My Heaven is Home With You
A/N: This was my attempt to write something fluffy, so please excuse Dean singing Air Supply's "Lost in Love" to himself. I put that in their more for myself because he seemed to secretly like "All Out of Love" and I wanted him to be an adorable dork. This was inspired by Castiel's description of heaven in The Man Who Would Be King (6x20). I'm sorry if I started to ramble but if you do enjoy, read, or review it, thank you! Also, I'm terrible at titles so I apologize for the cliche, too!
It was one in the afternoon when Sam's furrowed brows met Dean's incredulous stare.
"Dude, I didn't have breakfast."
Sam scoffed, trying to sound as genuine as possible. "Yeah me either, Dean. This is brunch."
He already knew his brother would protest against the meal he had made, but he was honestly too lazy to care.
They had been on the road for hours yesterday and had only reached the bunker in time to meet the already rising sun.
Usually, Sam would stop Dean to appreciate the light red and orange colors that blended the sky into a peaceful glow, but both of them had really just wanted to collapse onto their own soft clouds of memory foam mattresses.
Honestly, the only thing that had prevented Sam from sleeping in all afternoon, had been his stomach growling. After managing to close his eyes for another hour, followed by twisting and turning, he sighed. Stubbornly, he slid his long legs off the sanctuary of his bed to let his feet hit the floor. Once he had made it to the kitchen at a languid pace, he had opened the fridge only to see empty shelves.
Sam's lips parted and his jaw descended into a wide yawn that even one of his large hands could not stretch enough to cover.
As he wiped at his watery eyes, his gaze fell upon his leftover salad in the corner of the last empty shelf. There was enough for more than one person, so he gladly decided there was no reason to get up and go out.
"Sam?"
Sam's eyes now focused on Dean who was presently, still frowning at the leaves and vegetables in front of him.
"Yeah, no wonder you're blanking out. No energy."He speared a piece of lettuce with his fork and held it up distastefully. "You need more than leaves to fuel warriors. We're not rabbits. We need real food."
The taller man's eyes rolled at the sound of "real food". He was too sleepy and it took too much effort to form words and have this health argument with Dean again. "There's some grilled chicken in there. I split it evenly." He said, plainly.
Dean looked across the table at his younger brother's disheveled hair and grinned.
Sam interpreted this as a sudden sign of approval and his face lit up as he returned the smile. Finally, he forked a mouthful of salad and released a satisfied sigh as he chewed.
However, his satisfaction did not last very long.
"Yeah...no, so I'm going to go refill our stock." His chewing turned quickly into a frown as he shook his head. Sam should have known.
"What?" Dean shrugged defensively as he rose up from his chair.
"This is brunch, Sammy. Brunch isn't salad. Brunch is eggs, sausage, pancakes..." The hunter now smirked at his brother. "Pancakes, man."
The taller man let out a defeated sigh and blew a brown strand of hair out of his face before he continued eating.
Sam didn't notice the small smile on Dean's face before he pushed his plate toward his younger brother. "Just let Cas eat it when he wakes up." Sam nodded but his eyes remained on his own plate.
Dean left the table to change and twirled Baby's keys in his hands before he yelled into the kitchen. "Don't fill up on leaves! I'm making pancakes."
Sam shook his head as the door shut because he could hear the grin in his brother's voice. He was definitely still nesting.
However, his chewing paused for a brief moment at a sudden thought. He had already saved Castiel's portion of the salad in the fridge but usually, their friend would have been awake by now.
After hesitating for a minute, he continued chewing. Cas had still been adjusting to their lifestyle, after all.
Sam shrugged. Castiel had more trouble waking up then he did when he was tired. Yeah, he was definitely still sleeping and the tall hunter couldn't blame him.
Dean initially rolled his eyes at the familiar melody that had seemed to serve as background music for the town's small convenience store. It was an old school single, but it still was a song Sam would probably apologize for. His eyes met the soft pink pastel colored walls and small aisles. As he proceeded to search for eggs, he sighed because it definitely set the mood for the place.
However, now as he walked down the street with two full, brown paper bags in hand, he hummed and mumbled along to that same melody.
He continued humming while he moved both of the bags onto one arm as he lifted the Impala's trunk open.
"...and I don't know much..." The lyrics poured out louder and clearer as he placed the groceries down. "Was I thinking aloud or fell out of touch?" One of his hands tapped rhythmically against the trunk's lid as he continued singing.
"All I needed was someone-" He twirled around smoothly at the sound of the trunk shutting, as if to synchronize himself with the beat it produced. Although, the sight of the park across the street had made him stop in place.
His voice returned to a low mumble. "...to show me."
It wasn't the way the leaves on the trees swayed in unison when the wind blew, like the way a ripple in a pond created waves in its wake. It hadn't been the way the bright flowers seemed to be drops of colorful paint that had been gracefully splashed across a green canvas of grass, either.
No, Dean knew there was a park there and honestly, he had seen so many of these in all the small towns they had been to. They always had monkey bars and swings for kids to dangle or fly off of and defy gravity for a few seconds. They always had flowers for parents with strollers to admire along the path, or benches for grandparents to sit on.
All of them had always been the same, except for those familiar pair of blue and black flannel pajama pants Dean had seen in a tree.
It wasn't only his favorite pair of pajamas he had recognized, but the figure wearing them along with the persistent brown of a trench coat.
That same figure seemed to be climbing the tree while the straps of his trench coat swayed from left to right as he pulled himself from branch to branch. Sometimes when a gust of wind blew strong enough, the back of the coat lifted and revealed a flash of Dean's blue pajamas.
After shaking away his incredulous look, Dean continued to walk forward toward the park.
As he got closer, crossing the parking lot, he noticed a small child pointing at the top of the tree and craning her head to yell something up at the man. The hunter's eyes followed the little girl's small raised finger to the branches and green leaves.
Oh, her kite was stuck. A small, helpless smile formed at his lips.
"He's an angel, isn't he?" Dean flinched at the sudden words and turned to face the smiling woman sitting on the park bench beside him.
He let out a breath of a chuckle and nodded, acknowledging her presence. "You'd think so."
The woman continued smiling, facing forward to watch the rescue mission of the purple kite before them. She didn't look old enough to have a teenager, but didn't seem to be too young for children, either. Her long, tan brown hair did match the little girl's short ponytail quite well, though. Had he run into her alone, he probably would have naturally flirted with her.
She glanced at the man beside her. Dean had crossed his arms and furrowed his brow as if he was mentally evaluating the kite retrieval and the shorter man's performance.
She giggled. "He seems to come here every Tuesday."
Dean's arms unfolded and dropped as he turned to look down at her. "Every Tuesday? He hasn't been bothering you , has he?"
His sudden worried but serious tone had caused her to laugh this time and only confirmed her guess that he was a friend of his . "Oh no, not at all. Sally-" She motioned toward the little girl now holding the kite. "-had actually hit the poor guy in the face with her frisbee when we first met."
He smirked as she continued. "He was a really good sport about it, though. The next time we saw him he actually only talked about bees and flowers and trees."
She now smiled softly at the said man that seemed to be listening carefully to her young daughter's words a few feet away. His focused attention to the child made it seem like it was actually a very deep conversation.
"I just assumed he was a fellow gardener." She laughed carelessly as her expression softened. "I mean I have a five year old so ofcourse I was a bit mindful at first, but I don't know...he has this innocence and peacefulness to him. I mean I am here with Sally anyway, too."
Dean found himself unconsciously eying the silver ring on her left hand. He was unsure when he had started to search for it or why he found relief in it either.
Once she caught onto the object of his gaze, she spoke in a teasing tone. "I am happily married, but I mean it isn't often you run into a handsome-" She looked up at him and chuckled. "...well, handsome and genuinely kind stranger, these days. You are friends with him though, so I wouldn't be surprised if you were both, too." She winked at him and Dean opened his mouth to respond but hesitated at the sudden compliment.
"Mommy!" The little girl grinned widely as her tiny fingers clutched tightly to the kite while it's tail trailed along the grass as she ran toward them.
The tan haired woman got up with a smile and outstretched one of her hands for her daughter to hold, before turning to Dean. "We should probably get going, Daddy's going to be home soon, too. It was nice meeting you."
He smiled at her politely and nodded. "You, too-" Before he was able to reach out and shake her hand, he was interrupted by her daughter's excited words.
"Did you see Mr. Cas? He saved my kite." The little girl held it up proudly, reaching and waving it around in the wind like a flag. Now it was Dean's turn to grin because her's had been infectious.
"Hello, Dean." Castiel was wearing a plain black V-neck shirt, the blue pajama bottoms the hunter had lent him, and ofcourse the trench coat. He had walked behind Sally's energetic sprint and had now reached the wooden bench.
The hunter nodded to greet him. "Hey, Cas."
Sally's mother however, smiled brightly at him. "Now honey, what do we say to Castiel?"
Her daughter looked up at him with a huge smile on her face. Dean smirked a little because it was as if he wasn't even there at all.
"Thank you, angel." The taller man's smirk faltered as he turned to look at Cas knowingly, and found familiar creases to his forehead.
"Sally, I have told you before. You know I am not an angel-" Her wide smile quickly and drastically deepened into a frown.
Dean was about to nudge Castiel with his elbow, but paused as she released her mother's hand and marched up to the fallen angel. The hunter winced a little, anticipating either crying or a temper tantrum.
Once her puffed cheeks and pout met Castiel's furrowed brows, she sighed as if that once powerful, celestial being knew nothing of the world he had observed for millions of years. Dean would have laughed if he wasn't so focused on trying to figure out what was going on.
She pulled at the bottom of his trench coat and he crouched down to meet her. She smiled helplessly at him as she spoke nonchalantly and as if her words had been widely known facts that she shouldn't have to explain.
Her brown eyes gazed into his. "You're eyes look like the sky and my mommy says that's where angels are from."
Dean's eyes bounced back and forth to either one of them as he watched their exchange curiously, while her mother just simply smiled.
Castiel's lips part as if to say something but is interrupted by Sally's small fingers gently at his mouth.
She shook her head, seemingly aware of what the brown haired man would say. "No, Mr. Cas. You are."
Her fingers grasp onto the lapels of his trench coat and she flaps them. "I saw it, when the wind blows, you have wings."
A wide grin stretched across her small cheeks in response to his confused stare. She giggled before placing a gentle kiss in between his furrowed brows.
"This is my favorite place too, you know." Castiel now tilted his head at her, curiously. "'Cuz you said it looked like heaven."
When Sally looked up to meet Dean's furrowed brows as well, she giggled. She ran back to her mother with a smile and waved as she held her mother's hand.
Before they walked away completely, she yelled back to them. "Mr. Cas's friend!"Dean's ears perked up at that. "Make sure he smiles more!"
After waving back, he turned to Cas who had gotten up and was shooting his tilted head and confused frown at him, now.
"Man, you really do need to smile more." He chuckled and pat him on the shoulder."Looks like I was wrong though, you don't need my help with chicks, at all."
"Dean-" Before Castiel could finish his sentence, the hunter had remembered something Sally said that had struck him.
"Wait but you told her about heaven?" His green eyes watched the fallen angel curiously.
Castiel shook his head. "No, I simply mentioned to her mother this place, the trees and flowers, seemed-" He made air quotes with his fingers. "-just like heaven...That is still the expression...isn't it?"
Dean rolled his eyes and wondered how Cas had managed to have a normal conversation with anyone. "Yes, yes it is."
"I did whisper it reminded me of it, but I did not think anyone would catch it." The blue eyed man's expression softened. "Sally is quite smart."
Dean smiled but it faltered quickly at his realization. "It "reminded" you of heaven?"
Castiel simply nodded. "Yes."
Dean outstretched one of his arms, motioning to the park. "This place?"
Castiel nodded again. "Yes."
"Cas, heaven's like reliving your greatest hits."
"I suppose if you want to simplify the generation of each soul's preferred paradise-"
"Cas." Dean had interrupted what he knew would probably be a long explanation by raising his hand and halting his friend's words.
Questioning blue eyes met his own and he sighed. "Swings, slides, kids...a park? That was your heaven? Your happiest memory?"
Castiel shook his head. "No. I don't-" The shorter man scoffed and looked down as he corrected himself. "Angels, they don't have their own heaven, rather one could choose from the vast array each departed soul created for itself."
Dean had frowned once he realized Cas's slip of toungue. "Oh, heaven's grand tour. What Ash is doing." He continued despite the confused expression before him. "So whose heaven was all this, then? A mom?"
Castiel's smile was bittersweet as he spoke softly and looked up. "The eternal Tuesday afternoon of an autistic man who drowned in a bathtub in 1953."
Dean watched as the clear blue of Castiel's eyes focused on the sky, as if his irises had been a mirror that reflected the color above them. "He flew a kite that day."
A sad expression had escaped the hunter's strong exterior upon hearing the nostalgia in his friend's words.
Cas had been handling his fall from grace rather well, or atleast Dean had thought so. Dwelling on these things and therapy sessions was more of Sam's territory, so the hunter only ever questioned his brother's or Castiel's well being when he noticed their shoulders about to cave from the weight of it all. The fallen angel had not spoken too deeply about his losses and only seemed eager or curious to discuss and learn about his now basic human needs.
Not many people remember their nightmares once they wake up, but Dean had physically walked through Lucifer's very own apocalyptic dream house of the future.
He could still recall the stale air that entered his lungs as he inhaled the stench of death and gunpowder while running through that infected and cursed town. However, like many of the painful experiences of Dean's life, he had let that terrible ending go unspoken because if he didn't ask for it or need it, no one else did either.
Besides, they had successfully managed to annihilate any path or possibility that led to Lucifer's "dream come true", so it had never been relevant. Why talk about a desperate, tragic future that would never happen, anyway? Unlike Sammy or Cas, he wasn't a party pooper.
Yet, that cynical, hapless, and hopeless stranger he had met still haunted him from time to time. The sight of Cas downing one too many beers, or him opening a bottle of aspirin to ease a migraine had sometimes seemed to hint and tug at Dean's thoughts.
"He always did fly the same blue, red, and yellow kite." The hunter had been frowning with furrowed brows but Castiel's warm voice caused him to meet the shorter man's calm, welcoming gaze.
He smiled as small, familiar wrinkles began to form around the bright green of his eyes. Even "normal" Cas still talked about the bees and nature. He was still that awkward, nerdy dude that struggled at interacting with humanity.
After all, they had rewritten fate and the threat of Armageddon was still just a myth to the majority of people. If the end of the world was now merely one of satan's pipe dreams, then the broken Castiel he had met would surely become one of the hunter's own forgotten nightmares, as well.
"You know...I get it, too." Dean waved a finger carelessly in a mini circle to motion toward the park, as his eyes fell on children playing in the distance."Why this place reminds you of heaven...It is pretty nice."
Castiel smiled fondly in return, as if grateful of his understanding.
Dean sighed helplessly and swung an arm around him to initiate their walk back to the car.
"Now, let's go make Sammy some pancakes. I'll show you how to cook the banana ones Bobby used to make. Once you taste them-" Dean paused and made a wiping motion mid air with his palm. "Mm! Guarantee it'll be one of your best memories, definitely one of mine."
He grinned at the thought of what Bobby's heaven could possibly be like. It was probably Mrs. Singer simply baking him pies while she hummed off tune and then sat with him on their windowsill after dinner as they talked all night. At that thought, he suddenly began to wonder what Cas's heaven would be.
Dean grasped Cas's shoulder gently, but firmly. It was terrible he had been cast from heaven, but honestly, they never really did play according to the rules.
They changed their own fate before and though he was unfortunately human now, Castiel could make his own little matrix of memories for himself. Dean was still opposed to the idea of Heaven's dicks as Big Brother watching you, but maybe it would be better for the shorter man to have his own "paradise" instead of being alone to watch the eternities of others.
The hunter shook his head to dismiss the thoughts. Things were different. Sure, the angels had fallen and they were dicks, but they didn't belong here. Cas was human now, but once they crammed all their feathery asses back upstairs, who knows? The dude could totally go back to touring heaven or to the eternal Tuesdays. Like always, they'd deal with that later.
Right now though, Dean was going to make pancakes for his little brother with his best friend. He smiled, facing forward with the man beside him.
And hey, they've made their own destinies before, so whose to say they couldn't make their own heaven right down here, as well.