Title: It's Only Time
Author: Aaeth Payne
Rating: PG-13 for now
Genre and/or Pairing: Dean/Castiel
Spoilers: Up to 5.04
Warnings: m/m, Language
Summary: Dean and Cas on the most important mission persons case of all. Where in the world is God?
A/N: I've gone outside my usual pantheons with this story, so apologies if I've messed it up. I did my best with my research, but I'm no theologian. Title comes from a Magnetic Fields song.
"Hello Dean." Castiel's voice interrupted the near perfect quiet of the night.
Once, Dean may have sworn, flailed, or even swerved the Impala in reaction to the sudden appearance. Now, it seemed he had almost a sixth sense for when the angel would be popping in. Hell, that was why he wasn't currently blasting AC/DC. He glanced over to his sudden copilot, "Hello Cas. Burger?"
"Dean," For a being that supposedly didn't have much in the emotions department, Cas could certainly sound exasperated. "I do not require sustenance. I will not… mooch from you when it is unnecessary."
It seemed his angel had picked up some new vocabulary recently. "Cas, it isn't mooching when I got it specifically for you without your request." Dean smoothly pulled into the parking lot of the low end motel that he and Sam were currently holed up in. "It's what you call a gift. Now, come on, I'm starving." Dean got out and looked back at the car where Cas still sat, his face scrunched up in a way that Dean was too manly to call 'adorable' but probably fit the definition. He leaned down to peek into the window, "Seriously, you can get your angel pout on later, but now Sammy and I need food and you need to tell us something."
Cas continued his weird staring pout a moment longer before he also left the car. The angel led the way to the hotel room, making Dean sprint to catch up. It would just be safer for him to open the door. No reason for Castiel to end up with a shotgun in his face if Sammy didn't recognize him instantly.
"Sammy! You'd better be decent, we've got company." Not that he actually waited for a reply before throwing open the door. If Sammy were about to be caught choking the chicken by his big brother and the resident angel, it would just be comedy gold. Something to put in the Christmas letter this year. Reason to start a Christmas letter.
Sam was in the process of jumping off the bed like a scalded cat, but the tell-tale hum was enough evidence to convict him. "Magic Fingers? Oh Sam, you dirty bird." Dean shook his head. After all the shit Sam gave Dean over his Magic Fingers addiction, finding his little brother in this position was sweet. "Me thought the bitch doth protest too much." Dean tossed one of the burgers at Sam's face before his brother could make up his mind whether to be embarrassed about being caught, or get pissy over the mangled Shakespeare.
"Eat up. I think Cas has news." Dean pulled out the desk chair for the angel and pushed the third burger into unresisting hands.
Dean watched Castiel stand awkwardly for a while longer- until he and Sam had settled and both started their dinners. The angel perched on the edge of his chair, and Dean was tempted to comment that he had thought Cas wasn't the perching type. But he refrained.
"I have not been able to locate God."
Oh. Dean put his unfinished burger down. He'd been waiting for this moment, but he'd hoped to be wrong. He'd never had faith in the big guy, but Cas did. Castiel wanted to find his father more than anything.
"Castiel, I'm sorry." Sam was the one to respond, sincerity beams on high. Dean was still floundering.
Castiel looked over to Sam and nodded almost imperceptible. "I had… hoped that with Dean's amulet I could track Him. Find some sort of trail. Even a hint." Castiel looked back to Dean, "But there was nothing."
This was not good. Not by any stretch. Dean frowned at Cas's downcast expression. His angel was looking too lost, too hopeless. Too much like a strung-out hippy. Not his Cas.
"I think it is time I focused on other endeavors."
When the angel pulled the amulet out from under his shirt and began pulling it over his head, Dean snapped. This had gone too far already. "No!" He caught Cas's hands and brought them away from the necklace One hand still holding Cas's, he tucked the amulet back under the white collared shirt. "You're not taking this off any time soon. I'm not taking it back until you find Him."
He caught Cas's gaze and wouldn't let go. Not while his angel looked so defeated. One heartbeat. Two. Finally, the hands that had been motionless under his turned and returned the grip. Dean hadn't even realized heed been holding his breath, but it came out in a whoosh. His Cas was back. His bad ass mother fucker. Not the other Dean's Cas. Never him.
"Maybe what you need," Sam's voice interrupted Dean's thought process, "is a new strategy."
Dean squeezed Cas's hand before letting go and sitting back, "What are you suggesting, Sammy? Take Australia and build build build?"
Sam ignored the snark and went on, "Is there anyone, anyone you could get more information from? If God is missing, when did He go missing? From where? Who was the last one to really communicate with Him?" They would be good questions for a regular hunt.
"Who is he going to ask?" Dean shook his head; this just wasn't a regular missing person's case! "God's barber? I mean, this is freakin' God. It isn't like we can read His diary." He shot a look to Castiel, "He didn't have a diary, did He?"
The angel blinked, "Not to my knowledge, no."
He hated to say it like this, but really, who would be playing Dear Abby to God? "To top it off, the people who might know something about something are just a bunch of dicks with their phasers set to smite!"
Rather than the reaction Dean had feared (more lost hope and kicked puppy looks) Cas tensed, eyes going wide. It was more than enough to derail Dean's usual angel, present company excluded, rant. He spared a glance for Sam, who'd also noticed the angel's mood shift. "Ok, Cas," Dean paused, "what's got your wheels spinning?"
There was something in his face. Some intensity that was new. Castiel was on to something, and Dean was unsure if he should be excited or terrified. "The human body is made of fat, water, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Angels are made of spiritual energy. Absolutely no wheels." As usual, the response was completely deadpan.
Dean felt his shoulders relax. With such a typical Cas answer nothing too bad could be coming. Right? "So, what did you think of?"
Castiel seemed to straighten his already perfect posture, "There is one we might speak with. She may have some information.
Well, shit, that was unexpected. Perhaps God had a barber after all. "Well, how do we get in touch? The Yellow Pages?"
"Dean I do not believe the simurgh is listed."
"The simurgh?"
"The simurgh!"
Dean and Sam looked at each other, Dean confused as all hell and Sammy looking excited as all hell.
"Ok, I'll bite, who is going to fill me in on who this simurgh chick is?" He looked from Cas to Sammy and back again.
"She is not a chick. As a being as old as God, I believe she would be considered a bird. Sort of." Castiel paused, "Bird/dog/woman." He clarified, only not at all.
Already pulling out their father's journal Sammy was hurriedly flipping through pages to look for references. "Dean, the simurgh is a giant birdlike creature found in Persian myth. Sometimes described as being part bird and part dog, sometimes it is described as having a human's head- sometimes a dog's head. But it is always depicted as female and is," Sam grinned as he found the correct page, "inherently benevolent."
"Inherently benevolent is good." Dean leaned closer to see some of the illustrations. Not a looker though.
Sam skimmed the passage picking out the more pertinent bits, "It says that the simurgh is so old it has seen the destruction of the world three times over. That she has gained so much knowledge over this time she possesses the knowledge of all the Ages." Sam looked up and gave Dean an expectant look.
"So, she's kind of a big deal, huh?"
With a noise that was almost a huff, Castiel continued, "So far as I know, none of the Host could touch her. Her power greatly exceeds even an archangel's."
He felt like he was catching on, "And if God were going to leave a forwarding address-"He trailed off, "or even if he didn't, she could probably help."
Cas nodded solemnly, "It comes with having all the knowledge in the world."
Sam was still going through the journal when Dean looked over. So far no concerns had been brought up; maybe this simurgh was the real deal. "Well," Dean reclined on the bed, fingers linked behind his head, "remind me not to challenge her in Trivial Pursuit."
Castiel stood, brushing non-existent wrinkles from his clothes. "Let us go." If it were anyone else, Dean could imagine them bouncing in place. But Cas seemed to give off a nervous excited energy without actually shifting his weight from foot to foot.
"What? Now?" Dean blinked. Well, wasn't Cas an eager beaver?
"It is the End of Days Dean. Time is of the essence."
If it weren't for the fact that Dean was looking directly at Cas as the angel said it, he would have sworn there was an eye roll accompanying the statement.
"Castiel," Sam began, "Dean and I are on our way to Bobby's. He wants our help going through some books." Which actually translated to this was a vacation of sorts for them. A few days to relax with Sam's face in a book and Dean under the hood of a car.
"Oh." And Castiel knew how important these stolen days were.
Awww man, Dean just hated to see an angel pout. "Well, Sammy, Bobby's place is just a day away. Think you can get the Impala there in one piece by yourself?" In an instant he was the center of attention. Still going for casual, Dean shrugged, "By one piece I mean in pristine condition and with a full tank?" He frowned, "And no douching her up, either. That means no CD players and certainly no iPod jacks."
Sam got that 'I'm sorry, but you were DEAD look' he had whenever Dean brought up the iPod jack. "Dean I-"
"You would come with me?" It wasn't so much that Cas interrupted Sam, but that they began at the same time and only Cas kept going. He also had that puppy look going. Dean wondered when and where the angel had picked that up, or if it just came naturally.
"Yeah, sure." Dean sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Sam and Bobby are the research aces. Besides," Dean grinned, "if the old bird knows something about where your father has gone off to, it might be more useful than whatever they can find."
Sam looked like he wanted to argue, but he kept his mouth shut. Maybe it was because Dean was right about the importance of finding God thing, maybe because he and Bobby would really get more work done without Dean outside blasting Zeppelin, maybe because he wanted an excuse to drive the Impala alone again.
Or maybe it was because Cas actually breathed an audible sigh of relief and smiled. Dean himself was nearly floored- and he'd spent much more time around the resident angel. Long enough to see confusion, panic, bad assery… hell, He'd even seen future Cas. Sam has missed those other moments, so it was probably the emoting angel that shut him up.
"Let me just finish my food, get a nap, and I'm good to go." Dean reclaimed his now cold burger and took a huge bite. "Go where, by the way?" He mumbled though a mouthful of food.
"Alborz. A mountain range in northern Iran."
"Wait a minute." Dean made the gesture for Time Out. "Iran? As in IRAN Iran?" An Iran too far to drive to… "Oh no- that means flying." Dean shook his head.
Smirking, Sam looked from Dean to Castiel, "Dean hates flying." Sam didn't sound too down on the idea anymore. He sounded rather gleeful, in fact.
"Shut your pie hole." Dean was feeling less keen on this action/adventure trip. Going to see some great benevolent Goddess thing seemed like a good idea up until it meant he had to get his ass on an airplane.
Castiel sat back on the chair, hands on his knees, "I could zap us both there instantly."
Dean ignored how weird it was to hear Cas refer to the teleport thingy as 'zap' and made sure to move out of the angel's immediate reach. "Oh no-"
Raising his hands in the 'I'm harmless, don't shoot me' pose that Dean didn't trust for a minute, Cas continued. "It would be different from last time Dean. Now that I know to compensate for human biology, you can be assured your bowel movements would remain regular." The angel looked so contrite Dean almost had to laugh. But then again, it had not been a fun week.
There was a choked laugh to his right, but by the time Dean transferred his glare, Sam had already changed his expression back to casual interest. He'd never hear the end of that one. Somehow he felt ganged up on. Castiel: army of one.
But talking about Cas's mojo did remind Dean of something that had bothered him. "Hey, Cas, isn't that stuff you carved on our insides supposed to keep us off the demon and angel radar?"
"That is correct." Cas's eyes narrowed, "Why are you asking this now Dean?"
"Well, It doesn't seem to be working- at least not with you." Dean rushed on, "You just popped into the car a little while ago, and led the way to the hotel door. Hell, you snatched me away from Zachariah a few weeks ago. Didn't you get a cell phone because you couldn't do that anymore?"
Looking down like he was lost in thought or concentration, Cas slowly responded. "You are right. I should not have been able to do that. The symbols were correct- they should work." Castiel looked back up, "But I can sense you."
"What about me?" Sam questioned from the other side of the room.
Castiel slowly turned his attention to Sam, "No. I cannot sense you." He tilted his head, "I could find this room because Dean had left a trace of himself here. Like a fingerprint."
"Great, I'm leaving bits of myself like breadcrumbs. The question is, can other angels follow the trail, or is it just Cas?" This was not good. He'd hoped for a simple explanation like Cas had simply been watching him the whole time. A peeping angel was less worrisome than this.
"I do not know." Cas watched Sam, "But if you have not been accosted by either side, it may just be an anomaly because of the connection between Dean and myself. The Enochian sigils should be unassailable."
"Connection?" Sam's voice was a mixture of curiosity and concern.
"I was the one who pulled him from the Pit." Dean knew without looking just when Cas's eyes landed back on him. He looked up and sure enough, Cas was looking at him like the angel could see inside his very soul. What was he thinking- the guy probably could.
"Kicking and fighting me the whole way." Cas finished as he always did.
"You'll never let me forget that, will you, Cas?" His attempt at humor falling flat, Dean reached for his food. "Can I at least finish my burger?"
Cas sat, and Dean relaxed and took another bite. He tried not to fidget as Cas watched him chew. And chew. And chew. Finally, Dean realized that the angel was just going to stare at him the whole time he ate. Reluctantly, he admitted defeat. Covering the cold and almost completely unappetizing burger in its paper wrapping, Dean shrugged. "I guess I can eat it on the way."
"But there is no 'on the way'" Cas protested, "We will be on the mountain in an instant." He didn't let the argument stop him from standing up and getting in Dean's personal space, prepared to teleport them to Iran.
Dean gave Sam, who was looking far too amused, a shrug. "Oh I know." He hugged the remains of his meal to his chest and waited for the odd moving without motion feeling of being zapped by an angel. He was sure he heard Sam snigger just before they arrived on Alborz.
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