Hey guys! So, as a returning writer, I'mma warn you now that I update slow and have been known to just sort of give up on fics. Good news is that I've got tickets to Asylum con in May so as the date gets closer, my love for SPN can only increase, and as a result, I'll write lots of chapters :3

Also, if you notice a lowercase "i" in the wrong place, blame my laptop, the keyboard of which doesn't have a working "i" key so I have to copy and paste it which is annoying because it turns my text weird colours in the "edit document" thing.

Note: Set after season 11 but where Lucifer was never released because Chuck showed up earlier. Mary Winchester is on hiatus, finding herself as in 12x03

So, without further ado, please enjoy!

Chapter 1

"Haha yeah, alright! Way to go guys, that's gotta be the most successful hunt we've ever been on!" exclaimed Dean Winchester as he entered the motel room with his brother and his best friend, the angel.

He heard a tired murmur of agreement from Sam and continued, "Seriously, I just can't believe it. The bitch didn't land a single hit on any of us. Is it just me or are monsters getting sloppy these days?" he grinned to himself at his own hilarity.

"Actually Dean, witches don't really fit into the category of 'monster'", Cas chimed in helpfully, though 'chimed' didn't really sound all that accurate when describing the low, gravelly tone of Cas' voice, thought Dean. "Unless, of course, you mean it in the figurative term, in that case-" Dean cut him off.

"So, anyway...", he flashed Cas an apologetic look for ignoring him, trying not to focus on the small glare he got that admittedly sent chills through his spine, "two beds, three guys...what's the arrangement gonna be tonight? 'Cause I ain't driving all the way back to the bunker right now, not at this time." He glanced over at Sam who was swaying on his feet, trying to suppress a yawn, it was almost comedic and Dean would admit to the fact that he would pay good money to watch his gigantosaur of a brother fall over, some time. Some time, but not now. Not when they'd managed to get through a full day - hunt and all - without anyone (except the witch bitch) getting hurt.

He threw his tan duffel bag down onto the nearest of the queen beds and sat down, leaning against it, and looked up to glance between his brother and his angel. Their angel. The angel. Cas. Castiel. Whatever, it didn't matter, so long as he didn't have to share a bed with the guy. Sure, he'd shared a bed with Sammy before, on occasion, when they were younger especially and their father took off for days at a time, leaving them in cramped motels, not dissimilar to this one. But it was much less common now they were older, and only on rare occasions where there were no spare rooms with double beds or where they were making use of an abandoned house with only one bed in a decent state, they would make do, however they could. Though the arrangement was almost exclusively top-to-tail, unless they only had one pillow to share between them, in which case, they slept back to back, and respected each other's privacy as much as they could.

While thinking back to past circumstances, Dean realised he'd sort of zoned out staring at Cas while both Sam and the angel stared at him questioningly, as if he was missing something obvious.

"What?" he voiced, a little too aggressively, after feeling his masculinity challenged by his past situations and the impending thought of spending the night in the same bed as Cas. Or Sam. Probably, Sam.

"Umm" began said brother before looking over to Cas and back to Dean, raising his eyebrows. Dean raised his right back and sat, staring in a silent 'brow battle' over who was going to say something first. Dean's cluelessness must have been pretty damn obvious because Sam sighed and said "Cas, you mind taking this one? I'm spent" and without waiting for a reply, he dropped his own bag next to the second bed and fell down gracelessly onto it with a loud thump and rolled over, to face away from the other occupants in the room before seemingly just dropping off. Dean was impressed, it usually took them both a while to shut off the outside world - consequence of living the kind of lives they led.

Dean stared at his brother, conked out and snoring lightly, for a few more seconds before turning back to Cas, confused. If Sam had already took up the whole second bed to himself, did that mean...?

Cas cleared his throat. "Dean", he looked up into the angel's bright blue eyes that shone, even in the dark, red-tinted, cramped motel room. Wait...angel...Cas was an angel..."You seem to have forgotten that, as a celestial being, I don't require any rest".

Well, didn't he feel like an idiot.

Of course, he remembered now, back in that motel room when they were investigating the cartoon related deaths in Oklahoma City; Cas had told him that he didn't sleep and had offered to watch over Dean while he slept. Dean had rejected the offer, because it was creepy as hell and he liked his, uh, privacy when Sam was asleep and he could slip off to the bathroom, with a copy of Busty Asian Beauties, to 'take care of business'. Clearly, having an angel of the lord watching his every move would complicate things.

Actually, that was a good question. "Hey, uh Cas?", he tried to keep his voice relatively low for Sam's sake as he continued after a small nod from the other man, "So, um, if an angel was in heaven - or anywhere really - and they wanted to know what was going on somewhere else, say in this room, for example, would they be able to just, sort of, see it, like, whatever was happening, even without them being there, or..." he wasn't sure how to phrase the question properly so he just let it taper off.

He watched Cas intently as he did that thing where he narrows his eyes to the point where Dean is sure the guy can't actually see a thing. Then his face softened as he realised what he was really being asked, the question was there, hidden in Dean's words but not truly acknowledged; did Castiel ever spy on the Winchesters without their knowing?

He kept quiet, knowing the angel's silence was owing to the fact that Cas was thinking very carefully about his answer, Dean tried not to ponder on how that should probably be taken as a bad sign - it was a well known fact to him that Cas wasn't a particularly expert liar and so his extended silence and the nagging feeling it brought probably should have told the older Winchester that something was wrong.

But he ignored it all the same. This was Cas he was talking about here, or thinking about, he supposed. No way he'd ever voice these stupid doubts to his friends face, their relationship was often strained at best in any case.

He chose to believe that Cas was just taking his time to consider the question and waited patiently, shifting about on the bed until he had his back against the wall to the right and his arm now draped protectively over his bag and the few worldly items it contained that Dean could say belonged to him.

Finally, Castiel spoke up, quietly, "I know for a fact that archangels would have no problem with simply 'tuning in'", Dean smiled at Cas' air quotes, "to the world around them, irregardless of place or time. However, as far as I'm aware, the closest any other angel could get to the desired effect would be to become invisible and simply listen to a conversation or witness an event first hand. Unfortunately, this can't guarantee safety as an angel is incredibly vulnerable while invisible as it takes an extraordinary amount of constant power to bend the fabric of reality in such a way that allows us to move between planes of existence"

He paused and looked as though he were about to continue when he looked up from the floor and caught Dean's eye, realising that most of what he'd said had gone over the hunter's head. His words visibly caught in his throat as he stumbled over them with an "ah...uh...I mean...that is to say..." he continued to struggle to explain the complicated process of becoming invisible and maintaining said state for a period of time.

Finally, Dean interrupted him, "Yeah, so, um," he looked down and licked his lips before looking back up into the angel's eyes, "So, you're saying that, if they wanted, any archangel douchebag, like Lucifer, could just know what's going on, anywhere?" It sounded even creepier when he said it out loud.

"Well, uh, theoretically, yes, though please bear in mind that it was Gabriel who told me this, several millennia ago, so it may well be a, um, joke".

Dean tried to ignore the fact that his eyes had subconsciously traced his friend's tongue as it darted out to wet his own lips whenever he paused in his sentences.

He wasn't into that thing, goddamnit. He looked across to his sleeping brother and inwardly cursed at him for all his suggestions over the years of Dean's sexuality. He was clearly a completely macho heterosexual. Sam just insisted on riling him up and making fun of him. Well, two could play at that game; he made a mental note to hint to Cas at some point that Sam had a thing for one of the angel's brothers. He smiled, imagining Cas' reaction and was caught off guard when he spoke.

"What are you thinking about Dean?"

The hunter panicked and almost shouted, "Nothing!" just a little too quickly. Cas narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to inquire further but Dean cut him off for the second time that night, "I was just wondering if one of your angel buddies could be watching us right now". He gave himself a mental pat on the back for that quick save.

Castiel frowned and looked between Dean and his brother before looking down in thought and eventually re-establishing eye contact with the hunter before replying with, "It is...unlikely. Aside from the fact that Michael, Raphael and Gabriel are dead, and Lucifer should not be able to access that kind of power from the cage, I should think that if an angel was present in this room, either in mind, body, or spirit, I would have noticed. Or, at least, I would hope that I'd notice".

Dean nodded, soberly, not really listening at this point. After he'd watched Sam's chest rise and fall from the side a few times, he'd suddenly realised how tired he was too. He may not tire as easily as his brother but driving all over the country really did a number on him at times, especially after a long case.

For a second, he realised he hadn't really taken in anything Cas had just said at all and felt more than a little guilty but thankfully, it was as if the angel could read his mind - who knows, maybe he could - as he followed up with, "So, in short, I believe that your privacy is well guarded against angels of any type and so you need not worry".

Good old Cas, thought the eldest Winchester as he stifled a yawn, always looking out for others.

They were silent for a few moments, Dean still propped up against the wall, leaning on his bag, which he just now noticed was the exact same colour as Cas' trench coat. Was that why he liked it so much? Because it reminded him of his best friend? Dean smiled lazily and attempted to stifle another yawn but was nowhere near successful this time as it wriggled it's way out of his throat and punctuated the air around him.

He had to admit, that was one embarrassingly loud yawn and he just waited when it was over for Cas to say something, he knew to expect it at this point.

"Dean, I'm detecting several signs of tiredness and potential exhaustion coming from you, I believe it would be best if you went to sleep now."

Dean wasn't going to argue with that, so he made his way to the bathroom on the left to get changed for bed, throwing the bag over his shoulder.

"Night Cas", he mumbled as he walked past the angel.

After several minutes, he emerged from the en suite bathroom to find that Castiel was still stood in the room, between the beds of the two brothers.

"Um, Cas, what're you gonna do now? I mean, you don't sleep and I thought we already agreed that you don't watch me when I sleep so..."

"Well, I was going to just sit here," he gestured to a suspiciously brown armchair in the corner that Dean was pretty sure had once been white - or red, it really was hard to tell at this point, "but seeing as you have not made that an option, I suppose I will spend the night at the park we passed on the way here, or perhaps-"

Dean was quick to interrupt Cas before his voiced thoughts turned to ramblings, "Listen, Cas, if it's one night, then I have no problem with you staying here. Just...just, please do something. Don't watch us sleep, that's just creepy. Read a book or something, I'm sure Sam has some in his bag, the giant nerd."

Cas smiled and thanked him before wishing him good night and crouching beside Sam's bed to search his bag for reading material.

Dean gave him a tired grin in return before flopping down onto the bed as Sam had done 10 minutes or so ago. After he seemed to have found a book of interest to him, Cas could be heard settling in the stained chair. Dean proceeded to roll over and face the wall so he, hopefully, wouldn't feel Cas' eyes on him too much. But, of course, he did. And yet, for whatever strange reason, Dean fell asleep faster in that night than he ever had before.