance to. Now he was standing there, in the middle of the ancient city, still afraid to wake up from a dream.
But he also knew they were here for business only. Gabriel had found faint traces of the witch responsible for their brothers' current condition somewhere around here and they were only here to investigate the place.
“We will need to get to the underground level of the library” Gabriel informed.
“Underground level? But I never heard anything about it!”
“Of course you didn’t!” The archangel smirked, “your scientists are not able to reach it yet! And I really doubt they will ever.”
Sam couldn’t believe his ears. Yes, he might not get a chance to take a look at the whole city, but an underground level of one of the biggest libraries of the past yet undiscovered or simply whose existence was never suspected? It sounded too exciting to be true. “How… how will we get there?” he asked.
“That is easy, my friend!” A third voice chuckled behind Sam.
Even if that voice totally sounded familiar, Sam couldn’t help but barely repress a jump upon hearing it. He surely didn’t expect anyone to sneak behind him while he was around the archangel. This thought unfortunately led to another and now the hunter was wondering exactly when he started to trust someone so blindly, when said person had spent more than two months killing and resurrecting Sam’s own brother.
Sam forced himself to stop thinking about it for now and turned his head towards the other angel : “Hey Balthazar!” he nodded.
“Did you bring the crystal?” Gabriel asked with a wide smile on his face.
“Yeah, even though I think Cassie will get upset that I didn’t ask before… borrowing it.” Balthazar reached for something in his pocket, retrieving a slightly glowing purple stone and threw it to the archangel.
“Yeah, little Castiel went all bossy-bossy up in heaven, huh?” Gabriel chuckled. “Glad I don’t need to witness that!”
“It’s not that bad, even if he still has this stick up his ass, of course.”
“Now I feel like a third wheel.” Sam sighed, although it was nice to hear what was a teasing but warm tone when the two angels spoke about their brother. It was really pleasant and conforting to know that not all the angels were heartless assholes.
Gabriel's gaze left Balthazar and he looked into Sam's eyes. To tell the truth, the hunter was expecting some reassuring words such as “don’t worry, you’re not”, but the archangel just nodded, keeping his wide smile : “Let’s go then!” He simply said.
Sam didn’t know why such a little thing suddenly made him feel offended. He tried to banish this feeling, focusing on their task.
Both angels moved towards what had been, ages and ages ago, the middle of the main room of the library, searching for something. Sam was unsure of what to do, the night was bright and the building itself had once been a vast one but, still, it wasn’t an easy search for his human eyes, so fallible in the dark. He decided to wait and see if the angels would require any help and, soon enough, discovered it wasn’t the case, as Gabriel found pretty fast whatever they had been looking for.
“Ah, here is it!” he announced proudly. Sam moved closer, trying to get a better look at what looked like a simple crack on the floor.
“What is it?” Sam asked.
Gabriel shot a glance at the hunter for a split second and then inserted Balthazar’s crystal in the crack. For a moment or two nothing happened and everything remained silent, then, suddenly, Sam started to feel the ground trembling under his feet. It didn’t really feel like an earthquake as the shaking, though noticeable, wasn’t enough for him to loose his balance and fall. A few seconds later and the crack on the floor started to grow bigger, before the two big stone plates there began to move from each other, revealing a stairway leading down.
The hunter’s heart skipped a bit for a moment, as Sam had just witnessed something incredible, a mystery carefully kept for thousands of years. Any person alive would envy him right now.
“It has Enochian sigils inside” Balthazar explained.
“Why?” Sam inquired.
“To keep angels out. Well... those who don’t have the key.” The archangel explained. “The plates need to be aligned for the sigils to be completed. Only when the doorway is opened we can go in.”
“So, what are we waiting for?” Sam nodded. He made a step towards the entrance but was suddenly stopped by Gabriel’s hand on his shoulder.
“Sam…” he said. “I’m sorry, the three of us can’t go together. If, for some reason, the door closes, all three of us would be trapped in there forever!”
Sam opened his mouth in a protest, but Gabriel had already turned away from him, disappearing inside the secret passage, right after Balthazar, who was progressing carefully, inspecting the walls on his way down.
For a second Sam remembered when, a long time ago, one of his college friends taught him how to play a game in which you had to cautiously look for and avoid traps in order to advance, something like that, but soon enough that memory was erased by an ugly emotion, that tasted like betrayal, caused by the archangel. Sam was really pissed and frustrated by the fact that he had been left behind, denied to take a look at the underground level of the library, unknown to mankind. He was a bit angry at the archangel, even knowing that Gabriel had been only right and cautious when ordering him to stay away.
Sam sighed, looking around: it was quiet. Not an unnerving and unnatural type of quiet, of the suspicious kind. He could hear a few faint but soothing noises like the rustle of grass ruffled by wind or crickets' singing. Sam was actually pretty sure he could hear the Ocean from his position, the waves gently kissing the shore. It was really upsetting, being unable to see it. The Hunter glanced at the library restorated wall once again. It was very impressive and at least he would remember this part of the legendary Greek city.
Sam was ready to wait at least half an hour, but not even five minutes had passed when the angels reappeared.
“Well?” Sam asked surprised, trying to hide his frustration.
“Well?” Balthazar repeated. “It's anything but well...”
There was definitively something wrong with the angel’s voice, but Sam couldn’t put a finger on what exactly. For some reason Balthazar sounded pretty disappointed. And maybe even a little bit worried.
“It’s empty.” Gabriel mumbled.
“Ok, and what were you supposed to find there?” Sam asked. The two angels looked at each other, lost in a silent communication. What now felt like some sort of a conspiracy was beginning to very seriously annoy Sam, he felt like he had a total right to know what was going on. Their brother alright, but his brother too, after all.
“A book.” Balthazar spoke suddenly. “With some very old spells.”
“What kind of spells?”
“Sam…” Gabriel started. “We honestly don’t know.”
“So why did we come here in the first place?”
“The spell which was cast upon Dean and Cas is pretty unusual, to say the least. I can reverse most of witches’ spells, but in this case something is preventing me from doing so.” Balthazar explained. “So, we decided to check out some old, supposedly forgotten, repositories.”
That's exactly when Sam started to seriously worry. Of course it seemed that nothing terribly dangerous was threatening his brother, just an annoying prank, but the angel's words changed his mind.
“So, what you mean is... that witch could have found the book and used a spell from it on my brother? How dange…”
“It’s nothing to worry about, Sammy!” Gabriel smiled, interrupting Sam. “Plus I bet Deano and Cassie are having a very good time!”
“Yeah, I bet!” Sam mumbled still trying to convince himself.
“Oh, come on! I made sure that every single hotel and motel they can come across have a huge mirror in the shower!”
Sam smiled slightly, imagining very clearly his brother squirming with embarrassment looking at Gabriel's mirrors. At least it was a nice revenge for all the pranks Dean pulled on him their entire life.
“Ok, I think I might check out some stuff in heaven; maybe I will find something useful.” Balthazar nodded, retrieving the crystal from the crack. The floor started to shake again as the passage downstairs closed. “As usual, you didn’t see me, I didn’t see you!” The angel said and disappeared with a rustle of wings.
“Ok Sammy!” Gabriel smiled again. “Let’s go?”
Sam nodded and closed his eyes, expecting Gabriel to teleport them back to the archangel’s apartment - he had noticed that angelic airlines were less disturbing to deal with when eyes closed.
“Hey why are you standing there, eyes closed?” Gabriel asked. “Waiting for a kiss from your prince charming?”
Sam opened his eyes and spotted Gabriel near the library’s exit. “Aren’t you going to teleport us back?” He asked.
“You want back? I thought I could show you some stuff... like the temple of Artemis? You know, she is a hot chick actually… brushed me off several times though.”
Sam was standing still, opened mouth, looking at Gabriel and unable to react. Yet again, Gabriel had left him speechless. But even though the hunter was still in shock, he somehow managed to nod, his legs carrying him to the archangel’s side. So yes, it was really happening, Sam was actually allowed to stay here for some time and explore and yes, he felt really excited and happy about it.
“Want to hold hands while walking?” Gabriel smirked.
“Gabe… just shut up, alright?”
* * *Every time Castiel was sure he had made a major step towards understanding humanity, Dean Winchester was pushing him back ten more steps. And now it was happening again.
At first he had been totally speechless when Castiel (how would Dean call it? Right, “fucked up”) the hunter brushed it away and forgave him so easily. The angel had been sure Dean would react differently upon realizing what happened in the shower. Yet, Dean didn't. And the next morning was pretty much spent in a nice, casual mood. But now Dean was starting to act agitated, as if Castiel did something terribly wrong again.
They had been driving north towards Bobby’s for about three hours already. During all this time they barely spoke. Every time Castiel had said something, Dean mumbled an intelligible reply, brief and cold, and, knowing the hunter pretty well by now, Castiel had opted for sitting quietly, looking outside through the Impala's window.
The silence was very uncomfortable. Usually Dean would turn on his music, which always seemed too loud and well, heavy, for the angel. But right now Castiel would have been more than happy for the noise.
One more half hour and Dean pulled the car to a gas station in the middle of the highway. The place wasn’t big but there were several cafes around and something looking like a souvenir shop.
“Are you out of gas?” The angel inquired.
Dean briefly glanced at Castiel before turning his eyes away. “I’m hungry.” He simply replied.
“But you said that you didn't…” Dean slammed the door as he left the car, “…want to eat.” Castiel finished his sentence in a whisper; the hunter was no longer able to hear him anyway.
Castiel opened the door from his side and got out of the car. He had no intentions to follow Dean inside the store; he just wanted to stretch his muscles. When his vessel had been filled with his grace, his body had never felt uncomfortable, he could sit in one place for many hours and never get tired, but now it was different. His back was aching and his buttocks were sore of sitting for three hours straight, so he was actually pretty glad to have a chance to stay on his feet and move around, at least for a short amount of time.
His hand reached his pocket where it connected with the small box in which was safely kept the vial filled with his grace. This simple gesture soothed him, comforting him by the closeness of the box and its precious content. These past three days he had tried but never managed to actually tell Dean the truth. He knew he should really have done it but it never seemed to be the appropriate moment and anyway Castiel was scared to disappoint the hunter. Maybe it will be easier to bring the subject once they reached Bobby's, maybe Dean would be in a better mood then.
Several minutes later and the older Winchester reappeared from the store with a bag most likely holding burgers in one hand, something else in another. Castiel hurried to remove his hand from his pocket as he noticed the hunter.
“There!” Dean said throwing something to Castiel. “Don’t say a word, I need some quiet.” He quickly added before Castiel had a chance to open his mouth.
The object now in the angel’s hand was small and cold, wrapped in a colourful paper. Castiel rapidly realized that it contained some sort of food.
“I’m not hungry at the moment.” He said blankly.
“Dude, told you to be quiet…” The hunter sighed as he leaned on the hood of the Impala. “You don’t eat ice cream just because you have to eat but for the pleasure of enjoying it.”
“Like pie?”
“Like pie…”
The angel moved closer to Dean, leaning on the car beside him as he unwrapped his ice cream. The treat was actually even more pleasant than expected. It was sweet and melting in his mouth, stealing a small uncontrolled moan of appreciation from his throat. He tried to compare it with his memory of the taste of pie, and realized that he couldn’t decide which one was more enjoyable.
Dean was sitting next to him, eating the same kind of ice cream he brought to Castiel. Yet again he went silent, with his gaze locked somewhere far away, some place unknown to the angel. His face was thoughtful, blank, and Castiel couldn’t make much of it.
When powered with his grace, Castiel could always see the souls inside human beings. He never actually cared too much about the physical part of the hunter. But it was back then... so long ago it seemed, before he ripped his grace off, before experiencing his own... craving for physical touches. The only thing the angel could see now - was the face of his vessel. And it was disturbing.
All of a sudden Castiel realized how uncomfortable it was to look at Dean, to see him this way. See him in a foreign body, one belonging to another. Maybe that was why the hunter felt so irritated? The thought brought something very unpleasant to the angel's heart. He didn't understand what this feeling was but he wished fervently that everything was back to normal, as it had been before this dreadful hunt.
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