Disclaimer - I do not own the characters or Supernatural. All credit to Eric Kripke and the writers/producers. Please review!
Castiel jerked upright, instantly alert, rolling off his bed and onto his feet, wary but not alarmed, as the sound of familiar voices filled the entryway of the bunker. He rubbed his eyes and reached for his trench coat, trying to orient himself in the dimly lit room. As an angel, Cas didn't need to sleep - he'd really struggled to accustom himself to a sleeping routine as a human, but he supposed under threat for his life while being hunted by angels and reapers hadn't exactly been conducive to a good night's sleep. He'd had to sleep with one eye open as humans say. He still didn't know what sheep he was supposed to have been counting when asleep, but he did know that now, even as an angel, he found it eased a great deal of his tension and immense guilt to be still for a few hours and close his eyes. It was less about sleep, and more about meditation, a way to focus and direct his thoughts, to be less consumed by his own inner turmoil and more attentive to any detail that could lead him to Lucifer.
Hugging his trench coat tightly to his body to ward off the morning chill of the bunker, Castiel opened his door and stepped into the brightly lit hallway.
"Hello Mary," Castiel said warmly, pleased to see Mother Winchester as Crowley called her.
"Hello Castiel," she replied, her eyes glancing over his mussed up bed hair with evident amusement.
"Hey Mom," Sam called, poking his head around the door, "You want some pancakes?"
Mary hesitated, looking doubtful.
"Chocolate chip..." Sam said teasingly, his hopeful puppy dog eyes were enough to melt a much sterner woman than Mary Winchester into butter.
"Alright," she said hesitantly. "That would be lovely Sam."
"Hey Cas." Sam said, smiling at him.
"Where's Dean?" Castiel asked, looking around for the hunter.
"In the kitchen, stirring the - DEAN! Don't eat ALL the chocolate chips!" Sam called, striding back into the kitchen to rescue the pancake mixture from his brother. He was just in time to stop Dean from turning breakfast into beer flavoured pancakes. Mary and Castiel stood in the hall smiling as they listened to the familiar exchange of "bitch" "jerk" as Dean was reassigned to pancake toppings.
In no time at all, Sam managed to cook up a dozen pancakes and Mary and Cas joined him in the war room where Dean was setting out plates, maple syrup, cans of whipped cream and several punnets of strawberries.
"Help yourself." Sam said, smiling as he placed a pancake on his mother's plate.
"Yeah, dig in!" Dean agreed, shaking a can of cool whip a little too enthusiastically and spraying cream across the room, splattering Sam's duffel bag and half the room with white foam.
"Dean!" Sam said exasperatedly.
"Did those pancakes come with a slice of crybaby pie on the side?" Dean joked. "Relax Sammy, it's fine," he promised, wiping cream off Sam's bag with his sleeve.
Mary shook her head, pressing her lips together to keep from smiling.
"Want one, Cas?" Sam said, offering the angel a plate.
"Alright." Castiel said reluctantly, never having tried pancakes before. He studied the Winchester's for a moment, unsure how to proceed with his pancake. Obviously it wasn't acceptable to spray cream down the table as Dean had done, so instead he watched Mary adding syrup and strawberries to her pancake. He watched, fascinated, as Sam made a cream spiral on his pancake. Deciding he would give it a go, Castiel trickled some maple syrup onto his pancake, tasting the sticky sweetness with the tip of his finger. He picked up the cream next, pleased to discover it was easier than it looked as he drew a face on his pancake, adding strawberries for eyes. He sat back, pleased with his efforts.
"Aren't you going to eat that Castiel?" Mary asked.
"Oh. Right. Of course." Castiel said with an odd mixture of awkwardness and false bravado, picking up a knife and fork and proceeding to shovel large pieces of pancake into his mouth, much to Mary's amusement.
"Want some more strawberries Mom?" Sam asked, holding out the nearest punnet.
"No, that's okay. Thanks Sam." Mary said, with a warm smile for her son. "I just thought I'd drop in and check on you and Dean. I've actually got a case in Idaho to get to."
"Oh, okay." Sam said, trying to smile, but looking disappointed.
"What's the case?" Dean asked with his mouth full.
"It's nothing really, just a favour for an old friend." Mary said evasively.
Dean frowned at his mother, as if wanting to push her for more answers, but the look Sam threw him made him think better of it. He looked down at his plate instead.
"Are you boys free this weekend?" Mary asked, and Dean looked up, hopeful. " Well, it's just, I was trying to use the Internet on the computer, and I won one of those travel auction things. It's just a couple nights in a resort... With a jacuzzi. I thought maybe you boys could use a break for a couple of days."
Dean and Sam exchanged looks. They weren't making any progress with Castiel's whole hunt Lucifer plan, and they weren't working any active cases at the moment. Truth be told, they'd been running themselves ragged, desperately trying to find any lead on Lucifer, not entirely because of the threat the archangel represented, but more so because of the heavy toll the guilt was taking on Castiel, the weight of the responsibility for being the one who had released Lucifer from the cage. Sam knew what that guilt felt like, having carried it for over a year before they'd managed to trap Lucifer in the cage again.
"Sure Mom, sounds great." Sam said with a smile.
"Yeah, awesome." Dean agreed.
"Wonderful." Mary said, passing the ticket envelope to Sam. "I should get going, hit the road, you know." She said, hugging each of her boys, including Castiel, before leaving.
A few hours later, the boys were on the road. Dean was nursing a pancake and syrup induced stomach ache in the backseat, so it was Sam's turn to drive. Castiel had offered, but Dean was hesitant about entrusting Baby to Cas. Just because he hadn't crashed his car yet didn't mean Cas was a good driver.
Next chapter coming soon...