"Dean." Both brothers turned around, Sam's hand tightening on the gun in his hands as they faced down a strangely familiar female. She stood roughly around 5"6 with curled black hair and startling blue eyes. Her black skirt hung to just above her knees, which were covered with tan pantyhose, and the blue shirt she was wearing was low cut, the cleavage display pleasant in a way that was nearly unprofessional.
Knee-jerk reaction, Sam raised the gun and braced himself to take a shot. "Who the hell are you?" He started to demand, but Dean already had a hand on his shoulder to hold him back.
"Slow your roll, Sammy," the eldest Winchester ordered, his voice gruff with sleep deprivation and annoyance. "It's just Cas." Sam's grip didn't falter, his suspicions anything but quelled as he glanced between the woman that Dean claimed to be their angel.
"What?"
"It's Cas," Dean insisted, grabbing his brother's arm and forcing his gun to point towards the carpet. The look Sam gave him conveyed the same amount of confusion that his question had, so Dean rolled his eyes and chalked him up to being a lost cause. "What do you need?" his words were directed at the woman, as was Sam's near glare. "And what's with the new meat suit?"
Castiel glanced down at her body, as if surprised to see breasts there instead of the typical tie and dress shirt. "I…" she stumbled over her words, pulling at the bottom of her shirt in the nervous way that she used to pull at her trench coat. "James Novak has been laid to rest." When the brothers both quirked an eyebrow at that, so he elaborated with, "He deserved peace."
Dean was the first to move, plopping down on the motel bed and running a hand back and forth over his scalp before glancing up at the new Castiel. "So you hopped into some chick?" he asked, his tone just as suggestive as his eyebrows were. "Even to a guy like me, that sounds invasive." Sam rolled his eyes in disapproval while Cas settled for looking mildly confused for a moment.
"My vessel is not of import," she stated after a moment, stepping forward and wobbling slightly in the heels that her vessel had chosen. The way that Dean's eyes roamed lazily over the new vessel's slender body did not escape the younger Winchester. "I came to discuss the recent disappearance with you," Castiel explained once she grew accustomed to the new, more balanced way of standing.
Dean lay back on the bed, allowing Sam and Cas to discuss the logistics of the hunt. Something about soul sacrifices and a weapon that Balthazar had missed- all of which Dean could not bring himself to care about. All he cared about was knowing what it was and how to kill it; any more information and Dean Winchester's brain shut off for the night. In his lazy state, he allowed his head to loll to the side, giving him the perfect view of Castiel's new vessel.
It was… odd to see his angel stumbling over a new body, especially a body that was so much different than his original vessel. Odder still was the fact that Dean caught himself looking for bits of Castiel that had carried over from Jimmy: the intense stare (thankfully still the same cornflower blue, Dean could not fathom the idea of talking to a Cas with different colored eyes), the way that she would lean towards Sam while they talking and completely disregard any ideas of personal space. But everything else was different. Her lips were a different shape as they formed words, her hands fragile in a way that Castiel's never had been. She looked more like a kitten than a warrior of God. Dean found himself growing angry with the more that he didn't recognize in Castiel- it didn't feel right.
"Dean?" Sam's voice snapped Dean from his reverie, bringing him to sit up on the bed. "You got any thoughts on this?"
"Yes, yes," Dean responded, his voice the perfect dead pan as he stood and arched in a way that made his back pop. "Sounds very fascinating. Cas-" Dean turned to face Castiel and let out a low whistle, "I don't think I'm going to get used to that anytime soon."
Castiel once again tugged subconsciously at her vessel's clothes, as if afraid of Dean's disapproval. "It is a sufficient vessel," she defended herself.
"Yeah, no, I can see that," Dean conceded, raising a hand in defense. "But a chick? Come on, man."
"I am an angel of the lord, Dean. Gender is not a factor when considering vessel choice." After a pause, Castiel asked in a soft, vulnerable voice, "Do you not like it?"
Sam looked between the two of them with raised eyebrows, suddenly feeling like the elephant in the room and not knowing why. He cleared his throat loudly, drawing their attention away from each other. "Right, he said, grabbing the Impala keys and his laptop before stepping towards the door. "I'm going to go find a spot with Wifi and call Bobby, see if he knows anything about this angelic nuke." For a moment the brother's locked eyes and Dean's head tilted upwards ever so slightly, an imperceptible movement to anyone but Sam, who took it as an appreciative nod.
"Keep your phone on," Dean called after his little brother as the door closed, leaving the older Winchester alone with the angel. The two locked eyes, silently conversing in their usual manner, but it didn't feel right, not to Dean. "I could care less what vessel you take, Cas," he confessed when the silence became uncomfortable. Castiel's head tilted to the side in the way that Dean was accustomed to, but now there were locks of curled hair falling over her face.
"Then why do you seem… disturbed by this vessel?" Dean turned away for a moment, dragging a hand across his lips and trying to come up with an answer. Why didn't he like this new vessel? It was beautiful and inviting, the type of girl that Dean would try to pick up at the bars he used to drag Sammy into. He should have been delighted to have something to look at, something to distract him from the thoughts of Lisa and Ben that plagued his mind. Should have.
The silence drew out as Dean thought, alternating between staring at the wall and glancing at Cas' new meat suit. The angel waited patiently- Castiel was always waiting for Dean- with a nearly hopeful look on her face. "You didn't do this…" Dean started then stopped himself, shaking his head at the selfish stupidity of the idea. "You wouldn't change vessels for me." He tried to make it a statement. The way Castiel dropped Dean's gaze, settling for glancing at her shiny black heels with a sudden interest, was answer enough. "You're kidding, Cas."
"You are not comfortable with how you feel for me," Cas said in that same small voice. It lacked the gravel undertone that Dean was so used to hearing, but the power still thrummed in every word. It was Castiel, but at the same time, it was something else entirely. "Not when I am in a male vessel."
"Jesus, Cas," Dean swore, drawing startled cornflower blue eyes back to his. He stepped in, adjusting to the height difference and realizing that, without the heels, Castiel would only be 5"4'. Another difference that shouldn't have mattered, but it did. "You think I'm that shallow?"
"You don't like this vessel." It wasn't a question anymore.
"No," Dean protested with an eye roll that Sammy would have been proud of. "I don't care about your damn vessel." I care about you, he meant to say, but there were some lines that Dean Winchester was not prepared to cross. Especially not with this version of Castiel that he was not familiar with in the least. But it was still his angel, so the message was conveyed through their eyes all the same. I care about you, Castiel, he thought desperately. "I'm glad that Jimmy found peace and all, but..."
The corners of Castiel's new lips tilted upwards for a split second, her eyes alight with a sudden surge of emotion that refused to play across the stoic features. Anybody else wouldn't notice the change, but Dean saw it. He saw it because he knew Castiel, no matter what form the stupid angel took. "My vessel is not of import," she repeated, though it had a different connotation this time.
Dean jerked his head in nod. "Exactly."
Some of the tension in Castiel's shoulders faded as she glanced down at her body again, a slow frown forming on her delicate face. "If I were to create a new vessel…" she started and Dean waved a hand dismissively.
"I already told you I don't care," he told her, eyes taking hold of hers once more. "You have to be comfortable in your own skin, so to speak." Dean gestured to the new body with a slight frown of distaste. "Try to stay away from the secretary sluts." Castiel's head jerked in his own semblance of a nod, wincing when the vessel's hair bobbed up into her face. Dean couldn't help but laugh, reaching forward to brush the hair away from Cas' face- invading the angel's personal space without even noticing it.
It was an oddly tender moment as he tucked the strand of hair behind the vessel's ear, glancing down into the same cornflower blue eyes that he had come to… if not love, then at least to enjoy glancing in to. He could see Castiel in those eyes, the angel that had protected him through all of these years, and it made his heart race. "Don't change," he told that Cas- his Cas- brushing his finger's casually down the vessel's neck. "You don't have to change for me."
A/N: This is the first time I've ever written something remotely Destiel, and I'm sorry if it doesn't compare with the other fics out there. I also apologize for any mistakes made. This just came to me, so I typed it out real quick and published it before I could lose the nerve... Be gentle with me w