The adrenaline rush of a hunt gone right still filled the air in the car. The electric charge of the moment would spark out around them for a few more miles. They sat in near silence. The only sound to punctuate the moment came from the asphalt under the tires, the low grumble of the engine, and the drum of Dean's heartbeat in his ears. Dean's fingers drummed at the steering wheel as they roared down the road. There was no music to accompany the motion, it was all just him letting the energy out.

Cas looked at him as they drove. It was a familiar moment, the two of them together like this. Soon, there would be sound, and song. Soon there would be the familiar sight of a town that they had rolled through before. As if sensing that the moment was right, Cas reached out to the stereo and switched it on. The crackle of static filled the space. He twisted the dial, coming to a country station which elicited a grimace from Dean. He kept turning the dial, coming to a talk radio station, the speaker angry at something. Cas turned the dial, more static.

Dean knew what would come next, so he reached under the seat and pulled out the box of cassette tapes, setting them on the seat between them. Cas reached out to it and pretended to consider the many options present there. He wasn't really considering anything. He already knew what tape he would choose. It was a mix tape of songs that he and Dean had made for their hunting trips.

They had sat in Dean's room on the floor shuffling through his records. Dean would pop an album on and they would listen. Each of them would get to vote on each addition, no questions asked. All of the songs on the tape had to get a unanimous vote. They didn't let Sam have a vote; this was not his tape. This was their tape. These were their songs.

Now, Dean did not have some of the songs that were on this tape in his collection. On the second night that they were making the tape, Cas brought in four more albums that he had picked up from the thrift store in downtown Lebanon. One of the albums was old school hip hop. In fact, it may have been more aptly called ancient hip hop. Dean grimaced at first when the music played, and Cas made a face that said, I let you have "Appetite for Destruction." Dean gave him a begrudging thumbs up, and Cas smiled.

The next album was chosen for a piece by a composer named Shostakovich. Cas had said that they needed something in the mix that was much more classical than AC/DC or Iron Maiden. Dean accepted it without question. The piece had an epic quality to it and it appealed to his hard rock sensibilities. They let a few more pieces play out, but in the end, only the piece by Shostakovich made the cut.

Dean lifted the next album from the pile and walked up to the record player. He changed out the album to Diana Ross. Cas had picked up the album on a whim, not knowing what it would be. He liked her hair though, so she made it into the purchase pile. Dean looked at the cover while he stood next to the player and then at Cas, then back at the cover again. "Really, Cas?"

"No. I just liked her look."

"So, that's your type?"

"She is aesthetically pleasing, but she is not my type." Dean laughed at Cas' response.

"You have a funny way of saying things sometimes, Cas."

"I know. Let's listen to the next one." Dean got up and changed the album. Cas had purchased an album by John Lennon. Dean didn't own this one. He had a bunch of songs from the Beatles, but not Lennon's solo stuff. The Beatles he had because of his mom. He didn't have the same attachment to the individual singers.

He set the record on the player and set the needle. He came back to Cas' side and they looked at the cover together, leaning toward each other as they did so. "Why'd you pick this one?"

"For the irony." Dean laughed at this response too.

"Really? Explain." Dean flipped the jacket over and read through the song titles.

"'Imagine.' I thought that it would be a good post hunt song. You know, for the irony." Cas smiled at Dean's look of confusion. "Just listen to the lyrics and vote it into the rotation." They listened to the song and Dean's lips slowly curled up into a grin.

"Okay, that one is in, no questions." And like that they had their songs all selected.

Cas pushed the tape into the deck and hit the rewind button. Sometimes they would just let it play from where they left off, but today felt different. Today felt like a day of beginnings. They took care of the simple haunting, an old fashioned salt and burn. It was nice to have a simple case for once. Dean was proud of Cas' efforts. There was one moment of panic where Cas was tossed back through a window. His injuries were minor though, a few cuts, nothing a stitch or two wouldn't fix up once they got back to the motel.

Dean remembered how different it was before, when Cas could just heal them both. He gave up his grace, became human. It still puzzled him, all these years later that Cas had sacrificed so much for humanity, for Dean. Sometimes he thought that he understood it, and other times he felt that there were things that would only make sense in the mind of the former angel. He could ask, but instead he let that question sit in his mind collecting dust.

So much had changed in the years since the Mark and the almost apocalypse. He had grown more comfortable with his life, his feelings. Yes, he kept most of his thoughts to himself. He was not quick to initiate a chat on his inner demons. However, he was comfortable in his own skin. Consequently, he was also comfortable with Sam and Cas. He had grown so comfortable, in fact, that sometimes Sam would go off for weeks on his own, and Dean would not feel the strange crawling that use to take over his insides. He use to live in a constant state of worry, as if at any moment, being alone would lead to too much self-reflection and internal judgement. There was much to feel guilty over, and Sam's presence use to keep those demons at bay. There was also the desire to keep his brother safe, and safety only seemed to be attainable when said brother was easily locatable. It only took dying a few times to achieve this new found level of freedom.

Now, he could be on his own and not fall into a slow madness. He wasn't often alone, but he had tested the theory over a few times. Cas was usually there, just a few steps down the hall. They would change their routines when Sam was gone. Sometimes they would stay up late and marathon some movies together, and if they fell asleep like that, no one else had to be the wiser. They were comfortable enough with each other that they didn't even talk about it. It was not awkward or strange. It was just comfortable waking up in each other's company. Some days Dean would wake Cas up with a quick ruffling of his hair. Others, Cas would wake Dean up with intense staring.

It was more than friendship, but Dean did not dwell on it too much. He let the thoughts warm him like a toasty cabin on a cold winter's night. His world may be filled with darkness and a past best not revisited, but he had found something here that made it bearable, more than bearable, actually good. He glanced at Cas now as he reached back to the tape deck to push the play button. The rewinding had apparently finished. Cas looked back at him and smiled.

He took the box of tapes from between them and slid them back beneath the seat and scooted closer to Dean. "Imagine" began playing. The familiar notes from the piano whirled out around them as the dark road grumbled beneath them. The world was dark, but they cut through it, the Impala's bright moonlight beams made a path to rest. They would reach the motel by the end of the song if Dean had calculated correctly. Cas began singing in his low growl of a voice.

"Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try." Dean always smiled through that part for some reason, because seriously, a former angel was singing those lines.

Cas leaned into his shoulder a little to encourage him to join in. Dean sang the next line with him, "No Hell below us, above us only sky." He stopped singing along, for the next couple of lines because he liked how Cas' voice sounded as he increased his own volume.

"Imagine all the people, living for today." He looked at Dean in a way that seemed to say something. "Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do."

Dean joined him again. "Nothing to kill or die for." And this was where Cas always took a different lyrical path. Dean sang the new words with him.

"Already done enough of that for you." They laughed with the next words.

Cas seemed to be singing to him, his eyes locked onto Dean, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." Dean let him sing the chorus alone until he felt Cas' hand on his face. The stroke of a thumb running over a day's growth of stubble. He leaned into the touch a little. It was another thing that he was comfortable with. "Finish the song with me."

Dean complied. They pulled into the spot outside of the room that they had booked the night before. Dean did not shut off the engine. They had one more chorus to sing. "You may say I'm a dreamer…" Dean turned to Cas who had not released his cheek. He sang right back at him. Their voices blended up nicely together. Dean thought that his voice wasn't much on its own, but mixed up with Cas' it was something pleasant. The final notes of the piano played out, and Cas let his hand drop from Dean's cheek to his shoulder. He reached out with his other hand and stopped the tape. The next song was one of the harsh discordant ones that Dean had selected.

Dean shut the engine off, and silence reigned supreme again. They got out of the car and went directly into the room. Dean cast off his jacket, Cas picked it up off of the floor. "Oh, sorry." Dean looked back at him as Cas set it carefully on the back of the chair by the window.

"Imagine putting your clothes where they go, it's easy if you try." Cas sang as he walked over to Dean.

"No former angels sassing me, before me just some guy." Dean smirked and got a smile out of Cas with his quick lyrics, despite the fact that they made very little sense. Cas kept approaching him, and Dean wondered what was on his mind. His hand came out and rested on Dean's shoulder, moving up into the crook between that space and his neck. "Do you need me to stitch you up?"

"No. I'm good." Cas moved his other hand up to Dean's other shoulder a mirror of the first. Dean just stood there. Cas sang another altered lyric. "I hope someday you'll join me." He glanced over at the bed raising an eyebrow as he did so. "And the two of us can be as one." Dean pulled him closer, hands wrapped around his waist.

"I'm gonna pretend that wasn't cheesy and just kiss you now." Dean leaned into the kiss and Cas hummed out the tune of the song into his mouth. Dean let more of his clothing hit the floor. Cas did not pick any of it up.

The bed welcomed them, and Cas kept breaking free of Dean's lips to sing more altered lyrics. Some were sprinkled with terms of endearment. Some were directions, "Imagine if you put your hand there, it's not hard to do." They laughed at that one. Dean followed up with some lyrics of his own, but he felt that Cas was better at the game.

"You may say that I am in love, but I'm not the only one." Cas cupped Dean's face in his hands and sang this down at him, their bodies pressed against one another, skin slick with sweat.

"Imagine that I love you, because it's all true." Dean smiled through the words, they came out easy now. It was funny to think that something like this had ever been difficult. The melody swam about in his head as he tried to think of more new lyrics to add to the song, more words to convey to Cas all that he thought of him, all that he meant. But Cas already knew. He always knew deep down, Dean thought. And the night crawled on, and they carried on like this until the dawn.

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AN: This is just a ficlet that I had posted on Tumblr awhile ago. It got some attention today, so I figured I'd share it here too.