"Okay, first things first," Dean said as he started up the impala. "Where are we going?"
Sam turned to Dean, resting his arm on the window. "Bobby's."
"Bobby's?"
"Yeah. We're going to need to regroup somewhere. Figure this out. "
"Alright, and what are we figuring out? What's this lead on the Colt?" Dean's grip on the steering wheel tightened as he mentioned the gun. A lead on the Colt was good. It meant progress. But he saw how well the last attempt to kill Lucifer with the Colt went. It ended with him dead and Sam… They had to do better this time.
"Well, apparently Bela didn't give the Colt to Lilith. She gave it to another demon, Crowley, her right hand man."
"And we know this how?"
"Becky. I guess the Winchester Gospels aren't exclusive to us. Chuck must see other things, too. People we meet, interact with. And in the book there's a scene where Bela gives the Colt over to this demon."
Dean rolled his eyes, groaning in frustration. "And Chuck couldn't have mentioned this before?"
"That's what I said, but Chuck said he didn't remember. Becky did because she's such a big fan."
"Yeah, well, I can't believe I'm saying this but for once I'm actually glad we have books written about us."
"Yeah, me too."
Dean took a deep breath, exhaling loudly. "Ok so, what do we do now? How do we track him down? Becky didn't happen to have an address did she?"
"No, I wish." Sam combed his hand through his hair, a nervous tick he picked up whenever he was stressed or overwhelmed. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at Dean as he continued, "We head to Bobby's do some research, see what this demon's about. Becky said Bela sold it to him in Kentucky but he might have moved around. I mean he could be anywhere by now Dean."
"Great. Well, this is looking less and less like a solid lead."
"Hey, at least we have a name. It's more than we had before."
Dean nodded. Sam was right. Since jumpstarting the apocalypse, it felt like they had spent most of their time hiding from the angels or Lucifer than actually doing anything to stop it. At least now they had some sort of direction, a goal. Find Crowley. Get the Colt. Kill Lucifer. Sounded easy enough when he put it like that but Dean knew better. Nothing in life was easy. That was the first thing you learned as a Winchester.
Sam took out his phone, scrolling through his contacts as he spoke to Dean. "Ok so, I think we should call everyone. Get them in on this. There's no way we can do this alone."
"Yea, ok. Who's everyone?"
"Cas, Ellen, Jo, Rufus. That's about all we can trust."
"Okay," Dean paused, shifting slightly in his seat. "Uh... hold off on calling Cas."
"What? Dean, why? If anyone should know about this first, it's him."
"Yea, I know that Sam, but it's going to be a while before everyone gets to Bobby's, and until we're all together there's no point in calling him. Angel travel, remember? He can get to us a lot faster than we can get to him. We'll call once everyone's there. That way he can continue God Hunt '09."
Sam shot Dean one of his patented bitchfaces, the one that just screamed: "You're full of shit." Yeah, he didn't buy that at all, Dean thought as he tensed, readying for a fight. But Sam merely grumbled out a "fine" as he turned away and started making calls. Dean furrowed his brow. That was easy. Maybe Sam was losing his touch.
From the bits and pieces of the conversations he caught, it seemed that Ellen and Jo were at least six hours away and Rufus wasn't much closer. Perfect. They were at least five hours away from Bobby's, three and a half hours Dean Time if he really pushed it. Dean pressed harder on the gas pedal, bringing them up to 90 miles an hour. He wanted to make it to Bobby's quick. He needed to talk to Cas before everything became focused on the Colt.
__________
They made it to Bobby's in four hours. Sam had bitched about the speed and the bathroom so they had ended up making a stop and cruising at 80. Once inside, Dean trusted Sam to explain the situation to Bobby, knowing that the inner research geek in both of them would keep them busy. He walked upstairs and closed the door to Bobby's spare room, dropping his bag near the door. Dean sat down on the edge of the bed and flipped open his phone, scrolling down his contact list to Cas' number. Finally. He'd wanted to talk to Cas since the end of the convention. Dean dialed Cas' number and brought the phone to his ear, waiting for that deep gruff voice on the other line.
Castiel picked up on the third ring. "Dean," he said, his version of hello.
"Hey, Cas."
"Is something wrong?"
"No. No, I just called to talk."
"Where are you?"
"I…." Dean paused, spared a look at the door before he cleared his throat. "Can we do this on the phone? I'd rather do this on the phone."
Castiel was silent for a beat, most likely pondering the significance of why this conversation had to be on the phone. Still, a soft yet firm "Ok" was uttered, because when it came right down to it Castiel never could deny Dean anything.
"Yea. Okay. Great. So, Sam and I were at a Supernatural convention – long story – and we met these two guys who were LARPing as us – another long story. At first they were annoying, but they kind of grew on you, you know? Kind of like key lime pie; at first it's too sour and tart, but after a while it doesn't taste that bad." Dean paused. He was rambling, probably not making much sense to the angel, but he was nervous. That much was evident, and he had to get this out. He had to take this step. They were close to facing Lucifer and for once he didn't want any regrets. Not about this anyways.
D DDean took a deep breath and continued at a much slower and calmer pace. "Anyway, they were a team and they helped us waste these creepy ass kid ghosts. Saved our lives, actually. I went to thank them after, and they said they were more than just a team. They were partners. A couple. Romantically," Dean elaborated, afraid the PC term "partners" wouldn't quite translate for the all too literal angel.
Castiel's voice came out deeper, huskier. "They were lovers."
Dean's eyes slid closed, a moan escaping his lips. Hearing Cas say the word "lover" was a lot hotter than he imagined it would be. He cleared his throat trying, however foolishly, to distract Cas from the noise he made seconds earlier. "Yea right, well, when they said that, one of them put his head on the other guy's shoulder and…I thought of you. They were holding hands and I thought of you."
As he said it, he could picture their clasped hands as Barnes' tall lanky form bent sideways, laying his head on Demian's pudgy shoulder. It had surprised him then when an image of Cas had popped into his head. Physically and behaviorally, him and Cas were nothing like them and yet at that moment all he could think about was the angel. At the car he had figured it out. It wasn't that they reminded Dean of him and Cas, it was that they represented something he wanted them to be - Partners, in every sense of the term. What scared him was how comfortable he was with this revelation. He wanted Cas and the thought had made him smile.
"I just needed you to know that." Dean finished and lay back on the bed, his hand moving to rest on his stomach. He pushed his shirt up, moving his fingers lightly over his skin as he waited for Castiel to respond. A strange sense of calm washed over him. Sure, he was worried. Worried that Castiel would react badly or wouldn't quite get what he was trying to say, but mostly he was just glad he said it.
"Dean."
Dean's fingers stilled. "Yea, Cas?"
"Thank you for thinking of me."
Dean smiled. "Anytime."